However is the "knitted together" text better than, or even different from, just googling and reading some of the top sites, reading various topics on wikipedia?
The difference is that this upstart publisher claims to do the googling for you and to organize the results. It would be difficult to do it yourself since you would have to first borrow the book from a classmate and create an outline so that you would know which topics will be discussed in class and in what order.
The camera in a modern cell phone is sufficiently good that you can take an image of the table of content pages. Its trivial to snap a few images in class. Or you can go old-school and get the library's limited loan copy of the book and photocopy the table of contents.
I did the camera thing. I knew a friend was working on a paper on a particular topic. I was coincidentally reading a book that had a paragraph I thought he might get a good quote/citation from. I took cell phone pictures of the paragraph in question, the book's copyright/publisher/ISBN info and emailed the two images. It worked out great, the resolution was far in excess of what was needed.
"Any Key" phone call really happened ...
on
IT Calls of Shame
·
· Score: 1
A friend worked at a brick-and-mortar that sold computers. He came back from work one day and shared that the "any key" stories are true. He said he watched a customer leave and call back a few hours later. He watched the salesman for that customer get on the phone, listen, and then say "the 'any key', that's the big long one on the bottom without a label".
Given that its reported that they are reproducing the look and feel of the US textbook down to the bear photos I'd expect that the possible advantage that you suggest is not present.
FWIW I get exactly what you are saying regarding modern US textbooks. I have an uncle who studied engineering in the 1950s. I was shocked at how small and thin his books were. Then when I opened them I understood, no fluff, just math and science... plus an expectation that you were in the brighter half of the freshman class that would make it to graduation.
and by the late 1960's the USA was a toxic waste dump like china is today because people would build and screw the local communities.
BS. During that era and before, my grandfather worked at an industrial site with various nasty products that had to be properly captured, stored and removed. They did so conscientiously, before the 60s and the modern environmentalist movement. Besides being the law, there are also practical little details like the workers *and managers* of the plant knowing damn well that they could contaminate the local well water the town pumped into all their homes, the water that they and their families drank. Have their been tragic cases of pollution, yes, but they are the exception not the rule. Keep in mind that the companies and managers that do the "right thing" never make it to the nightly news.
To illustrate this claim of intellectual theft, the publishers’ complaint points to the Boundless versions of several textbooks, including Biology, a textbook authored by Neil Campbell and Jane Reece. The Boundless alternative, the complaint alleges, is guilty of copying the printed material’s layout and engaging in what the complaint calls “photographic paraphrasing.” In one chapter of the printed book, for instance, the editors chose to illustrate the first and second laws of thermodynamics using pictures of a bear running and a bear catching a fish in its mouth. Boundless’s substitute text uses similar pictures to illustrate the same concepts—albeit Creative Commons-licensed images hosted on Wikipedia that include links to the source material, in accordance with the terms of the open license. (The end of each Boundless section also includes links to the text’s source material, which often includes Wikipedia, the Encyclopedia of Earth, and other Web sites.)
The complaint goes on to allege that Boundless’s choice of bear photographs in that chapter reflects “only the previously made creative, scholarly, and aesthetic judgments of the authors and editors of Campbell’s Biology.”
(Bolded by me)
So... is that wrong? I don't get it. If it's Creative Commons, doesn't that allow this sort of thing, by definition?
IANAL but my understanding is that its not the bears in isolation, it the bears in the larger context. Its the overall look-and-feel of the page. Look-and-feel, perhaps not in this context though, has been successfully used in copyright/patent suits. Also I would guess that the use of bears strongly indicates that the look-and-feel being similar was not a coincidence, that it was intentional. Keep in mind that civil courts use a threshold of guilt far lower than criminal course where you have "innocent beyond a reasonable doubt". So even strongly suggesting the defendants were intentionally duplicating the look-and-feel may carry some weight.
... pulls content from an array of open-education sources to knit together a text that the company claims is as good as the designated book...
A noble intention but I am suspicious of "as good as". Pulling stuff from various sources and slapping it together quickly is not a strategy known for producing "as good as" products. Perhaps a "good enough" product though.
However is the "knitted together" text better than, or even different from, just googling and reading some of the top sites, reading various topics on wikipedia?
Also with respect to "as good as" I am *not* counting the missing homework problems against it.
I don't know, but this sounds more like a lightsaber. Just crank up the power a little bit.
Actually that is precise how the laser flashlights in Larry Niven's Ringworld (1970) operated. On a low setting they were pretty much flashlights. They were designed to be covert, non-obvious weapons. However if the power was dialed up you had a powerful energy weapon for slicing things at a distance.
A live squirrel does two things when it sees a rattlesnake. It starts moving its tail in a flagging motion and actually heats up the temperature of its tail. Because rattlesnakes can see in the infrared wavelengths, they should be able to see both the tail move and heat up. The question is which of these two signals is important and just what message it's supposed to send to the rattlesnake.
Its not sending a messages. Its presenting a decoy target.
this is not a case where such talk led to problems
We don't know that. She went in and was 'interviewed.'
The victim of an assault pointed at her photo and said she committed the assault. That is why she was arrested. Going in for the interview merely set the time and place that the arrest would occur. If she declined the interview, they would have come to her home or workplace and taken her to the police station. Arrests occur upon serious suspicion, not upon establishment of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The only way to avoid arrest is to lower the level of suspicion. Silence does not reduce the suspicion. Having your statement come from your attorney does not reduce the suspicion any more than if it came directly from you. If she went to her attorney and said I have a couple of text messages and an alibi from a boyfriend the attorney would have probably said "you are going to need more than that, lets go get some affidavits from other people who attended the art opening art opening before we talk to the police". Such is the value of an attorney.
Its not clear if the police used facebook. The victim of the assault *may* have used facebook on her own and then went to the police with the photo. From the article:
"When she called an officer told her "there was an altercation at the bar, two girls got in a fight and the girl who was assaulted has pointed you out as being her assaulter through a photo on Facebook.""
... turning to church-based learning is the answer...
FWIW some churches may be doing OK with respect to scientific education. The Catholic church has stated that scientific discovery is not in conflict with faith, this includes discoveries with respect to evolution. They do a bit of real cosmological science. One of their priests formulated the currently accepted origin of the universe, the big bang theory. Our western tradition of the scientific method originated with various medieval bishops. I believe various other churches have similar perspectives. Not all Christian churches are of the opinion that the universe snapped into existence, as we see it now, on a wednesday six thousand years ago. The later group just gets more TV time and create a misleading impression of Christianity.
That is my guess. Scientifically they behaved fine, but the PR in the mainstream press might have been a bit uncomfortable.
The members of the mainstream press who blew things out of proportion and dumbed down the story so much and failed to emphasize that the real scientists were saying "we must have made a mistake" should resign.
The real scientist who sees something odd and shows it to colleagues to help him/her figure out what went wrong should not be punished when it turns out to be due to some basic mistake. Something like "I have odd data but I can't figure out what I did wrong" was the start of many scientific discoveries.
Creating an environment where scientists are reluctant to share odd results and get help finding mistakes will impede the progress of science.
However creating an environment where sensationalist journalists, or scientifically illiterate journalists who write articles regarding advanced scientific topics, are reluctant to publish their writing might be a good thing. Of course I might have made a mistake in my logic and I hope my slashdot colleagues can help me see my error.:-)
To what degree do developers of iOS applications have any obligation whatsoever to fill this form out and return it? What happens if you simply give them the same response given in Arkell v. Pressdram?
Its better not to piss off those who can write the legislation that can screw up your business or industry. Its better for them to view you as cooperative and reasonable. That way when legislation is proposed that affects your business or industry you can speak with them from a more favorable position. If you had previously been cooperative and reasonable then your opinion will have more weight. This doesn't guarantee things will ultimately go your way but the odds of a good outcome are better when starting the relationship in a friendly manner than in the F U manner.
Am I the only person who is wondering why FaceBook feels that it is within their rights to draft a new law? Or did I misunderstand TFS?
Facebook is a taxpayer. Why can't they ask their representatives to draft legislation on a particular topic? Just like you and I.
I realize there is a lot of abuse in the current system but I think that is a different topic. If we were to cleanup the system and make it fair once again, perhaps only let voters donate to political parties and candidates, shouldn't any taxpayer be able to approach their legislators asking for legislation on a topic? Regardless of whether that taxpayer is a corporation, union, organization (Sierra Club, etc) or a person? Again, donating money is one thing but suggesting legislation is something else.
Prison guards are not much different from regular mall guards - they are not law enforcement officers working for a government agency.
Maryland Department of Corrections doesn't sound like a government agency to you?
A sworn law enforcement officer, or perhaps more accurately a sworn peace officer, covers a wide array of jobs. This includes corrections officers.
Your opinion reminds me of college. Nearly every quarter there was a story in the school paper about some student who got arrested after telling campus police that he didn't have to listen to them, that they were just rent-a-cops, etc. In truth they were sworn peace officers with the jurisdiction and authority of state police, it was a public university.
humor aside, i got the first post and was so excited I had to type something beside first post quickly, so this came out....... I don't really want to sue my boss......
Translation: My boss reads slashdot and I hope he is not familiar with the concept of Freudian Slip.:-)
Humor aside, if that is your goal you do not need help from facebook nor a new law. Existing laws will do quite nicely. For example it is illegal to ask a job candidate their age and a prospective employer can get sued for doing so. Logging into a facebook account exposes a prospective employer to much such prohibited information.
Has a single company that has done this been identified by name? Every article I've seen does NOT mention any name, making it sound more anecdotal than factual.
And such guards are sworn law enforcement officers that must agree to background checks and investigations. Investigations that involve contacting and interviewing friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues, etc. Not only those individuals provided by the prospective employee but those secondary contacts (friends of friends so to speak) that interviewees mention as also knowing the prospective employee.
I'm afraid the Maryland DOC case is a poor example of invasion of privacy.
The truth is that regular employers that have a clue already know that logging into a candidate's facebook account is illegal. It is against the law to ask a candidate's age and certain other personal information. Information that is visible in facebook. Regular employers already know they are setting themselves up to be sued if they do so. Are there aberrations, of course, but there is no widespread trend and there will not be. Even with existing laws on the books.
Any user that switches (in either direction) can attest to the fact that many apps in Appstore are paid where their Android Market equivalent would be ad-supported.
Or simply not exist under Android.
To imply that a particular app is "paid" under iOS and "ad supported" under Android seems misleading. I suppose you are using the term "equivalent" very loosely. If so I think your point may still be misleading. For any given paid app under iOS you will most likely find "equivalent" ad supported apps also under iOS.
Prior to Apple there was not much digital distribution. It was a somewhat niche scene catering to a relatively small market. Apple took digital distribution mainstream. Even today Apple dwarfs steam. Steam did a total of 15M games last year, Angry Birds all by itself does ten times that.
Apple is not bottling up anything. A $99/year developer subscription gives you access to a market of tens of millions. A small young company is able to offer its products from the same store to the same audience as the big established companies. To use Angry Birds as an example again, that came from a small young developer. Ten years ago a small successful developer selling direct would be measuring sales in units of thousands not millions.
Slashdot Mirror
However is the "knitted together" text better than, or even different from, just googling and reading some of the top sites, reading various topics on wikipedia?
The difference is that this upstart publisher claims to do the googling for you and to organize the results. It would be difficult to do it yourself since you would have to first borrow the book from a classmate and create an outline so that you would know which topics will be discussed in class and in what order.
The camera in a modern cell phone is sufficiently good that you can take an image of the table of content pages. Its trivial to snap a few images in class. Or you can go old-school and get the library's limited loan copy of the book and photocopy the table of contents.
I did the camera thing. I knew a friend was working on a paper on a particular topic. I was coincidentally reading a book that had a paragraph I thought he might get a good quote/citation from. I took cell phone pictures of the paragraph in question, the book's copyright/publisher/ISBN info and emailed the two images. It worked out great, the resolution was far in excess of what was needed.
A friend worked at a brick-and-mortar that sold computers. He came back from work one day and shared that the "any key" stories are true. He said he watched a customer leave and call back a few hours later. He watched the salesman for that customer get on the phone, listen, and then say "the 'any key', that's the big long one on the bottom without a label".
Given that its reported that they are reproducing the look and feel of the US textbook down to the bear photos I'd expect that the possible advantage that you suggest is not present.
... plus an expectation that you were in the brighter half of the freshman class that would make it to graduation.
FWIW I get exactly what you are saying regarding modern US textbooks. I have an uncle who studied engineering in the 1950s. I was shocked at how small and thin his books were. Then when I opened them I understood, no fluff, just math and science
and by the late 1960's the USA was a toxic waste dump like china is today because people would build and screw the local communities.
BS. During that era and before, my grandfather worked at an industrial site with various nasty products that had to be properly captured, stored and removed. They did so conscientiously, before the 60s and the modern environmentalist movement. Besides being the law, there are also practical little details like the workers *and managers* of the plant knowing damn well that they could contaminate the local well water the town pumped into all their homes, the water that they and their families drank. Have their been tragic cases of pollution, yes, but they are the exception not the rule. Keep in mind that the companies and managers that do the "right thing" never make it to the nightly news.
I thought educational use was exempt from copyright restrictions.
I think such exemptions are with respect to brief excerpts.
From the Article:
To illustrate this claim of intellectual theft, the publishers’ complaint points to the Boundless versions of several textbooks, including Biology, a textbook authored by Neil Campbell and Jane Reece. The Boundless alternative, the complaint alleges, is guilty of copying the printed material’s layout and engaging in what the complaint calls “photographic paraphrasing.” In one chapter of the printed book, for instance, the editors chose to illustrate the first and second laws of thermodynamics using pictures of a bear running and a bear catching a fish in its mouth. Boundless’s substitute text uses similar pictures to illustrate the same concepts—albeit Creative Commons-licensed images hosted on Wikipedia that include links to the source material, in accordance with the terms of the open license. (The end of each Boundless section also includes links to the text’s source material, which often includes Wikipedia, the Encyclopedia of Earth, and other Web sites.)
The complaint goes on to allege that Boundless’s choice of bear photographs in that chapter reflects “only the previously made creative, scholarly, and aesthetic judgments of the authors and editors of Campbell’s Biology.”
(Bolded by me)
So... is that wrong? I don't get it. If it's Creative Commons, doesn't that allow this sort of thing, by definition?
IANAL but my understanding is that its not the bears in isolation, it the bears in the larger context. Its the overall look-and-feel of the page. Look-and-feel, perhaps not in this context though, has been successfully used in copyright/patent suits. Also I would guess that the use of bears strongly indicates that the look-and-feel being similar was not a coincidence, that it was intentional. Keep in mind that civil courts use a threshold of guilt far lower than criminal course where you have "innocent beyond a reasonable doubt". So even strongly suggesting the defendants were intentionally duplicating the look-and-feel may carry some weight.
... pulls content from an array of open-education sources to knit together a text that the company claims is as good as the designated book ...
A noble intention but I am suspicious of "as good as". Pulling stuff from various sources and slapping it together quickly is not a strategy known for producing "as good as" products. Perhaps a "good enough" product though.
However is the "knitted together" text better than, or even different from, just googling and reading some of the top sites, reading various topics on wikipedia?
Also with respect to "as good as" I am *not* counting the missing homework problems against it.
I don't know, but this sounds more like a lightsaber. Just crank up the power a little bit.
Actually that is precise how the laser flashlights in Larry Niven's Ringworld (1970) operated. On a low setting they were pretty much flashlights. They were designed to be covert, non-obvious weapons. However if the power was dialed up you had a powerful energy weapon for slicing things at a distance.
A live squirrel does two things when it sees a rattlesnake. It starts moving its tail in a flagging motion and actually heats up the temperature of its tail. Because rattlesnakes can see in the infrared wavelengths, they should be able to see both the tail move and heat up. The question is which of these two signals is important and just what message it's supposed to send to the rattlesnake.
Its not sending a messages. Its presenting a decoy target.
this is not a case where such talk led to problems
We don't know that. She went in and was 'interviewed.'
The victim of an assault pointed at her photo and said she committed the assault. That is why she was arrested. Going in for the interview merely set the time and place that the arrest would occur. If she declined the interview, they would have come to her home or workplace and taken her to the police station. Arrests occur upon serious suspicion, not upon establishment of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The only way to avoid arrest is to lower the level of suspicion. Silence does not reduce the suspicion. Having your statement come from your attorney does not reduce the suspicion any more than if it came directly from you. If she went to her attorney and said I have a couple of text messages and an alibi from a boyfriend the attorney would have probably said "you are going to need more than that, lets go get some affidavits from other people who attended the art opening art opening before we talk to the police". Such is the value of an attorney.
... what if the story hits the papers or online news media? ...
Like slashdot or the news site that the slashdot article linked to? ;-)
I think the battery packs of electric cars weigh 500-800 pounds.
In this case, they apparently showed the victim a bunch of pictures of people who had "friended" the bar ...
Is that what happened? Or did the victim check the friends of the bar on her own and then go to the police saying "this person attacked me"?
Its not clear if the police used facebook. The victim of the assault *may* have used facebook on her own and then went to the police with the photo. From the article:
"When she called an officer told her "there was an altercation at the bar, two girls got in a fight and the girl who was assaulted has pointed you out as being her assaulter through a photo on Facebook.""
... turning to church-based learning is the answer ...
FWIW some churches may be doing OK with respect to scientific education. The Catholic church has stated that scientific discovery is not in conflict with faith, this includes discoveries with respect to evolution. They do a bit of real cosmological science. One of their priests formulated the currently accepted origin of the universe, the big bang theory. Our western tradition of the scientific method originated with various medieval bishops. I believe various other churches have similar perspectives. Not all Christian churches are of the opinion that the universe snapped into existence, as we see it now, on a wednesday six thousand years ago. The later group just gets more TV time and create a misleading impression of Christianity.
That is my guess. Scientifically they behaved fine, but the PR in the mainstream press might have been a bit uncomfortable.
The members of the mainstream press who blew things out of proportion and dumbed down the story so much and failed to emphasize that the real scientists were saying "we must have made a mistake" should resign.
:-)
The real scientist who sees something odd and shows it to colleagues to help him/her figure out what went wrong should not be punished when it turns out to be due to some basic mistake. Something like "I have odd data but I can't figure out what I did wrong" was the start of many scientific discoveries.
Creating an environment where scientists are reluctant to share odd results and get help finding mistakes will impede the progress of science.
However creating an environment where sensationalist journalists, or scientifically illiterate journalists who write articles regarding advanced scientific topics, are reluctant to publish their writing might be a good thing. Of course I might have made a mistake in my logic and I hope my slashdot colleagues can help me see my error.
To what degree do developers of iOS applications have any obligation whatsoever to fill this form out and return it? What happens if you simply give them the same response given in Arkell v. Pressdram?
Its better not to piss off those who can write the legislation that can screw up your business or industry. Its better for them to view you as cooperative and reasonable. That way when legislation is proposed that affects your business or industry you can speak with them from a more favorable position. If you had previously been cooperative and reasonable then your opinion will have more weight. This doesn't guarantee things will ultimately go your way but the odds of a good outcome are better when starting the relationship in a friendly manner than in the F U manner.
Am I the only person who is wondering why FaceBook feels that it is within their rights to draft a new law? Or did I misunderstand TFS?
Facebook is a taxpayer. Why can't they ask their representatives to draft legislation on a particular topic? Just like you and I.
I realize there is a lot of abuse in the current system but I think that is a different topic. If we were to cleanup the system and make it fair once again, perhaps only let voters donate to political parties and candidates, shouldn't any taxpayer be able to approach their legislators asking for legislation on a topic? Regardless of whether that taxpayer is a corporation, union, organization (Sierra Club, etc) or a person? Again, donating money is one thing but suggesting legislation is something else.
Prison guards are not much different from regular mall guards - they are not law enforcement officers working for a government agency.
Maryland Department of Corrections doesn't sound like a government agency to you?
A sworn law enforcement officer, or perhaps more accurately a sworn peace officer, covers a wide array of jobs. This includes corrections officers.
Your opinion reminds me of college. Nearly every quarter there was a story in the school paper about some student who got arrested after telling campus police that he didn't have to listen to them, that they were just rent-a-cops, etc. In truth they were sworn peace officers with the jurisdiction and authority of state police, it was a public university.
humor aside, i got the first post and was so excited I had to type something beside first post quickly, so this came out....... I don't really want to sue my boss......
Translation: My boss reads slashdot and I hope he is not familiar with the concept of Freudian Slip. :-)
it would be fun. Help me facebook.
Humor aside, if that is your goal you do not need help from facebook nor a new law. Existing laws will do quite nicely. For example it is illegal to ask a job candidate their age and a prospective employer can get sued for doing so. Logging into a facebook account exposes a prospective employer to much such prohibited information.
Has a single company that has done this been identified by name? Every article I've seen does NOT mention any name, making it sound more anecdotal than factual.
maryland department of corrections was screening guards this way. Looking for gang signs. West Coooast! *does the twisted finger thing* http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/22/aclu-facebook-password_n_1372242.html.
And such guards are sworn law enforcement officers that must agree to background checks and investigations. Investigations that involve contacting and interviewing friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues, etc. Not only those individuals provided by the prospective employee but those secondary contacts (friends of friends so to speak) that interviewees mention as also knowing the prospective employee.
I'm afraid the Maryland DOC case is a poor example of invasion of privacy.
The truth is that regular employers that have a clue already know that logging into a candidate's facebook account is illegal. It is against the law to ask a candidate's age and certain other personal information. Information that is visible in facebook. Regular employers already know they are setting themselves up to be sued if they do so. Are there aberrations, of course, but there is no widespread trend and there will not be. Even with existing laws on the books.
Any user that switches (in either direction) can attest to the fact that many apps in Appstore are paid where their Android Market equivalent would be ad-supported.
Or simply not exist under Android.
To imply that a particular app is "paid" under iOS and "ad supported" under Android seems misleading. I suppose you are using the term "equivalent" very loosely. If so I think your point may still be misleading. For any given paid app under iOS you will most likely find "equivalent" ad supported apps also under iOS.
Prior to Apple there was not much digital distribution. It was a somewhat niche scene catering to a relatively small market. Apple took digital distribution mainstream. Even today Apple dwarfs steam. Steam did a total of 15M games last year, Angry Birds all by itself does ten times that.
Apple is not bottling up anything. A $99/year developer subscription gives you access to a market of tens of millions. A small young company is able to offer its products from the same store to the same audience as the big established companies. To use Angry Birds as an example again, that came from a small young developer. Ten years ago a small successful developer selling direct would be measuring sales in units of thousands not millions.
I wonder what we will blame when we turn old and conservative.
It's pretty obvious. Cell phones with cameras plus facebook.