Oh we got trouble, right here in River City. They'll be listening to ragtime, talkin' about horse race gamblin'. Not a wholesome old trottin' race, no! But a race where they sit right down on the horse! Like to see some stuck up jockey boy sittin' on Dan Patch, make your blood boil.
Mass hysteria!
Yeah, we've been here and done this before. Strauss's waltzes, now virtually the epitome of staid music for old people, was once considered the ultimate in youthful depravity. The violin and the pennywhistle were banned by the church at one time as being depraved instruments because women were unable to resist their allure and might be prone to wiggle to their tunes.
On the other hand beating up a temple whore would have been considered a holy act in the right time and place. Thou shalt not suffer the witch to live.
Depravity depends a good deal on the mind viewing the act. In the words of Tom Lehrer, "When correctly viewed, everything is lewd."
Worrying about virtual depravity is silly. If anything it acts, on the whole, as an outlet and thus prevents more meatspace depravity then it could ever cause.
But you can't point to events that didn't happen so the one nutcase who does something becomes a big deal.
I wonder what other niche markets you can find catering to dogs or, more generally, pets?
Hats. Little doggie fedoras. Fashion in general actually, but the hat thing weirds me out a bit. A nice doggie blanket might well be functional for some dogs on cold days, and I suppose they might as well look sharp wearing one, but, opera hats? Come on. You're just making your dog into a dork. All the other dogs are laughing at him.
Then there's the whole functional line of niche products that aren't really weird, but can strike you as such when first encountering them.
Camping equipment for dogs, for instance. Spot gets to carry his own Alpo when venturing into the woods these days, in his own doggie backpack. I first started seeing this stuff hacked up by hiking hippies back in the 60s, but now it's a full commericial enterprise. Perhaps in future we'll come full circle again and Spot will start having to carry our backpacks as well.
To me though, I think the oddest of these odd, but actually functional, products is the avian diaper. Yes, that's right. There's a company that does nothing but make functional diapers for birds, all sorts of birds, so that they can be left free to roam the living room without leaving "calling cards" all over the place.
Let me tell you a budgie in a diaper is a pretty silly sight first time, tenth time too for that matter, but the damned things actually work.
Ah, well, we'll try to do better in ASCIE than they did in ASCII.:)
I understand where you're coming from though. I'm currently building a database for a customer. I inherited the job. The first thing they asked me to do is update their member records and then handed me a floppy with their MS Word mailing label template on it.
They were doing everything in Word because that's all they knew how to use.
Or the case will be held in abeyance, since the issue of the validity of SCO's claims for its IP being in Linux is already before the courts with the proper respondant to that issue.
The Fortune 500 company is almost certain to be a valid target of SCO's claim. Mind you, being a valid target does not validate the claim itself!
Which means that SCO must first validate their claim. Unlike the case of the movie where the ownership of the IP is a trivial matter, and only the just compensation for its use is in question, there is, as yet, no evidence that any of SCO's alleged IP is in Linux, which raises the issue of how it got there, which is through an entirely different manner than renting a DVD from Blockbuster, someone must have illegally put it there, and thus only the party that put it there can speak to that matter.
In other words, to use your analogy, the case inherently involves bootlegging by the distributor who then sold it to the user.
SCO would also have to demonstrate that use is a valid license issue. For a DVD, play or song such performance royalties, not use, are an issue of law. They are in the legal code. They are not in the code for software. In fact, under the Berne Convention, use of software is explicitly not a copyright violation. You cannot extrapolate copyright law from one medium to another.
Your analogy needs a bigger ass because the cases are not similar under law. I'm perfectly willing to view such a fuller assed analogy though and give it some thought.
I can't find the link now, but I remember reading an interview with McBride shortly after the IBM suit was filed where he claimed the reason for the suit was that they had been approached by others asking them to "monitize" Linux.
Of course we don't "know" who that might have been, but certain events provide circumstantial evidence, and as Thoreau noted:
"Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk."
Of course that won't stop Microsoft from saying:
"Mom! Dad! Why are looking at me?"
It's just circumstantial evidence that Microsoft almost immediately purchased an expensive license exactly equal in amount to that which SCO claimed to have in it's legal fund.
They are going to sue the corporation, the legal entity that has person like status.
And the corporation's lawyers will respond, "Sorry, we bought our Linux from (insert distributor here). You have take your claim to them, and you will receive any compensation you might be due directly from them for selling SCO IP without a valid license. Piss off."
My experience is that that sort of coincidence is suggestive, in other words you've gotten something right, but determining just what that something is is often a)problematic, and b)not always what you thought it was at first.
One of our favorite youths, Jack, a splendid young fellow with a head full of good sense, and a pair of legs that were a wonder to look upon in the way of length and straightness and slimness, used to report progress every morning in the most glowing and spirited way, and say:
"Oh, I'm coming along bully!" (he was a little given to slang in his happier moods.) "I wrote ten pages in my journal last night--and you know I wrote nine the night before and twelve the night before that. Why, it's only fun!"
"What do you find to put in it, Jack?"
"Oh, everything. Latitude and longitude, noon every day; and how many miles we made last twenty-four hours; and all the domino games I beat and horse billiards; and whales and sharks and porpoises; and the text of the sermon Sundays (because that'll tell at home, you know); and the ships we saluted and what nation they were; and which way the wind was, and whether there was a heavy sea, and what sail we carried, though we don't ever carry any, principally, going against a head wind always--wonder what is the reason of that?--and how many lies Moult has told--Oh, every thing! I've got everything down. My father told me to keep that journal. Father wouldn't take a thousand dollars for it when I get it done."
"No, Jack; it will be worth more than a thousand dollars--when you get it done."
"Do you?--no, but do you think it will, though?
"Yes, it will be worth at least as much as a thousand dollars--when you get it done. May be more."
"Well, I about half think so, myself. It ain't no slouch of a journal."
But it shortly became a most lamentable "slouch of a journal." One night in Paris, after a hard day's toil in sightseeing, I said:
"Now I'll go and stroll around the cafes awhile, Jack, and give you a chance to write up your journal, old fellow."
His countenance lost its fire. He said:
"Well, no, you needn't mind. I think I won't run that journal anymore. It is awful tedious. Do you know--I reckon I'm as much as four thousand pages behind hand. I haven't got any France in it at all. First I thought I'd leave France out and start fresh. But that wouldn't do, would it? The governor would say, 'Hello, here--didn't see anything in France? That cat wouldn't fight, you know. First I thought I'd copy France out of the guide-book, like old Badger in the for'rard cabin, who's writing a book, but there's more than three hundred pages of it. Oh, I don't think a journal's any use--do you? They're only a bother, ain't they?"
"Yes, a journal that is incomplete isn't of much use, but a journal properly kept is worth a thousand dollars--when you've got it done."
"A thousand!--well, I should think so. I wouldn't finish it for a million."
His experience was only the experience of the majority of that industrious night school in the cabin. If you wish to inflict a heartless and malignant punishment upon a young person, pledge him to keep a journal a year.
Slashdot Mirror
Oh we got trouble, right here in River City. They'll be listening to ragtime, talkin' about horse race gamblin'. Not a wholesome old trottin' race, no! But a race where they sit right down on the horse! Like to see some stuck up jockey boy sittin' on Dan Patch, make your blood boil.
Mass hysteria!
Yeah, we've been here and done this before. Strauss's waltzes, now virtually the epitome of staid music for old people, was once considered the ultimate in youthful depravity. The violin and the pennywhistle were banned by the church at one time as being depraved instruments because women were unable to resist their allure and might be prone to wiggle to their tunes.
On the other hand beating up a temple whore would have been considered a holy act in the right time and place. Thou shalt not suffer the witch to live.
Depravity depends a good deal on the mind viewing the act. In the words of Tom Lehrer, "When correctly viewed, everything is lewd."
Worrying about virtual depravity is silly. If anything it acts, on the whole, as an outlet and thus prevents more meatspace depravity then it could ever cause.
But you can't point to events that didn't happen so the one nutcase who does something becomes a big deal.
KFG
You may ask yourself, "Why is this game cabinet so big?"
KFG
I wonder what other niche markets you can find catering to dogs or, more generally, pets?
Hats. Little doggie fedoras. Fashion in general actually, but the hat thing weirds me out a bit. A nice doggie blanket might well be functional for some dogs on cold days, and I suppose they might as well look sharp wearing one, but, opera hats? Come on. You're just making your dog into a dork. All the other dogs are laughing at him.
Then there's the whole functional line of niche products that aren't really weird, but can strike you as such when first encountering them.
Camping equipment for dogs, for instance. Spot gets to carry his own Alpo when venturing into the woods these days, in his own doggie backpack. I first started seeing this stuff hacked up by hiking hippies back in the 60s, but now it's a full commericial enterprise. Perhaps in future we'll come full circle again and Spot will start having to carry our backpacks as well.
To me though, I think the oddest of these odd, but actually functional, products is the avian diaper. Yes, that's right. There's a company that does nothing but make functional diapers for birds, all sorts of birds, so that they can be left free to roam the living room without leaving "calling cards" all over the place.
Let me tell you a budgie in a diaper is a pretty silly sight first time, tenth time too for that matter, but the damned things actually work.
KFG
Ah, well, we'll try to do better in ASCIE than they did in ASCII. :)
I understand where you're coming from though. I'm currently building a database for a customer. I inherited the job. The first thing they asked me to do is update their member records and then handed me a floppy with their MS Word mailing label template on it.
They were doing everything in Word because that's all they knew how to use.
KFG
The government is also very happy when you buy stamps and don't use them. The Post Office itself even now has a department to cater to such trade.
KFG
Or the case will be held in abeyance, since the issue of the validity of SCO's claims for its IP being in Linux is already before the courts with the proper respondant to that issue.
KFG
The Fortune 500 company is almost certain to be a valid target of SCO's claim. Mind you, being a valid target does not validate the claim itself!
Which means that SCO must first validate their claim. Unlike the case of the movie where the ownership of the IP is a trivial matter, and only the just compensation for its use is in question, there is, as yet, no evidence that any of SCO's alleged IP is in Linux, which raises the issue of how it got there, which is through an entirely different manner than renting a DVD from Blockbuster, someone must have illegally put it there, and thus only the party that put it there can speak to that matter.
In other words, to use your analogy, the case inherently involves bootlegging by the distributor who then sold it to the user.
SCO would also have to demonstrate that use is a valid license issue. For a DVD, play or song such performance royalties, not use, are an issue of law. They are in the legal code. They are not in the code for software. In fact, under the Berne Convention, use of software is explicitly not a copyright violation. You cannot extrapolate copyright law from one medium to another.
Your analogy needs a bigger ass because the cases are not similar under law. I'm perfectly willing to view such a fuller assed analogy though and give it some thought.
KFG
Whomever they sue will have to respond.
Of course they will. And I have predicted their response.
KFG
This is what they were payed for from the first.
I can't find the link now, but I remember reading an interview with McBride shortly after the IBM suit was filed where he claimed the reason for the suit was that they had been approached by others asking them to "monitize" Linux.
Of course we don't "know" who that might have been, but certain events provide circumstantial evidence, and as Thoreau noted:
"Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk."
Of course that won't stop Microsoft from saying:
"Mom! Dad! Why are looking at me?"
It's just circumstantial evidence that Microsoft almost immediately purchased an expensive license exactly equal in amount to that which SCO claimed to have in it's legal fund.
Recipe featuring Trout soaked in milk
KFG
They are going to sue the corporation, the legal entity that has person like status.
And the corporation's lawyers will respond, "Sorry, we bought our Linux from (insert distributor here). You have take your claim to them, and you will receive any compensation you might be due directly from them for selling SCO IP without a valid license. Piss off."
KFG
Yes, but if we call them FUDists then PETA will think we're hunting wascaly wabbits.
And those people are terrorists.
KFG
. . .but you gotta start somewhere.
I start with CDs.
KFG
Yep, he's gonna turn it up to. . ., now, let's not always see the same hands.
KFG
The most successful law firms in the future will be able to define a new, non-document-based legal information exchange paradigm.
We're working on something called the American Standard Code for Information Exchange.
You might want to look into it.
KFG
Damn that peer review. The Nobel board laughed at me when my theory was submited, but I'll show them. Yes, I'll show them.
Mwuhhahahahahahha!
KFG
Here is an actual reproduction of the bet document you are thinking of:
Hawking/Thorne bet
Ain' the web grand?
Yeah, Stephen lost that one. Word has it that Kip's wife was a bit miffed about the payoff.
KFG
My experience is that that sort of coincidence is suggestive, in other words you've gotten something right, but determining just what that something is is often a)problematic, and b)not always what you thought it was at first.
KFG
Dude, it's, like, built around a Sinclair ZX80.
KFG
Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt.
So call them Fearists instead. It's kinda like terrorism lite.
KFG
. . .next they'll start paving the roads.. building sewers.. maintaining bridges..
Yes, it's a beautiful dream, isn't it?
KFG
Me too!!!!!!!
KFG
Personally I think that when I have become interesting enough to have a personal homepage, someone else will do it for me :)
It has been suggested that there ought to be a law forbidding poets from giving public readings of their own works.
The principle is basically the same.
KFG
One of our favorite youths, Jack, a splendid young fellow with a head
full of good sense, and a pair of legs that were a wonder to look upon in
the way of length and straightness and slimness, used to report progress
every morning in the most glowing and spirited way, and say:
"Oh, I'm coming along bully!" (he was a little given to slang in his
happier moods.) "I wrote ten pages in my journal last night--and you
know I wrote nine the night before and twelve the night before that.
Why, it's only fun!"
"What do you find to put in it, Jack?"
"Oh, everything. Latitude and longitude, noon every day; and how many
miles we made last twenty-four hours; and all the domino games I beat and
horse billiards; and whales and sharks and porpoises; and the text of the
sermon Sundays (because that'll tell at home, you know); and the ships we
saluted and what nation they were; and which way the wind was, and
whether there was a heavy sea, and what sail we carried, though we don't
ever carry any, principally, going against a head wind always--wonder
what is the reason of that?--and how many lies Moult has told--Oh, every
thing! I've got everything down. My father told me to keep that
journal. Father wouldn't take a thousand dollars for it when I get it
done."
"No, Jack; it will be worth more than a thousand dollars--when you get it
done."
"Do you?--no, but do you think it will, though?
"Yes, it will be worth at least as much as a thousand dollars--when you
get it done. May be more."
"Well, I about half think so, myself. It ain't no slouch of a journal."
But it shortly became a most lamentable "slouch of a journal." One night
in Paris, after a hard day's toil in sightseeing, I said:
"Now I'll go and stroll around the cafes awhile, Jack, and give you a
chance to write up your journal, old fellow."
His countenance lost its fire. He said:
"Well, no, you needn't mind. I think I won't run that journal anymore.
It is awful tedious. Do you know--I reckon I'm as much as four thousand
pages behind hand. I haven't got any France in it at all. First I
thought I'd leave France out and start fresh. But that wouldn't do,
would it? The governor would say, 'Hello, here--didn't see anything in
France? That cat wouldn't fight, you know. First I thought I'd copy
France out of the guide-book, like old Badger in the for'rard cabin,
who's writing a book, but there's more than three hundred pages of it.
Oh, I don't think a journal's any use--do you? They're only a bother,
ain't they?"
"Yes, a journal that is incomplete isn't of much use, but a journal
properly kept is worth a thousand dollars--when you've got it done."
"A thousand!--well, I should think so. I wouldn't finish it for a
million."
His experience was only the experience of the majority of that
industrious night school in the cabin. If you wish to inflict a
heartless and malignant punishment upon a young person, pledge him to
keep a journal a year.
The Innocents Abroad -- Mark Twain
KFG
Yeah, we really need more collaboration on the making of bonsai babies.
KFG
Of course a science fiction movie has already won a best picture Oscar:
Around the World in 80 Days.
KFG