I have tools handed down to me from my grandfather that are probably 60 years old now that work perfectly fine. I have an old 386 box that I used as a Linux system that was functioning well enough until I needed something faster (probably even still works). I have a friend that drives a 1970 Chevelle as a day-to-day vehicle. But what's the one distinction here? They're all easily serviceable and/or replaceable.
I will agree with you that if you have an irreplaceable function running on irreplaceable hardware, then you have a serious problem that needs addressed immediately. But if the tools still function and do their jobs you require to your satisfaction, then what rationale do you have for getting rid of them? Yes, computers and especially servers are a different entity, but as long as you make backups and can move quickly into a replacement platform, you can take the risk of running older hardware because the TCO is much lower than repeatedly replacing systems. PC owners could learn a lot from this little tidbit...
This is a fantastic analogy -- hadn't even considered that before. Come to think about it, this could explain why gaming addiction is becoming such a problem -- it's very much akin to gambling addiction.
The problem isn't player looting, because by playing the game, they accept that risk. Even selling those items on the real market for real cash isn't the problem, although it's ethically gray.
The problem is the players using bots or hacks to deny other players' enjoyment of the game. It's still probably not illegal, but it's against the spirit of the game and will ultimately result in players leaving the game, meaning a loss of revenue to the game hosts. The only way to combat this is for developers to ban bots/hacks from taking away from player enjoyment under penalty of banning the player that uses the bot/hack. But in essence, this isn't theft or fraud because it's basically a zero sum game.
Now if the bots/hacks are being used by the game hosts to steal items or playing time that players have paid for, now you no longer have a zero sum game, and there is definitely fraud involved.
"No Johnny, you can't go outside and play. You've only put in 10 hours of homework today, and you haven't made your weekly quota of 110 hours yet."
"But Mom, it's Sunday!"
"Do you want to let us down? Now go back and don't come out until you've put in another 5 hours, and maybe we'll let you watch TV for a couple minutes before bedtime."
I'm sorry I went on vacation in early July. I was only gone a week, but I can see now that even that's too much. I'll try to make up the lost browsing this month and promise to take fewer or shorter vacations in the future.
Next time they use the God trump card, tell them you agree -- tell them to read the Book of Revelation.
I'm not a particularly spiritual person, but I do believe that we've violated Darwinism for too long and that there will be a reckoning sooner or later. Perhaps not along the apocalyptic lines of Revelation, but at some point there will be a threshhold of sustainability that will be crossed where the only corrective measure will be a depopulation. We've already seen this in drought-stricken areas like Saharan Africa, or in areas too susceptible to natural disaster, like Indonesia. The results are awful and terrifying.
I hope we're smart enough to realize that we're in danger, but if not, I hope it doesn't happen during my or my son's lifetimes.
Yeah, and the report that is referenced in TFA isn't available to the public-at-large. So I'm left wondering about the veracity of the statements made.
I'm in agreement with another poster who posted that it seems far more plausible that 17-21% of companies had 1+ employees using Mac OS X, not that 17-21% of employees at large companies were using Mac. I think the author at MacWorld may very well be taking liberties with the wording of the report.
Anyone have access to the report that can post the relevant details here?
Looking at the system myself, it looks like 99% of the headache is in setting it up. Once it's configured correctly, that's when you get the doctors praising it like it was the best thing since sliced bread.
So in other words, it's pretty much like every other piece of software out there with a fairly complex task to do. Just take a guess whether the praise or the complaints will get the most airtime...
This is an unfortunate ruling -- should not have been accepted for ruling because while it really doesn't change anything legally, it will result in a wave of interpretation by RIAA/MPAA lawyers. It's totally wrong, but wouldn't surprise me in the least.
The loser here is Bram Cohen and his peers, as the legal costs of protecting themselves against these lawsuits will probably bankrupt them, or at the least, keep them tied up enough that they can't continue working on their products, stifling innovation (all to the smiling grins of the **IA's). It will also affect those of us that actually do use BitTorrent for legal purposes like downloading Linux distros (like me).
Note to Bram and Grokster -- please contact the EFF now.
Re:At least Jim Anchower is still there
on
The Onion in 2056
·
· Score: 1
Hell, in 50 years, I'll be 84. I seriously doubt I'll really be caring much about The Onion, Slashdot, HTML/Flash rendering, or other highly technical issues like those.
At that point, if I can remember not to piss in my pants, that'll be a good day.
To expound on this, consider the following "add-ons" of a CD compared to an iTunes download.
Physical pressing of CD CD label Cover art Jewel case and shrinkwrap/annoying security tape Shipping to stores Marketing and promos in stores Lossage due to damage/theft
These are the bits that drive up the cost of CD's and also result in the RIAA being able to charge far more than the cost of the recording (as well as the cost of these line items, taken collectively). Even if you assume a 400% markup over cost for any produced good is typical (not just CD's, but anything -- bread, cars, books, TV's), these guys are still making out like bandits. Therefore, it doesn't take a big leap of faith to understand that the RIAA wants their moneymakers back, but can't realize how to get it again.
The litmus test is when the quantity of music downloaded exceeds that which is purchased in the brick and mortar stores. That could easily be the beginning of a massive paradigm shift which could affect traditional, large data footprint, store-purchased items like CD's, DVD's, and computer games, which still makes up the overwhelming majority of the RIAA/MPAA's revenues. If that scenario occurs, a mass change will occur -- no more music stores, video rental, computer game stores, etc. Instead, you could replace their physical presences with a small kiosk in a mall equipped with a highspeed wired/wireless Internet connections, and eventually even that would go away (and already can in some areas with ubiquitous highspeed broadband).
And that spells the death knell for the RIAA/MPAA as we know it. And they know it too.
Or more concerning to Microsoft, hosting via BT means not having to spend money on big file servers and not being locked into a single OS for said serviecs. Given their recent focus on attempting to hobble Samba as well, I'm guessing that they may be realizing that a core part of their business model has the potential to implode very quickly if alternatives like these gain momentum in the corporate arena.
On the microeconomic scale, 100 years is more than a lifetime. It may be more than your kids' lifetimes.
I agree with you about the impossible design requirements in the house. But the ideas about south-facing windows, north-facing bedrooms, keeping noisy areas away from quiet areas, planting trees for shade, maximal insulation for HVAC efficiency -- these are all sound design principles.
However, I'm not a fan of the donut shape -- it unnecessarily complicates the traffic flow of the house where a simple ellipsoid shape would have done well to allow more direct access throughout the house. Also, the kitchen should be centrally-located if at all possible -- IIRC, the kitchen is the most used room in any house, and therefore should be as close as possible to every other room in the house. Having it far away from every other place seems odd to me. And the garage is one room that certainly will not benefit from the wedge-shape that each room has -- the inner parking spot is significantly shorter than the outer slot. Better to have the garage door on an arc of the house than a radian.
Wouldn't work for American sitcoms -- missing a few variables. First off is "PP", which is product placement by advertisers. Second is the sub-formula, ((DIR|ACTR)xPR)->NTWK, which attempts to explain who among the directors and actors are sleeping with the show's producers in order to get on the good graces of the networks.
But most important is that you have to take all of this and raise it to the power of DRL, which is the average amount of drool coming from the target audience. The highest DRL factor will undoubtedly be a bellwether of success for the show. BTW, this need not be confined to sitcoms, as it explains Pro Wrestling and nearly all reality shows fairly well.
I hope that everyone here is not so naive as to think that things like this will stop if SCO (or more appropriately, The Canopy Group) goes away. This is an age of litigious bastards in America and it is foolhardy in the extreme to think that just because one group gets smacked that no one else will try again.
The problem with cases like these are that they're too easy to bring up, and have damaging effects to the reputations of the accused with very little risk to the plaintiffs, regardless of the merit of the case. It also costs companies mega-dollars to defend against these kinds of groundless lawsuits with little no hope of cost recovery. That means that anyone with enough cash to pay lawyers to sling mud can cause damage to a firm's reputation, and is the reason that killing SCO will not kill the hydra.
Slashdot Mirror
I have tools handed down to me from my grandfather that are probably 60 years old now that work perfectly fine. I have an old 386 box that I used as a Linux system that was functioning well enough until I needed something faster (probably even still works). I have a friend that drives a 1970 Chevelle as a day-to-day vehicle. But what's the one distinction here? They're all easily serviceable and/or replaceable.
I will agree with you that if you have an irreplaceable function running on irreplaceable hardware, then you have a serious problem that needs addressed immediately. But if the tools still function and do their jobs you require to your satisfaction, then what rationale do you have for getting rid of them? Yes, computers and especially servers are a different entity, but as long as you make backups and can move quickly into a replacement platform, you can take the risk of running older hardware because the TCO is much lower than repeatedly replacing systems. PC owners could learn a lot from this little tidbit...
Using crocodiles to fight HIV patients won't work -- the crocs think they taste funny.
Oh wait...is that not what you meant?
I'm not sure how you would classify the "3.1 to Bob" feature change though.....
Quoting from the movie Major League
Rick Vaughn: You put snot on the ball?
Eddie Harris: I haven't got an arm like you, kid. I have to put anything on it I can find. Someday you will too.
This is a fantastic analogy -- hadn't even considered that before. Come to think about it, this could explain why gaming addiction is becoming such a problem -- it's very much akin to gambling addiction.
Great insight.
The problem isn't player looting, because by playing the game, they accept that risk. Even selling those items on the real market for real cash isn't the problem, although it's ethically gray.
The problem is the players using bots or hacks to deny other players' enjoyment of the game. It's still probably not illegal, but it's against the spirit of the game and will ultimately result in players leaving the game, meaning a loss of revenue to the game hosts. The only way to combat this is for developers to ban bots/hacks from taking away from player enjoyment under penalty of banning the player that uses the bot/hack. But in essence, this isn't theft or fraud because it's basically a zero sum game.
Now if the bots/hacks are being used by the game hosts to steal items or playing time that players have paid for, now you no longer have a zero sum game, and there is definitely fraud involved.
"No Johnny, you can't go outside and play. You've only put in 10 hours of homework today, and you haven't made your weekly quota of 110 hours yet."
"But Mom, it's Sunday!"
"Do you want to let us down? Now go back and don't come out until you've put in another 5 hours, and maybe we'll let you watch TV for a couple minutes before bedtime."
Dear Mozilla.org developers,
I'm sorry I went on vacation in early July. I was only gone a week, but I can see now that even that's too much. I'll try to make up the lost browsing this month and promise to take fewer or shorter vacations in the future.
Sincerely,
southpolesammy
Belkin's Nostromo SpeedPad n52 on the left hand, Logitech's G7 mouse on the right hand, serious frag death for my opponents....
Guess that explains why we don't like bots then....
Next time they use the God trump card, tell them you agree -- tell them to read the Book of Revelation.
I'm not a particularly spiritual person, but I do believe that we've violated Darwinism for too long and that there will be a reckoning sooner or later. Perhaps not along the apocalyptic lines of Revelation, but at some point there will be a threshhold of sustainability that will be crossed where the only corrective measure will be a depopulation. We've already seen this in drought-stricken areas like Saharan Africa, or in areas too susceptible to natural disaster, like Indonesia. The results are awful and terrifying.
I hope we're smart enough to realize that we're in danger, but if not, I hope it doesn't happen during my or my son's lifetimes.
Yeah, and the report that is referenced in TFA isn't available to the public-at-large. So I'm left wondering about the veracity of the statements made.
I'm in agreement with another poster who posted that it seems far more plausible that 17-21% of companies had 1+ employees using Mac OS X, not that 17-21% of employees at large companies were using Mac. I think the author at MacWorld may very well be taking liberties with the wording of the report.
Anyone have access to the report that can post the relevant details here?
Looking at the system myself, it looks like 99% of the headache is in setting it up. Once it's configured correctly, that's when you get the doctors praising it like it was the best thing since sliced bread.
So in other words, it's pretty much like every other piece of software out there with a fairly complex task to do. Just take a guess whether the praise or the complaints will get the most airtime...
[Note to father: Thanks for subscribing to National Geographic throughout my childhood.]
Uh oh....Darl has hacked someone's /. account....
This is an unfortunate ruling -- should not have been accepted for ruling because while it really doesn't change anything legally, it will result in a wave of interpretation by RIAA/MPAA lawyers. It's totally wrong, but wouldn't surprise me in the least.
The loser here is Bram Cohen and his peers, as the legal costs of protecting themselves against these lawsuits will probably bankrupt them, or at the least, keep them tied up enough that they can't continue working on their products, stifling innovation (all to the smiling grins of the **IA's). It will also affect those of us that actually do use BitTorrent for legal purposes like downloading Linux distros (like me).
Note to Bram and Grokster -- please contact the EFF now.
Hell, in 50 years, I'll be 84. I seriously doubt I'll really be caring much about The Onion, Slashdot, HTML/Flash rendering, or other highly technical issues like those.
At that point, if I can remember not to piss in my pants, that'll be a good day.
To expound on this, consider the following "add-ons" of a CD compared to an iTunes download.
Physical pressing of CD
CD label
Cover art
Jewel case and shrinkwrap/annoying security tape
Shipping to stores
Marketing and promos in stores
Lossage due to damage/theft
These are the bits that drive up the cost of CD's and also result in the RIAA being able to charge far more than the cost of the recording (as well as the cost of these line items, taken collectively). Even if you assume a 400% markup over cost for any produced good is typical (not just CD's, but anything -- bread, cars, books, TV's), these guys are still making out like bandits. Therefore, it doesn't take a big leap of faith to understand that the RIAA wants their moneymakers back, but can't realize how to get it again.
The litmus test is when the quantity of music downloaded exceeds that which is purchased in the brick and mortar stores. That could easily be the beginning of a massive paradigm shift which could affect traditional, large data footprint, store-purchased items like CD's, DVD's, and computer games, which still makes up the overwhelming majority of the RIAA/MPAA's revenues. If that scenario occurs, a mass change will occur -- no more music stores, video rental, computer game stores, etc. Instead, you could replace their physical presences with a small kiosk in a mall equipped with a highspeed wired/wireless Internet connections, and eventually even that would go away (and already can in some areas with ubiquitous highspeed broadband).
And that spells the death knell for the RIAA/MPAA as we know it. And they know it too.
Or more concerning to Microsoft, hosting via BT means not having to spend money on big file servers and not being locked into a single OS for said serviecs. Given their recent focus on attempting to hobble Samba as well, I'm guessing that they may be realizing that a core part of their business model has the potential to implode very quickly if alternatives like these gain momentum in the corporate arena.
On the microeconomic scale, 100 years is more than a lifetime. It may be more than your kids' lifetimes.
I agree with you about the impossible design requirements in the house. But the ideas about south-facing windows, north-facing bedrooms, keeping noisy areas away from quiet areas, planting trees for shade, maximal insulation for HVAC efficiency -- these are all sound design principles.
However, I'm not a fan of the donut shape -- it unnecessarily complicates the traffic flow of the house where a simple ellipsoid shape would have done well to allow more direct access throughout the house. Also, the kitchen should be centrally-located if at all possible -- IIRC, the kitchen is the most used room in any house, and therefore should be as close as possible to every other room in the house. Having it far away from every other place seems odd to me. And the garage is one room that certainly will not benefit from the wedge-shape that each room has -- the inner parking spot is significantly shorter than the outer slot. Better to have the garage door on an arc of the house than a radian.
Wouldn't work for American sitcoms -- missing a few variables. First off is "PP", which is product placement by advertisers. Second is the sub-formula, ((DIR|ACTR)xPR)->NTWK, which attempts to explain who among the directors and actors are sleeping with the show's producers in order to get on the good graces of the networks.
But most important is that you have to take all of this and raise it to the power of DRL, which is the average amount of drool coming from the target audience. The highest DRL factor will undoubtedly be a bellwether of success for the show. BTW, this need not be confined to sitcoms, as it explains Pro Wrestling and nearly all reality shows fairly well.
Therefore, it makes sense that just thinking about sex must make you better at it.
Which explains, of course, why my inbox keeps getting filled day-in and day-out with male enhancement solicitations.....
Could be that Time's bias is to the demographics of their readership...
More likely it will mean that you'll see better pricing on PowerPC-based Macs in the future.
I hope that everyone here is not so naive as to think that things like this will stop if SCO (or more appropriately, The Canopy Group) goes away. This is an age of litigious bastards in America and it is foolhardy in the extreme to think that just because one group gets smacked that no one else will try again.
The problem with cases like these are that they're too easy to bring up, and have damaging effects to the reputations of the accused with very little risk to the plaintiffs, regardless of the merit of the case. It also costs companies mega-dollars to defend against these kinds of groundless lawsuits with little no hope of cost recovery. That means that anyone with enough cash to pay lawyers to sling mud can cause damage to a firm's reputation, and is the reason that killing SCO will not kill the hydra.