At least the jurors don't get to set the value of Pi. openbear writes: "According to a story at c|net the jurors meant for MP3.com to pay $3 million and not $300,000 in the court decision made last week.
In Indiana, there used to be a law setting pi equal to 4 instead of the more common value of 3.141592653589793238462650133. It was repealed, though. More info here.
--- The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
They don't have a constitution, so their government will get away with it, too!
Last time I checked, Europe consisted of more than just one country. The tone of this comment, as well as the topic itself of this post, seem to imply that all of Europe is covered by one large government. Wrong.
--- The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
"Trespassing" on a public web forum? Interesting concept.
Although the web forum is open to the public, it is hosted on a private server and as such is technically private property. Thus, if someone such as Aldridge is told not to come back, they can be held liable for trespassing if they do.
--- The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
What about when it is 3:00 in the afternoon, you telnet home and turn on the air con so the room is sufficienly cool when you get home - saves 6 hours of electricity?
What about when the h4x0r5 do the same thing, leaving your house either hotter than hell or cold as the North Pole? Not to mention the fact that your electricity bill for the day comes out to about $25000 (add a few extra zeroes if you live in California). Please don't tell me this thing runs Windows. Checking the web site, it doesn't say.
BTW, this reminds me of an old project -- don't know if it is still up, doubt it is -- in which a few people were living in a climate-controlled house, but the AC/heating was controlled by visitors to their web site. IIRC, visitors only got one vote per day, and each vote only affected the temperature by a fraction of a degree. But here's the funny part -- the temperature was in the mid-to-upper 80s when I visited the site, and from the webcam view on the site, you could see a hand-drawn sign that said "Too hot!" and a stick figure pouring sweat.
--- The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
I mean, we're forced to have ads in the games, why should we have to pay to get ads??
Same reason you pay for newspapers/magazines/etc. The advertising subsidizes it. IOW, if the ads weren't there, it'd cost a lot more. For example, without advertising, your average newspaper would cost around $5 (rough estimate). But add in ads and you get a 90% discount.
--- The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
Harold Benich has refitted his Harley Davidson motorcycle to run on soybean oil, according to this article. It gets 100 miles per gallon and the exhaust smells like McDonald's fries.
Darn...I was thinking of another kind of bean. Of course, the exhaust wouldn't quite smell like McDonald's fries then.... You'd get pretty good fuel efficienty though, due to all the CH4 that would be produced.
--- The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
The new list includes 2 multiple planet systems, one planet with an orbital eccentricity of.93, and another in a nearly circular orbit near its star's habitable zone.
For those of you who don't know what orbital eccentricity is, it is a measure of how much an orbit deviates from being a perfect circle. IOW, the planet in question here has a very elliptical orbit, which is not close at all to being circular. See http://www-astro.phast.umass.edu/courseware/java/p lanets/ecc.html for more information on this.
--- The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
I asked why, and was told a number of varying stories. Some of which include Appleshare being too 'chatty' over the network; MacOS being unstable, easily hacked, etc.; problems with Macs communicating over non-Mac networks
"MacOS being unstable, easily hacked, etc."? And they still allow Windows XX on the network? I'm not a big fan of MacOS, but...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA
--- The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
I would even reason that "free" ISP's such as juno, netzero, and others, could make use this technology to pay for their service instead of the banner ads that they currently sport
Juno is already considering using distributed computing to pay for their "free" internet service.
--- The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
I joined hotmail before M$ got their greedy hands on it. I never agreed to their TOS for passport. I agreed to the pre-microsoft TOS. I assume there are others on this board in the same boat. So am I affected by this very, very bad TOS?
In one word: Yes.
I'm in the same situation, BTW. I've had my @hotmail.com account for four years now, and it has been my primary address ever since then (yeah, yeah, I know...) But like most other services, they reserve the right to change the agreement as long as users are given XX days notice -- whatever the fsck that means.
--- The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
I can go to comp USA and buy 500 copies of MS Windows and shove one into every 500lb bag of manure I sell. Or bundle Disney videos with Dildo collections. So long as I paid for the product, why do I need permission from its maker to bundle it with something else? Someone explain this to me.
Because you are then making a profit off of somebody else's work. The original author is rightfully going to want a cut of that profit, or else won't want *you* to make money off of *their* work at all.
--- The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
The corporations have money, and he doesn't. Thus, they can buy the lawyers, judges, etc. that they need, and he can't. They know this, so they (the corps) aren't afraid of him.
Sad, but true. This is what our legal system is nowadays.
--- The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
In the meantime, the U.S. government is approaching the problem by eliminating regulations on the Baby Bells, which is sort of like combating street crime by taking police officers off the street
Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but with the recent trend towards huge corporate mergers, does this mean that there is a possibility of all the Baby Bells merging to once again form one Big Daddy Bell?
--- The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
Robert X. Cringely pointed out that it would be a comparatively trivial matter to end up charging for music copying by just slapping a tax onto every blank CD-R and CD-RW
Depending on where you live, this is already done. The US taxes 'music CDRs', and other countries such as Canada (and Germany?) tax almost all blank media, including hard drives. The 'tax' I'm referring to here is of course meant as compensation to artists for copying of their works.
that could be distributed to artists and recording labels according to their total "burning share"
You mean you actually think the RIAA would be so generous as to distribute extra money among its associated artists? Fat chance. They have shown in the past that it is their profits that matter, and not those of the artists which literally provide their lifeblood.
And I don't know how you solve the political problem to get the recordables tax passed in the first place
Same way you get laws like the DMCA passed. Buy yourself some Senators and Representatives, and it'll be a breeze.
--- The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
This maybe the start of something that could turn into an AOL/OS. (much rumored for many years) Even though based on Linux, it would be sure to give MS the cold sweats
Interesting. Now that AOL and TW have merged into one huge fscking corporation, they may actually have the resources with which to compete with Microsoft. Maybe the AOL-TW merger was a good thing after all (hint of sarcasm).
--- The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
Copyright protection offers customers no benefit at all over devices with no copyright protection.
But when media starts to be released such that it will *only* work on the devices with stringent copyright protection, that will be a "benefit." And no, your average John Q. Public won't care about the technological underground that knows how to bypass the protection. His shiny new SDMI-CD player will work and will play the new media, and that's all he'll care about.
Unfortunate, but true. And the media companies know darn well that this is the case. Hence the reason they keep going ahead with SDMI/CSS/... despite the opinions of the technological minority (such as Slashdotters).
--- The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft even pushed for full multimedia on PCs.
Correction - they pushed for full secure multimedia on PCs. Nobody at M$ ever said anything about fair use, etc.
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
At least the jurors don't get to set the value of Pi. openbear writes: "According to a story at c|net the jurors meant for MP3.com to pay $3 million and not $300,000 in the court decision made last week.
In Indiana, there used to be a law setting pi equal to 4 instead of the more common value of 3.141592653589793238462650133. It was repealed, though. More info here.
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
They don't have a constitution, so their government will get away with it, too!
Last time I checked, Europe consisted of more than just one country. The tone of this comment, as well as the topic itself of this post, seem to imply that all of Europe is covered by one large government. Wrong.
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
"Trespassing" on a public web forum? Interesting concept.
Although the web forum is open to the public, it is hosted on a private server and as such is technically private property. Thus, if someone such as Aldridge is told not to come back, they can be held liable for trespassing if they do.
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
What about when it is 3:00 in the afternoon, you telnet home and turn on the air con so the room is sufficienly cool when you get home - saves 6 hours of electricity?
What about when the h4x0r5 do the same thing, leaving your house either hotter than hell or cold as the North Pole? Not to mention the fact that your electricity bill for the day comes out to about $25000 (add a few extra zeroes if you live in California). Please don't tell me this thing runs Windows. Checking the web site, it doesn't say.
BTW, this reminds me of an old project -- don't know if it is still up, doubt it is -- in which a few people were living in a climate-controlled house, but the AC/heating was controlled by visitors to their web site. IIRC, visitors only got one vote per day, and each vote only affected the temperature by a fraction of a degree. But here's the funny part -- the temperature was in the mid-to-upper 80s when I visited the site, and from the webcam view on the site, you could see a hand-drawn sign that said "Too hot!" and a stick figure pouring sweat.
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
I mean, we're forced to have ads in the games, why should we have to pay to get ads??
Same reason you pay for newspapers/magazines/etc. The advertising subsidizes it. IOW, if the ads weren't there, it'd cost a lot more. For example, without advertising, your average newspaper would cost around $5 (rough estimate). But add in ads and you get a 90% discount.
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
Harold Benich has refitted his Harley Davidson motorcycle to run on soybean oil, according to this article. It gets 100 miles per gallon and the exhaust smells like McDonald's fries.
Darn...I was thinking of another kind of bean. Of course, the exhaust wouldn't quite smell like McDonald's fries then.... You'd get pretty good fuel efficienty though, due to all the CH4 that would be produced.
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
Does anybody have a copy of the Ken Starr report, with all of the clean parts edited out?
No, but here's a copy with all the dirty parts edited out:
" "
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
The new list includes 2 multiple planet systems, one planet with an orbital eccentricity of .93, and another in a nearly circular orbit near its star's habitable zone.
p lanets/ecc.html for more information on this.
For those of you who don't know what orbital eccentricity is, it is a measure of how much an orbit deviates from being a perfect circle. IOW, the planet in question here has a very elliptical orbit, which is not close at all to being circular. See http://www-astro.phast.umass.edu/courseware/java/
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
I asked why, and was told a number of varying stories. Some of which include Appleshare being too 'chatty' over the network; MacOS being unstable, easily hacked, etc.; problems with Macs communicating over non-Mac networks
"MacOS being unstable, easily hacked, etc."? And they still allow Windows XX on the network? I'm not a big fan of MacOS, but...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
I would even reason that "free" ISP's such as juno, netzero, and others, could make use this technology to pay for their service instead of the banner ads that they currently sport
Juno is already considering using distributed computing to pay for their "free" internet service.
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
How about a 6 foot aluminum sphere with microwave plasma lamps called the 'Black Ball of Sunlight' to check that new polymer for photodegradation?
I wanted to check that new polymer for photodegradation, but I was blinded instantaneously when I first saw the aluminum sphere in question.
(2:30 am...just finished modern physics homework...mind rambling)
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
I joined hotmail before M$ got their greedy hands on it. I never agreed to their TOS for passport. I agreed to the pre-microsoft TOS. I assume there are others on this board in the same boat. So am I affected by this very, very bad TOS?
In one word: Yes.
I'm in the same situation, BTW. I've had my @hotmail.com account for four years now, and it has been my primary address ever since then (yeah, yeah, I know...) But like most other services, they reserve the right to change the agreement as long as users are given XX days notice -- whatever the fsck that means.
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
I wonder if the DMCA can be used to protect my email?
Not likely.
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
I can go to comp USA and buy 500 copies of MS Windows and shove one into every 500lb bag of manure I sell. Or bundle Disney videos with Dildo collections. So long as I paid for the product, why do I need permission from its maker to bundle it with something else? Someone explain this to me.
Because you are then making a profit off of somebody else's work. The original author is rightfully going to want a cut of that profit, or else won't want *you* to make money off of *their* work at all.
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
The corporations have money, and he doesn't. Thus, they can buy the lawyers, judges, etc. that they need, and he can't. They know this, so they (the corps) aren't afraid of him.
Sad, but true. This is what our legal system is nowadays.
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
The President's speech from Independence Day sums it up well:
I know there is much we can learn from each other if we can negotiate a truce.
We can find a way to co-exist.
Can there be peace between us?
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
Such a mega-merger would never pass muster with the Justice Department
The same thing was said about AOL-Time Warner.
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
2b || !2b
Actually, since X || !X is always true since at least one of those must be true, you could shorten it to:
1
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
In the meantime, the U.S. government is approaching the problem by eliminating regulations on the Baby Bells, which is sort of like combating street crime by taking police officers off the street
Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but with the recent trend towards huge corporate mergers, does this mean that there is a possibility of all the Baby Bells merging to once again form one Big Daddy Bell?
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
Robert X. Cringely pointed out that it would be a comparatively trivial matter to end up charging for music copying by just slapping a tax onto every blank CD-R and CD-RW
Depending on where you live, this is already done. The US taxes 'music CDRs', and other countries such as Canada (and Germany?) tax almost all blank media, including hard drives. The 'tax' I'm referring to here is of course meant as compensation to artists for copying of their works.
that could be distributed to artists and recording labels according to their total "burning share"
You mean you actually think the RIAA would be so generous as to distribute extra money among its associated artists? Fat chance. They have shown in the past that it is their profits that matter, and not those of the artists which literally provide their lifeblood.
And I don't know how you solve the political problem to get the recordables tax passed in the first place
Same way you get laws like the DMCA passed. Buy yourself some Senators and Representatives, and it'll be a breeze.
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
Someone is paying way too much for their coffee!
That, or someone likes to drink a lot of coffee.
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
This maybe the start of something that could turn into an AOL/OS. (much rumored for many years) Even though based on Linux, it would be sure to give MS the cold sweats
Interesting. Now that AOL and TW have merged into one huge fscking corporation, they may actually have the resources with which to compete with Microsoft. Maybe the AOL-TW merger was a good thing after all (hint of sarcasm).
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
Copyright protection offers customers no benefit at all over devices with no copyright protection.
But when media starts to be released such that it will *only* work on the devices with stringent copyright protection, that will be a "benefit." And no, your average John Q. Public won't care about the technological underground that knows how to bypass the protection. His shiny new SDMI-CD player will work and will play the new media, and that's all he'll care about.
Unfortunate, but true. And the media companies know darn well that this is the case. Hence the reason they keep going ahead with SDMI/CSS/... despite the opinions of the technological minority (such as Slashdotters).
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation:
Anaerobic: They don't need air.. they still need food..
I know. I probably could have worded my original comment a little better.
---
The AOL-Time Warner-Microsoft-Intel-CBS-ABC-NBC-Fox corporation: