A Bluetooth (or similar-protocol-enabled) MP3 player that would allow you to skim the playlists of OTHER MP3 players in its range, and either a) snag a copy for good or b) just play a song from the other's playlist while it's in range.
Imagine pulling into a parking lot, and hitting the "scan" button... and getting a complete playlist of ALL the other players in the lot...
As well, you could just dump tunes to it from your desktop (also Bluetoothed) machine while your car is sitting in the garage...
A bit of flaming directed at the RIGHT people in the RIGHT amount can work wonders. But as far as Joe Sixpack, flames to this fellow can often be translated as:
"You have an opinion contrary to mine; and since I believe that I am a 3L33T HaX0R G0d and always correct in my thinking, you must, logicially, be a fucking idiot."
Nobody likes being told "you're wrong, and shut the fuck up". NO one.
Now, if one were to say "you're wrong, and HERE'S WHY: (list of facts and not a list of opinions)", now THAT may do some good.
Let's look at this situation as if it were a traditional murder, or a mass slaying.
"Dozens gunned down in shopping mall", for example.
Do you think the FBI would all of a sudden start hunting for an individual who is known to have designed guns? Of course not. They go after the guy who wielded the gun.
But with anything net-related, when Something Bad Happens, they go after the tool-makers (as well as the tool-users).
The big difference between net tools and guns, as far as "tools to commit crimes with"? The gun manufacturers have a powerfuly lobby (NRA) and boatloads of cash. Folks like Mixter are much easier prey.
Back in late 95 through very late 96, I worked at CNN Interactive. One of the fun things I got to do toward the end of my time there was moderate online chats.
The system we used, it was HORRID. It was so horrid, I can't even remember the NAME of it. It was quite prevalent at the time - and it did act as a 'normal' IRC server for those folks who wanted to connect up directly.
The nastiest chat I had to deal with was with Magic Johnson. We had to have two typists (one for Magic, one for the talking head anchor guy), two moderators to catch questions and forward on good ones to me, whereupon I'd pick out the best and sling'em out for the guys to chat about, ooh fun.
Moderating a chat like that can be VERY stressful... especially when this dingbat producer pulls a very good typist off "Magic's" computer and puts on this gal who is practically a two-finger hunt-and-peck typist, just because he wanted to "spread the fun around". I won't go into how many hangers-on crowded into the conference room to schmooze with each other while the chat/interview went on. Ugh.
They got hit with Operation Sundevil, a Secret Service operation nailing hackers back in the late eighties. Stuff about the E911 documents floating around the net at the time was apparently on SJG's Illuminati BBS. (The same E911 docs that got the Atlanta Three tossed in the pokey for a year or two each.) The SS raided SJG's offices, snagged a lot of computers and other stuff - most of which (I believe) they never got back. SJG sued, and a judge actually ruled against the SS! The funny thing was, SJG was working on a new board game, called "Hacker". The SS people found the materials for this, and went nuts. They were convinced it was a "manual for hacking". When told "no no, it's a game," one agent replied "No, this is real." Some people just can't see outside their preconcieved little worlds...
I agree with your last paragraph - and I think that makes the case for the Powers That Be to get off their duff and come up with a "personal" TLD of some sort. ".per" is goofy sounding to me, IMHO. But set things up wither Joe Average can get a domain in this TLD, to do with as he/she/it pleases, much like we do with.com's now (I have one)... and make the.com TLD cost a HELL of a lot more. That's where all the hoopla is - over.coms (and.nets, to a lesser degree). When's the last time you saw a.org being auctioned off for a huge amount?
I'd have no problem with companies trying to register a.com being required to justify (to a reasonable degree) their registering a particular domain name. It'd save a heck of a lot of litigation/hair-pulling, and would prevent bozos from grabbing random.coms just hoping that ONE of'em gets bid on, when the rest could be legitimately used by some business that isn't looking to fork over $50k to a greedy scumbag.
As far as the personal TLD, leave it open, much like now. Businesses depend much more on that name recognition of a domain name than you or I.
If you register a domain, with the plans of using it, and end up selling it off (for whatever price), then you registered it in "good faith" and that's fine by me.
If you register a domain with the sole purpose of turning around and auctioning it off for the highest price... then you're a scumbag.:) Much akin to ticket scalpers who just go and get as many tickets as they can so they can double/triple/google the price for their own personal gain. Reminds me of "Heavy Metal"...
"Hangin's too GOOD for'em! BURNIN'S too GOOD for'em! He should be TORN into ITSY-BITSY PIECES and BURIED ALIIIIIIIVE!!!":)
Besides, if Lucas waits for as long as he's talking (we're talking around 6 years from now) to issue everything on DVD... who knows? The Next Big Thing might be out by then - a DVD-Killer.
All this "he's just a greedy bastard who only cares about money" is crap. He went through a lot to get control over the whole franchise, back in the day, because he didn't want anyone else mucking it up - he had a vision (maybe that's a bit of an extreme term here, but you get the point) for the story/stories, and didn't want the studios goofing it up. Cut the man some slack.
...we just haven't heard about it. Considering the nature of the two parties, it'd probably be waaaay easier to keep that part of it quiet than it would this part - which is rife with individuals who will SCREAM at the top of their lungs what's going on, every chance they get, to whoever will listen (and some folks that won't):)
...was due to export laws here. They couldn't get away with stronger encryption and be able to make DVDs available outside the US. They've stated as much recently. Not that I'm on their side or anything, just stating facts.
This kid is going to be the new... grr, what's his name... Bennett or somesuch? The Peacefire kid...
Sure, all the colleges are saying "it's the bandwidth" but I'd bet money each of those colleges received nastygrams from RIAA, which prompted the actions. It saves more face for the colleges to cut off Napster access for "technical" reasons over "legal" ones, regardless of the fact that both reasons are in play here (and both valid reasons, regardless of many people's opinions).
...they've only agreed to merge (at least the head honchos). It's still up to the shareholders and the regulators. If they *do* merge, it'll be late in the year...
I was working at CNN when the Turner/TW merger was announced. All the media jumped all over it, just like now - but it was quite a while before it actually happened.
1) All USENET traffic originating from home.com would be blocked on UPD-participating NNTP servers. 2) All USENET traffic originating OUTSIDE of home.com would still pass through to @Home's NNTP servers, articles being available for @Home users to read. 3) @Home users could still post USENET articles, which would reside on @Home's servers (though not make it outside), and @Home users could still read other @Home user postings.
True? False? Halfway in between? If true, then a lot of the posts above screaming bloody murder would be going over the top a bit. @Home people wouldn't even really notice - they'd SEE all their posts, and everyone else's - they just wouldn't see any REPLIES to their posts by non-@Homers, as they're not making out to the rest of the world to be seen and replied to. And they'd also still see all the home.com-originating spam.:)
Sensible replies welcomed... keep thy flames to thyself, please:)
I've been considering getting an Empeg of late, and just went and checked on their site - the Empeg has RDS capability. I do hope they set it up as an option and not a required thing - and I figure they did.
RDS isn't meant for normal stations to *force* you to listen to their music format - Top40, whatever - but just to zoom you in when they're broadcasting TRAFFIC reports. I doubt any station would get away with constantly broadcasting the RDS signal along with their normal one 24 hours a day, trying to hijack listeners. People would revolt. Transmitters would be torn down, DJs lynched.
Hmm... there's a thought...:)
I can't disagree with you on the "left of the dial" comment, though. But consider that many of those stations, who broadcast traffic, will probably also spit out an RDS signal... though I can't think of any stations of that sort in my area that DO broadcast traffic... *shrug*
Back in '90, I managed to meet Gibson when he and Sterling were in town on the Difference Engine book signing tour. A friend of mine knew Sterling through other means (having to do with being busted for hacking - this was before "The Hacker Crackdown" was published) so we met up with them down at the bookstore. They later headed off with the publishers rep for dinner, and we met up with them later at their hotel to hang out and yak.
Now, during the signing, Gibson had been pounding the wine... then more wine at dinner... so by the time they got back to the hotel, he was sloshed. The man then cracks open the little honor bar cabinet and tears in.
The funniest thing was when Gibson was sitting on the edge of a bed, with a Heineken in one hand and a little bottle of Jack in the other, watching the Weather Channel... and I forget what he said before this, but the next line is forever etched into my memory... discussing the weathergirl on TV...
...and what REALLY makes me come is that she's SO inCREDibly LUCID...!
...the rebuttal to Microsoft's comments pretty much say "it doesn't interecept the outgoing data and rewrite it" - they claim it DOES actually strip the security settings from the WMA file itself. Wired is who claimed it intercepted/rewrote the data, Dimension says they're mistaken.
Slashdot Mirror
What would rock:
:)
A Bluetooth (or similar-protocol-enabled) MP3 player that would allow you to skim the playlists of OTHER MP3 players in its range, and either a) snag a copy for good or b) just play a song from the other's playlist while it's in range.
Imagine pulling into a parking lot, and hitting the "scan" button... and getting a complete playlist of ALL the other players in the lot...
As well, you could just dump tunes to it from your desktop (also Bluetoothed) machine while your car is sitting in the garage...
RIAA, chew on that!
Seems a few months ago, I saw a story (I *think* it was on /.) about some obscure company getting awarded a patent on affiliate programs...?
Ah yes, here's the Slashdot story.
What would be the point of mapping the earth in a hi-res fashion if there were CLOUDS in the way? :)
A bit of flaming directed at the RIGHT people in the RIGHT amount can work wonders. But as far as Joe Sixpack, flames to this fellow can often be translated as:
"You have an opinion contrary to mine; and since I believe that I am a 3L33T HaX0R G0d and always correct in my thinking, you must, logicially, be a fucking idiot."
Nobody likes being told "you're wrong, and shut the fuck up". NO one.
Now, if one were to say "you're wrong, and HERE'S WHY: (list of facts and not a list of opinions)", now THAT may do some good.
Let's look at this situation as if it were a traditional murder, or a mass slaying.
"Dozens gunned down in shopping mall", for example.
Do you think the FBI would all of a sudden start hunting for an individual who is known to have designed guns? Of course not. They go after the guy who wielded the gun.
But with anything net-related, when Something Bad Happens, they go after the tool-makers (as well as the tool-users).
The big difference between net tools and guns, as far as "tools to commit crimes with"? The gun manufacturers have a powerfuly lobby (NRA) and boatloads of cash. Folks like Mixter are much easier prey.
Back in late 95 through very late 96, I worked at CNN Interactive. One of the fun things I got to do toward the end of my time there was moderate online chats.
The system we used, it was HORRID. It was so horrid, I can't even remember the NAME of it. It was quite prevalent at the time - and it did act as a 'normal' IRC server for those folks who wanted to connect up directly.
The nastiest chat I had to deal with was with Magic Johnson. We had to have two typists (one for Magic, one for the talking head anchor guy), two moderators to catch questions and forward on good ones to me, whereupon I'd pick out the best and sling'em out for the guys to chat about, ooh fun.
Moderating a chat like that can be VERY stressful... especially when this dingbat producer pulls a very good typist off "Magic's" computer and puts on this gal who is practically a two-finger hunt-and-peck typist, just because he wanted to "spread the fun around". I won't go into how many hangers-on crowded into the conference room to schmooze with each other while the chat/interview went on. Ugh.
See my post below for details...
...that most of the flames are posted on /., and most of his positive comments are sent directly to him via email...
Or take these two quotes (from the same paragraph):
:) Doesn't sound very 'free' to me... *laugh*
"The principle occupation [of the MPAA] is to make sure that American movies move freely and unhobbled around the world"
"And in the last several years, we have been intentionally, seriously and energetically concerned with combating theft of our intellectual property."
So he wants movies to move freely... but not with the help of anyone else?
They got hit with Operation Sundevil, a Secret Service operation nailing hackers back in the late eighties. Stuff about the E911 documents floating around the net at the time was apparently on SJG's Illuminati BBS. (The same E911 docs that got the Atlanta Three tossed in the pokey for a year or two each.) The SS raided SJG's offices, snagged a lot of computers and other stuff - most of which (I believe) they never got back. SJG sued, and a judge actually ruled against the SS! The funny thing was, SJG was working on a new board game, called "Hacker". The SS people found the materials for this, and went nuts. They were convinced it was a "manual for hacking". When told "no no, it's a game," one agent replied "No, this is real." Some people just can't see outside their preconcieved little worlds...
I agree with your last paragraph - and I think that makes the case for the Powers That Be to get off their duff and come up with a "personal" TLD of some sort. ".per" is goofy sounding to me, IMHO. But set things up wither Joe Average can get a domain in this TLD, to do with as he/she/it pleases, much like we do with .com's now (I have one)... and make the .com TLD cost a HELL of a lot more. That's where all the hoopla is - over .coms (and .nets, to a lesser degree). When's the last time you saw a .org being auctioned off for a huge amount?
.com being required to justify (to a reasonable degree) their registering a particular domain name. It'd save a heck of a lot of litigation/hair-pulling, and would prevent bozos from grabbing random .coms just hoping that ONE of'em gets bid on, when the rest could be legitimately used by some business that isn't looking to fork over $50k to a greedy scumbag.
I'd have no problem with companies trying to register a
As far as the personal TLD, leave it open, much like now. Businesses depend much more on that name recognition of a domain name than you or I.
My take on the whole squatting thing:
:) Much akin to ticket scalpers who just go and get as many tickets as they can so they can double/triple/google the price for their own personal gain.
:)
If you register a domain, with the plans of using it, and end up selling it off (for whatever price), then you registered it in "good faith" and that's fine by me.
If you register a domain with the sole purpose of turning around and auctioning it off for the highest price... then you're a scumbag.
Reminds me of "Heavy Metal"...
"Hangin's too GOOD for'em! BURNIN'S too GOOD for'em! He should be TORN into ITSY-BITSY PIECES and BURIED ALIIIIIIIVE!!!"
It's one of IDG's that CNN republishes. They do this all the time. Look at that little "PC World Online" logo just above the article...
Besides, if Lucas waits for as long as he's talking (we're talking around 6 years from now) to issue everything on DVD... who knows? The Next Big Thing might be out by then - a DVD-Killer.
All this "he's just a greedy bastard who only cares about money" is crap. He went through a lot to get control over the whole franchise, back in the day, because he didn't want anyone else mucking it up - he had a vision (maybe that's a bit of an extreme term here, but you get the point) for the story/stories, and didn't want the studios goofing it up. Cut the man some slack.
Most of the DVDs I get nowadays are used. Used CD shops in the area have started dealing in DVDs also.
:)
So go find the cheapest one of the lot, buy it, and torch it!
...we just haven't heard about it. Considering the nature of the two parties, it'd probably be waaaay easier to keep that part of it quiet than it would this part - which is rife with individuals who will SCREAM at the top of their lungs what's going on, every chance they get, to whoever will listen (and some folks that won't) :)
...was due to export laws here. They couldn't get away with stronger encryption and be able to make DVDs available outside the US. They've stated as much recently. Not that I'm on their side or anything, just stating facts.
This kid is going to be the new... grr, what's his name... Bennett or somesuch? The Peacefire kid...
Sure, all the colleges are saying "it's the bandwidth" but I'd bet money each of those colleges received nastygrams from RIAA, which prompted the actions. It saves more face for the colleges to cut off Napster access for "technical" reasons over "legal" ones, regardless of the fact that both reasons are in play here (and both valid reasons, regardless of many people's opinions).
A wonderful exercise in logic... :)
...they've only agreed to merge (at least the head honchos). It's still up to the shareholders and the regulators. If they *do* merge, it'll be late in the year...
I was working at CNN when the Turner/TW merger was announced. All the media jumped all over it, just like now - but it was quite a while before it actually happened.
Here's my understanding of what would happen:
:)
:)
1) All USENET traffic originating from home.com would be blocked on UPD-participating NNTP servers.
2) All USENET traffic originating OUTSIDE of home.com would still pass through to @Home's NNTP servers, articles being available for @Home users to read.
3) @Home users could still post USENET articles, which would reside on @Home's servers (though not make it outside), and @Home users could still read other @Home user postings.
True? False? Halfway in between? If true, then a lot of the posts above screaming bloody murder would be going over the top a bit. @Home people wouldn't even really notice - they'd SEE all their posts, and everyone else's - they just wouldn't see any REPLIES to their posts by non-@Homers, as they're not making out to the rest of the world to be seen and replied to. And they'd also still see all the home.com-originating spam.
Sensible replies welcomed... keep thy flames to thyself, please
I've been considering getting an Empeg of late, and just went and checked on their site - the Empeg has RDS capability. I do hope they set it up as an option and not a required thing - and I figure they did.
RDS isn't meant for normal stations to *force* you to listen to their music format - Top40, whatever - but just to zoom you in when they're broadcasting TRAFFIC reports. I doubt any station would get away with constantly broadcasting the RDS signal along with their normal one 24 hours a day, trying to hijack listeners. People would revolt. Transmitters would be torn down, DJs lynched.
:)
Hmm... there's a thought...
I can't disagree with you on the "left of the dial" comment, though. But consider that many of those stations, who broadcast traffic, will probably also spit out an RDS signal... though I can't think of any stations of that sort in my area that DO broadcast traffic... *shrug*
Back in '90, I managed to meet Gibson when he and Sterling were in town on the Difference Engine book signing tour. A friend of mine knew Sterling through other means (having to do with being busted for hacking - this was before "The Hacker Crackdown" was published) so we met up with them down at the bookstore. They later headed off with the publishers rep for dinner, and we met up with them later at their hotel to hang out and yak.
...and what REALLY makes me come is that she's SO inCREDibly LUCID...!
Now, during the signing, Gibson had been pounding the wine... then more wine at dinner... so by the time they got back to the hotel, he was sloshed. The man then cracks open the little honor bar cabinet and tears in.
The funniest thing was when Gibson was sitting on the edge of a bed, with a Heineken in one hand and a little bottle of Jack in the other, watching the Weather Channel... and I forget what he said before this, but the next line is forever etched into my memory... discussing the weathergirl on TV...
Ah, the howls of derisive laughter...
...the rebuttal to Microsoft's comments pretty much say "it doesn't interecept the outgoing data and rewrite it" - they claim it DOES actually strip the security settings from the WMA file itself. Wired is who claimed it intercepted/rewrote the data, Dimension says they're mistaken.