Actually, I *did* know this (not the actual term, mind you). I was engaging in some hyperbole, if you will, to point out just how ridiculous his statement was. I mean, come on, how does it violate anything to loan a friend a game or book or CD? It's not like you're going "Sure, here's a copy of this CD you like."
>BTW, I would think that loaning your games to >friends violates personal and/or fair use and >this is why companies are clamping down.
uhm, care to explain how my loaning the PURCHASED version of [insert game here] to a friend, so he can play it, violates personal and/or fair use? Nobody said copying..
I guess libraries and video rental stores are violating as well, then. I suppose you'd support per-person DRM, with a license per controller. Heaven forbid your friends watch you play the game without having bought their own copy!
I ended up writing my own file download system, since well-organized downloads are the bulk of my site. It supports ratings, categories with subcategorys (ad infinitum), local and remote download links, download tracking, multiple screenshots, related downloads by author, searching, and the files are not directly accessible via the web - only through the download scripts (which makes leech protection possible)
I've been toying with the idea of cleaning up the code (it's in PHP, and is a bastardized hybrid of classes and inline code) and releasing it. Right now, it's not very portable.
To avoid my personal machine melting down.. I'm not going to link the site here.. but if you want to check it out, drop me a line.
I've got one domain on GoDaddy, and they *WILL NOT* let me transfer it away to a different registrar. No such option. Needless to say, I'm a little irritated about the situation.
Damn skippy. And it makes coding SO much easier. I currently have 11 browsers installed on one machine, for testing purposes - IE 4 through 6, FireFox, NS 4.8, Opera 5 through 7, Lynx, and Mozilla.
It's not so much being a version nazi, as you term it, as needing the layer styles, the text-on-path features, the export to pdf feature..
Sure, I can use v6. It's not bad. Photoshop 7 would be better (CS is really only 7.5, in practice.) But from all the comments, it runs very slowly.
If anything, though. I'm a standards nazi. If you're not coding your websites to *A* standard, you should be! XHTML is the best because it's 'strict', with no room for ambiguity. example - an ampersand is written as &, just & is ambiguous. It's like a control character for HTML.
I won't get into my usual rant about standards and why they're good and necessary here.
Sorry, from reading the App DB over at wineHQ, anything over Photoshop 6 is slow and painful to use. (shrug) Maybe in a couple more months. See, I'm using Photoshop CS.
As for dreamweaver - sure, that's where I started. But then I realized I spent more time ripping out the extra javascript it sticks in there, fixing tags to make it XHTML compliant, I just gave up on it.
Oh, you want it to be pretty and expensive, so you don't feel bad about charging a lot for your skills.
Case in point: I work on windows XP. I currently have *11* browsers installed: IE 4/5/5.5/6, NS 4.8, Opera 5.x/6.x/7.x, Lynx, Mozilla, and FireBird.
I can also check my work in Safari, through the magic of one guy with an iMac.
My major development tool? Notepad. And Photoshop.
In fact, Photoshop is the ONLY reason I haven't switched to FreeBSD as a desktop. As soon as it runs decently under Wine, I'll give it a shot.
Also, one thing to note: IE5/Mac is horribly broken in terms of CSS implementation, and Safari breaks it from version to version as well - and the ONLY way to solve THAT one, is to spend the money to upgrade your OS. So, practically speaking, you're worse off using a Mac for web design, in terms of testing.
Man, there's nothing I hate more than having a fairly nice keyboard, with a whole slew of "multimedia" buttons, including a nice volume knob.. that won't work unless you install some horrible, proprietary crap software.
See, I've got a "refurbished" HP Halo keyboard. Really nice, has a nice response, is USB, with 2 extra USB ports. All that works. But unless I install this horrible Netropa software, none of the multimedia keys work. They don't even get scancodes under windows.
Yes, I use Windows. XP Pro, to be precise.
If I'm using Explorer as my shell, at least the volume control knob works. But since I switched to Litestep, even that doesn't work. ARGH.
So, anyone know of a way to get these keys to function? I don't mind running another piece of software - I just don't like the Netropa crap, since it's horribly limited. I've tried several different "scancode" readers, and none of these buttons show up at all. It's frustrating.
London Drugs has always irritated me with their pricing on CDs. Their on-shelf prices (Before their levy) are on par with other major retailers, like Future Shop. They then add on the levy, and suddenly their media is $10 more than ANYWHERE ELSE in the city.
Sure, it's great that LD lets the consumers know. But when their prices are THAT far out of line, it makes me wonder...
For example, Future Shop's average price for a 50 pack of 80-minute CDRs is $29.99. (Non-sale price) Including levy.
Now, London Drugs has a 50-pack of CDRs on for $29.99.(Also, Non-Sale Price). THEN they charge you the levy. That's an ADDITIONAL $10.50. (50 CDs x $.21) What the hell?
I never, ever, ever, by CDRs from LD. It irritates me that for the same ON-SHELF price as Future Shop, LD somehow manages to get extra money.
And yes, I DO blame it on the store. If you're going to charge me the levy, at least have the decency to lower your price like all the other stores do, so I don't feel like I'm being ripped off. Then I might buy CDRs from you.
Re:Special IPod Headphones?
on
iPod-Jacked
·
· Score: 1
Well, Wired has a huge Apple bias. Not once have I *ever* seen a news story that centers around PCs.
For example, they had a nice little story about how casemodding is taking off in the Mac community. Never mind the fact that PC users have been doing it for years. They barely mention this fact, and claim that an aluminum, cube-shaped case is "obviously inspired by the Apple Cube". And they showcase NOTHING but Mac casemods - when there are some phenomenal PC ones out there. (http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,56086,00.htm l)
I've almost given up on my web subscription to Wired. I don't mind a bit of bias, but when the ONLY computer news is Mac, and I'm not a Mac user.. well, I kinda get tired of it, you know?
Yes, I know - Slashdot is biased too. But for all its bias, it STILL covers things that aren't Unix/Linux based. Wired seems to prefer to pretend that PCs don't exist.
It's not *stealing*. It's copyright infringement, a horse of a very different color.
Stealing means that the original owner no longer has it, which is obviously untrue in the current incarnation of file sharing networks.
You download a song from me, and I *still* have my copy. I haven't lost a thing. There's been no damage done to my system. Oh, sure, a miniscule amount of bandwidth has been "consumed" (if such a thing is possible), but that's about it.
However, because I shared the song, and you downloaded it, we're *both* guilty of copyright infringement.
The RIAA/MPAA have done a wonderful job of equating "File Sharing" with "Stealing". A classic case of spin doctoring, if you will. After all, isn't photocopying a page from a book at the library copyright infringement? Everyone does it, and it's condoned by most people, including the library. It sure doesn't sound as bad as stealing.
So do everyone a favor, and call it what it is, not what the *AA would like it to be.
Re:Why bother?
on
Palmtop NetBSD
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Well, I can sort of understand that - hell, I do casemods..
But at the same time, a casemod doesn't impair the computer's operation - just its looks.
There aren't as many apps out there for the PDA *nix market, as far as I know, since it's nowhere near as well-developed. It's like cutting an arm off in exchange for a really cool watch on the other wrist - you lose more than you gain.
Now, replacing WinCE with PalmOS - THAT would be impressive. PalmOS is far more stable than wince, and there are more apps for it.
See, this is the thing I've never understood - why would you install *nix/BSD on a palmtop? Most of the apps out there are not designed for such a small screen - I've experienced the pain of XWindows on a 640x480 screen - And there's such a huge base of apps out there already. Mind you, I prefer the Palm OS over WinCE, and 99% of what I want / need in a PDA is already available.
I can't see the benefits of this. In my mind, it's like tearing out the upholstery of your car, and replacing it with gravel. Sure, the car's still usable, but it's not comfortable to use, and it looks like crap.
Re:Minor notes on Cringely's editorial re: IBM 390
on
Today's SCO News
·
· Score: 1
Uhm, correct me if I'm wrong.. but isn't a Von Neumann machine a machine that can replicate itself by building copies? You know, like the Monolith in 2010?
I agree, Big O was cool.. but when a series gets cancelled halfway through.. it doesn't bode well for its success. Look at Megami Kouhousei (Pilot Candidate / Candidate for Goddess). they did 12 episodes, then tacked an extra one on as an "OAV", for the fans. It was a real letdown.
Now, a series like Full Metal Panic.. THAT would be fantastic. Big, realistic mecha. A good chunk of humor. Nifty tech.
Well, after reading a lot of the comments here, I notice that people are blasting these techs because they "snooped" around in the PC.
Now, one thing that I think is being overlooked.. is the fact that when you go to My Documents / My Pictures.. by DEFAULT, it displays thumbnail images of pictures, in WinME or XP.
Given that from what I read of the article, it's not like the techs were digging through folders to find stuff, I think it's pretty likely that the guy had the pics in one of those folders.
I know that often when I've had to shift files over a network to preserve them, I'll glance inside the folder after the transfer just to make sure I got everything.
I'm currently on Telus in Edmonton, as well. And I've got a grandfathered 5-ip server package. I'm also getting damned irritated with the customer service. I run a webserver, and I can't connect to it from my desktop half the time, because of their delightful "block out things on the same subnet" policy.
I haven't seen any good replacements.. I'm not too thrilled with going to Shaw, since I do a phenomenal amount of downloading - 10 gigs in 2 weeks is normal for me. (yay for anime fansubs!)
I like Telus because they have no limits on the bandwidth. Apart from that, they suck ass.
Heh, well.. I think it's somewhat appropriate that one bus that I've never seen stop anywhere on Whyte Ave is route 404 (not found!). I think there's a route 403 - but nobody's allowed on that bus..
Don DeBrandt - fairly new, but quite entertaining. SteelDriver and TimberJack are quite good, as is The Quicksilver Screen.
Mercedes Lackey (fantasy) - I'm a huge fan of hers. Her characters always seem to be "real". I recommend the entire Valdemar series - which is quite a lot of novels: These are all trilogies, for the most part, and in chronological order - they're all in the same "universe", but along a large span of time.
The Mage Wars: The Black Gryphon,The White Gryphon,The Silver Gryphon
The Last Herald-Mage: Magic's Promise, Magic's Pawn,Magic's Price
Brightly Burning
Vows of Honor: Oathbound, OathBreaker, OathBlood - this trilogy is about Tarma and Kethry, a pair of female mercs.. And they're VERY different from the stereotype. A definate must read.
Heralds Of Valdemar: Arrows of the Queen Arrow's Flight Arrow's Fall
By The Sword
Exile's Honor Exile's Valor (haven't read these two yet) Take a Thief
The Mage Winds: Winds of Fate Winds of Change Winds of Fury
The Mage Storms: Storm Warning Storm Rising Storm Breaking
The Owl Knight: Owlflight Owlsight Owlknight....
And I'm hoping there will be more!
Also, she does a fun series called "The SERRAted Edge", which is about modern day elves and racecars.
She has several other novels and series under her belt, and I've never been disappointed by them.
Another author I like is Elizabeth Moon - she does realistic military sci-fi.. with horses! There's a trade paperback called Heris Serrano, which is a great buy - it contains 3 novels, a great taster for her style. She's done collaborations with Anne McCaffery, and others (don't recall offhand).
My point was that are these lengths of copyright necessary? What good is the copyright to the artist when he's dead? Sure, his family may rely on the royalties (however minor those are), which is why I said perhaps his immediate family.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, I *did* know this (not the actual term, mind you). I was engaging in some hyperbole, if you will, to point out just how ridiculous his statement was. I mean, come on, how does it violate anything to loan a friend a game or book or CD? It's not like you're going "Sure, here's a copy of this CD you like."
>BTW, I would think that loaning your games to
>friends violates personal and/or fair use and
>this is why companies are clamping down.
uhm, care to explain how my loaning the PURCHASED version of [insert game here] to a friend, so he can play it, violates personal and/or fair use? Nobody said copying..
I guess libraries and video rental stores are violating as well, then. I suppose you'd support per-person DRM, with a license per controller. Heaven forbid your friends watch you play the game without having bought their own copy!
I agree.
I ended up writing my own file download system, since well-organized downloads are the bulk of my site. It supports ratings, categories with subcategorys (ad infinitum), local and remote download links, download tracking, multiple screenshots, related downloads by author, searching, and the files are not directly accessible via the web - only through the download scripts (which makes leech protection possible)
I've been toying with the idea of cleaning up the code (it's in PHP, and is a bastardized hybrid of classes and inline code) and releasing it. Right now, it's not very portable.
To avoid my personal machine melting down.. I'm not going to link the site here.. but if you want to check it out, drop me a line.
I've got one domain on GoDaddy, and they *WILL NOT* let me transfer it away to a different registrar. No such option. Needless to say, I'm a little irritated about the situation.
Damn skippy. And it makes coding SO much easier. I currently have 11 browsers installed on one machine, for testing purposes - IE 4 through 6, FireFox, NS 4.8, Opera 5 through 7, Lynx, and Mozilla.
What can I say, I'm a stickler for standards.
It's not so much being a version nazi, as you term it, as needing the layer styles, the text-on-path features, the export to pdf feature..
Sure, I can use v6. It's not bad. Photoshop 7 would be better (CS is really only 7.5, in practice.) But from all the comments, it runs very slowly.
If anything, though. I'm a standards nazi. If you're not coding your websites to *A* standard, you should be! XHTML is the best because it's 'strict', with no room for ambiguity. example - an ampersand is written as &, just & is ambiguous. It's like a control character for HTML.
I won't get into my usual rant about standards and why they're good and necessary here.
Sorry, from reading the App DB over at wineHQ, anything over Photoshop 6 is slow and painful to use. (shrug) Maybe in a couple more months. See, I'm using Photoshop CS.
As for dreamweaver - sure, that's where I started. But then I realized I spent more time ripping out the extra javascript it sticks in there, fixing tags to make it XHTML compliant, I just gave up on it.
Sorry, the Gimp is just that.. gimpy. Maybe it's the way it's laid out. Maybe it's the fact that I can't seem to do anything with the same speed.
I really, really hate the Gimp.
What does your OS have to do with webdesign?
Oh, you want it to be pretty and expensive, so you don't feel bad about charging a lot for your skills.
Case in point: I work on windows XP. I currently have *11* browsers installed: IE 4/5/5.5/6, NS 4.8, Opera 5.x/6.x/7.x, Lynx, Mozilla, and FireBird.
I can also check my work in Safari, through the magic of one guy with an iMac.
My major development tool? Notepad. And Photoshop.
In fact, Photoshop is the ONLY reason I haven't switched to FreeBSD as a desktop. As soon as it runs decently under Wine, I'll give it a shot.
Also, one thing to note: IE5/Mac is horribly broken in terms of CSS implementation, and Safari breaks it from version to version as well - and the ONLY way to solve THAT one, is to spend the money to upgrade your OS. So, practically speaking, you're worse off using a Mac for web design, in terms of testing.
Not to mention Marconi's theft of radio from Nikola Tesla. Everyone says Marconi invented radio - but all he did was copy Tesla's work.
http://www.mercury.gr/tesla/marcen.html
Man, there's nothing I hate more than having a fairly nice keyboard, with a whole slew of "multimedia" buttons, including a nice volume knob.. that won't work unless you install some horrible, proprietary crap software.
See, I've got a "refurbished" HP Halo keyboard. Really nice, has a nice response, is USB, with 2 extra USB ports. All that works. But unless I install this horrible Netropa software, none of the multimedia keys work. They don't even get scancodes under windows.
Yes, I use Windows. XP Pro, to be precise.
If I'm using Explorer as my shell, at least the volume control knob works. But since I switched to Litestep, even that doesn't work. ARGH.
So, anyone know of a way to get these keys to function? I don't mind running another piece of software - I just don't like the Netropa crap, since it's horribly limited. I've tried several different "scancode" readers, and none of these buttons show up at all. It's frustrating.
And just for the sake of disturbing everyone, here's the video. The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins
London Drugs has always irritated me with their pricing on CDs. Their on-shelf prices (Before their levy) are on par with other major retailers, like Future Shop. They then add on the levy, and suddenly their media is $10 more than ANYWHERE ELSE in the city.
Sure, it's great that LD lets the consumers know. But when their prices are THAT far out of line, it makes me wonder...
For example, Future Shop's average price for a 50 pack of 80-minute CDRs is $29.99. (Non-sale price) Including levy.
Now, London Drugs has a 50-pack of CDRs on for $29.99.(Also, Non-Sale Price). THEN they charge you the levy. That's an ADDITIONAL $10.50. (50 CDs x $.21) What the hell?
I never, ever, ever, by CDRs from LD. It irritates me that for the same ON-SHELF price as Future Shop, LD somehow manages to get extra money.
And yes, I DO blame it on the store. If you're going to charge me the levy, at least have the decency to lower your price like all the other stores do, so I don't feel like I'm being ripped off. Then I might buy CDRs from you.
Well, Wired has a huge Apple bias. Not once have I *ever* seen a news story that centers around PCs.
m l)
For example, they had a nice little story about how casemodding is taking off in the Mac community. Never mind the fact that PC users have been doing it for years. They barely mention this fact, and claim that an aluminum, cube-shaped case is "obviously inspired by the Apple Cube". And they showcase NOTHING but Mac casemods - when there are some phenomenal PC ones out there. (http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,56086,00.ht
I've almost given up on my web subscription to Wired. I don't mind a bit of bias, but when the ONLY computer news is Mac, and I'm not a Mac user.. well, I kinda get tired of it, you know?
Yes, I know - Slashdot is biased too. But for all its bias, it STILL covers things that aren't Unix/Linux based. Wired seems to prefer to pretend that PCs don't exist.
It's not *stealing*. It's copyright infringement, a horse of a very different color.
Stealing means that the original owner no longer has it, which is obviously untrue in the current incarnation of file sharing networks.
You download a song from me, and I *still* have my copy. I haven't lost a thing. There's been no damage done to my system. Oh, sure, a miniscule amount of bandwidth has been "consumed" (if such a thing is possible), but that's about it.
However, because I shared the song, and you downloaded it, we're *both* guilty of copyright infringement.
The RIAA/MPAA have done a wonderful job of equating "File Sharing" with "Stealing". A classic case of spin doctoring, if you will. After all, isn't photocopying a page from a book at the library copyright infringement? Everyone does it, and it's condoned by most people, including the library. It sure doesn't sound as bad as stealing.
So do everyone a favor, and call it what it is, not what the *AA would like it to be.
Well, I can sort of understand that - hell, I do casemods..
But at the same time, a casemod doesn't impair the computer's operation - just its looks.
There aren't as many apps out there for the PDA *nix market, as far as I know, since it's nowhere near as well-developed. It's like cutting an arm off in exchange for a really cool watch on the other wrist - you lose more than you gain.
Now, replacing WinCE with PalmOS - THAT would be impressive. PalmOS is far more stable than wince, and there are more apps for it.
See, this is the thing I've never understood - why would you install *nix/BSD on a palmtop? Most of the apps out there are not designed for such a small screen - I've experienced the pain of XWindows on a 640x480 screen - And there's such a huge base of apps out there already. Mind you, I prefer the Palm OS over WinCE, and 99% of what I want / need in a PDA is already available.
I can't see the benefits of this. In my mind, it's like tearing out the upholstery of your car, and replacing it with gravel. Sure, the car's still usable, but it's not comfortable to use, and it looks like crap.
Uhm, correct me if I'm wrong.. but isn't a Von Neumann machine a machine that can replicate itself by building copies? You know, like the Monolith in 2010?
I agree, Big O was cool.. but when a series gets cancelled halfway through.. it doesn't bode well for its success. Look at Megami Kouhousei (Pilot Candidate / Candidate for Goddess). they did 12 episodes, then tacked an extra one on as an "OAV", for the fans. It was a real letdown.
Now, a series like Full Metal Panic.. THAT would be fantastic. Big, realistic mecha. A good chunk of humor. Nifty tech.
(grin) Studio Gonzo is incredible.
Well, after reading a lot of the comments here, I notice that people are blasting these techs because they "snooped" around in the PC.
Now, one thing that I think is being overlooked.. is the fact that when you go to My Documents / My Pictures.. by DEFAULT, it displays thumbnail images of pictures, in WinME or XP.
Given that from what I read of the article, it's not like the techs were digging through folders to find stuff, I think it's pretty likely that the guy had the pics in one of those folders.
I know that often when I've had to shift files over a network to preserve them, I'll glance inside the folder after the transfer just to make sure I got everything.
Got a link to ECS somewhere? I haven't heard of them before.
I'm currently on Telus in Edmonton, as well. And I've got a grandfathered 5-ip server package. I'm also getting damned irritated with the customer service. I run a webserver, and I can't connect to it from my desktop half the time, because of their delightful "block out things on the same subnet" policy.
I haven't seen any good replacements.. I'm not too thrilled with going to Shaw, since I do a phenomenal amount of downloading - 10 gigs in 2 weeks is normal for me. (yay for anime fansubs!)
I like Telus because they have no limits on the bandwidth. Apart from that, they suck ass.
Heh, well.. I think it's somewhat appropriate that one bus that I've never seen stop anywhere on Whyte Ave is route 404 (not found!). I think there's a route 403 - but nobody's allowed on that bus..
Don DeBrandt
.. And they're VERY different from the stereotype. A definate must read.
....
- fairly new, but quite entertaining.
SteelDriver and TimberJack are quite good, as is The Quicksilver Screen.
Mercedes Lackey (fantasy)
- I'm a huge fan of hers. Her characters always seem to be "real". I recommend the entire Valdemar series - which is quite a lot of novels:
These are all trilogies, for the most part, and in chronological order - they're all in the same "universe", but along a large span of time.
The Mage Wars:
The Black Gryphon,The White Gryphon,The Silver Gryphon
The Last Herald-Mage:
Magic's Promise, Magic's Pawn,Magic's Price
Brightly Burning
Vows of Honor:
Oathbound, OathBreaker, OathBlood - this trilogy is about Tarma and Kethry, a pair of female mercs
Heralds Of Valdemar:
Arrows of the Queen
Arrow's Flight
Arrow's Fall
By The Sword
Exile's Honor
Exile's Valor
(haven't read these two yet)
Take a Thief
The Mage Winds:
Winds of Fate
Winds of Change
Winds of Fury
The Mage Storms:
Storm Warning
Storm Rising
Storm Breaking
The Owl Knight:
Owlflight
Owlsight
Owlknight
And I'm hoping there will be more!
Also, she does a fun series called "The SERRAted Edge", which is about modern day elves and racecars.
She has several other novels and series under her belt, and I've never been disappointed by them.
Another author I like is Elizabeth Moon - she does realistic military sci-fi.. with horses!
There's a trade paperback called Heris Serrano, which is a great buy - it contains 3 novels, a great taster for her style. She's done collaborations with Anne McCaffery, and others (don't recall offhand).
That's just my $.43 worth.
My point was that are these lengths of copyright necessary? What good is the copyright to the artist when he's dead? Sure, his family may rely on the royalties (however minor those are), which is why I said perhaps his immediate family.