You all should by now that people can get addicted to a lot of things. Of all these things, gambling may be one of the worst since it provides a really way to lose all your money and more. This man is neither the first nor the last one to do that.
Suing the credit company may be a lot of things, but it surely isn't stupid - he's trying to cut his losses. Of course, in an ideal world, he should face the consequences of his actions and take responsibility like a man and so on, all this crap - but hey, it's the promised land of ridiculous law suits.
While I don't agree with the author with some things, the "New World Order" is something to watch out for.
Lumping SDMI in with WTO is certainly inappropriate - these things have been done before and it will be tried again. And it has no relevance in the big picture.
On the other hand, WTO is a different beast. It's is throughly global, very powerful and - here's the cherry on the top - it doesn't care about anything but money. It is as if one of the Gibsonian megacorporations has already come alive; a globally operating giant company that has essentially become untouchable; more powerful than any single nation.
Of course, the situation isn't that bad (yet), since the WTO is only as powerful as the members let it be. In theory, at least. But it is a sign of things to come and it'll get worse, if the enlightened citizens do not watch out.
I hate doing this, but - again - I find that I have to defend Microsoft. I would like nothing better than see Microsoft locked up in chains and the key thrown away. But, it has to be for the right reasons.
ESR has it right, even though I don't totally with him - Microsoft should be taken down by natural forces (ie. market). Let's ignore the fact (ie. MHO) that it wouldn't be possible without the intervention of the DOJ for now, since it's not really relevant.
Windows 2000 banned in Germany ? Fine with me. Doing it because of scientology is simply clouding the issue - the only good reason to do it would be because Microsoft and its products are bad for your health. Any other reason will allow Microsoft to be victimized and gain symphaty.
Like I said, I don't like to be on the same side with Microsoft, but for the sake of doing the right thing, I'll do it.
It is interesting to note how RedHat has turned a full 180 degrees concerning its stance towards Microsoft. I recall that their policy was - not so long ago - that they specifically did not compete with Microsoft.
I really do have to assume that this is what they were originally aiming at anyway. For some reason - may it be the Microsoft trial or inappropriate timing - they kept it a secret. Building momentum, mayhaps.
In any case, this means that RedHat remains everyone's favorite child. The market loves them, the Open Source community still backs them (even though a lot of criticism exists). It may inevitable lead to a clash between RedHat and the community.. but that's far off, so let's enjoy the show for now.
For some reason, the idea of thought-controlled devices seems to attract little attention. Sure, it's very scifiesque - but it's not so cool - at least compared to, for example, nanotechnology or AI.
As geeks, of course, we want to be in control of the hardware. As computer technology goes, we can at least harbor the illusion, if nothing else, that we do control the technology. How do you control a human computer ? How do you program a human being ? Yes, you can program a human - but the process is difficult, time-consuming and prone to errors.
Because we are what we are - humans - I don't think this thought-control thing will have much significance compared to the advances related to traditional computing (of course, it's very easy to be proved wrong with a "visionary" statement like this) . The problem is that the hardware is incredibly complex - and mostly, after all the research that has been put into it, essentially a black box.
The idea of AI is much more appealing to me. Unfortunately, AI:s don't help much with this problem since we need to understand the human brain to be able to successfully construct an AI. Back to square one.
OK, that wasn't a very coherent comment, so I'll just start again:
.. does it seem that, now that the world is sort of a global village (or an asylum, if you ask me), there are more and more international treaties, organisations and such that try to impose the most stupid US ways and laws upon the rest of the world (like Wassenaar, WTO) ?
As for WTO, I'm quickly developing a chronic dislike for it. It only serves the interests of the big players - countries, companies.. Who cares what happens to the rest.
As much as I dislike Microsoft, I hate to see them blamed for everything bad that has happened in the software industry. At this point, it really is fashionable to bash Microsoft.
As for the Amiga, it wasn't because of Microsoft that it died (yes, I'm considering it dead - see below) - and neither was it because the platform wasn't good enough. No, it was Commodore's horrible management that killed it.
Now, let's return to the issue of death. What does it mean when you say that a computer platform is dead ? As it has been pointed, Amigas do exist in some form and software for it is being actively developed. Yes, this is true. But still, for most people, it's only a reason for nostalgy.
Amiga, as a phenomenon, is gone. It was a great computer, years ahead of its time - and in the mainstream computing world, with millions of users and lots of software. The days of glory are gone, and no matter how much the Amiga enthusiasts would want it, those days will not return. Amiga is, and will remain, a niche computer, with no significance to the majority of the user base.
So - as a former Amiga user - for me, as I used to know it, Amiga is dead. Period.
AFAIK, CERN no longer representative of the full name of the institution. The closest what I've seen is Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire (like in my mouse mat). Mostly it's referred to as "the European Laboratory for Particle Physics" (like in the article).
Let's face it - this was inevitable. No matter what the terms of the GPL are, there was bound to be someone who would break them. As a result, GPL has to be tested in court - or Corel will have to bend.
I only wish it wouldn't have been an entity that is friendly towards Linux (well, at least in theory). And no, I didn't mention that one special everyone's favorite company, they have enough lawsuits anyway..;)
I wonder if Corel felt like they can do whatever they want, pee on Debian people and the whole Linux community just because Debian isn't a commercial distribution.. Could you see them do this if Corel Linux was based on RedHat ?
A lot of people have asked why NSA would have any reason to patent any technology. Morality ? Profit ? Nah.
The reason (a partial one, at least) for many other patents is to keep others from patenting the same thing. This is exactly why NSA is doing it too. The catch here is that NSA has a special position with the patent office: the patent doesn't come public until someone else tries to patent the same thing.
As it was stated, this kind of technology is not new, certainly not for NSA. For all we know, the patent may have lain dormant for years - or a decade. Given what we know about Echelon (or rather, the rumors we've heard about it) suggest that it has been around for a long time. And you can rest assured that no matter how sophisticated the technology in the patent may sound, it does not compare to what NSA has now. Because the patent is now public, it means that regarding this particular technology, the rest of the world (well, ok, the US), collectively, is where NSA was years ago.
Why isn't Microsoft using those ten engineers to make their product better? What can ten engineers do to help the company researcing the competition. It seems like a clueless response some managers must have thought up.
Let's say this was a conventional war where someone was holding a line and shooting with a machine gun. It would not sense to send dozens of to the direct line of fire, because they would die anyway. However, sending a single fighter to go around the shooter and then finish him would be reasonable. Just using your wits.
In this case, manpower does not matter. Big companies like Microsoft can throws dozens (or even hundreds, like in the case of IE) of programmers at a project at will. They really do have people to spare. As for the identity of these engineers, don't think that they are among the least competent ones. There's a thing called "alternative cost" in economics - these people could be programming NT, but that would actually be a waste of resources, because they are in the Linux team because that way they are providing the best value for their labor.
On another line of thought, the forming of this team proves one thing:
Microsoft doesn't know how to fight Linux.
Linux is really a dangerous opponent; a hydra which grows two heads when you strike one off; a fast-evolving virus that Microsoft has no cure for. Other organisms - companies - have adapted to it, learned from it, taken advantage of it - and most importantly - helped it grow and flourish.
So many people have included the wise - and appropriate - quotation of Gandhi that I won't repeat it. Instead I'll provide another one:
You can't win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
Beat Linux in a benchmark - Boom! - it's already stronger.
So often, you see these college-quality projects where someone goals "I want to use all the newest buzzwords. My project should use GPL, CORBA, GTK, Baboon, XML, RDF, XSL, Tuplespace, OODBMS,...." and that is before the specs for the real app have been written. Basically, "I want to work on this cool technology, and I'll eventually think of an application to use it."
If you looked at AbiWord more closely, you would see how these "gimmick technologies" and "buzzwords" make sense to the creators of AbiWord.
GPL. This makes sense, because the license will attract developers. An Open Source license doesn't automatically mean it's quality software, but so far it looks good for me.
GTK. They are using a GUI library which already exists on every distribution, making it a lot simpler for people to install it (no extra packages necessary). The look-and-feel of AbiWord will also be instantly familiar to anyone who has used GTK applications.
XML. Another very smart choice, which I discovered recently, when I hand-edited an abiword document with a plain text editor (removed a picture which abiword had failed to remove). Not only that, but as it text-based, XML is extremely portable.
As an end user, these three points do matter to me. And generally my opinion that developers who speak of these technologies usually know what they are talking about.
For those who are not familiar with the economics of running a start-up company, it should be pointed out that aren't necessarily making any money, and it's not altogether necessary that they should at this point. Like their FAQ says,
We
will be selling...
Who knows what else these guys are doing while are waiting for the business to start blooming ? It doesn't matter if you doubt their business model as long as their investors don't.
Secondly, using XML as a native file format is one of the most brilliant ideas, as far as I am concerned anyway. This would mean that I could do less abiworddoc, and, if necessary, I could write some quickie perl script to do some processing and formatting for output myself if AbiWord wasn't available. (Does it look like a document format like this would make sense to MicroSoft ? Didn't think so). Of course, in an ideal case, I wouldn't need to.
I, for one, will support the development of AbiSource if for no other reason than helping them set an example (if there is such an example to be set after the success of RedHat). It should show that Open Source is the best development model - not because it brings the most money to the company, but because it brings out the best software - which is what every user should want.
This may sound like blasphemy to some of you, but Ballmer looks like a decent guy. While pondering about Open Source, so far I haven't seen him spout any FUD so far - that's makes him seem like a saint compared to those other guys (Muth, Gates for example).
While Billy boy, who hasn't quite managed to grow up and give up his adolescent world domination fantasies, gets excited about mind-staggering new technologies like electronic mail in 1996 and, like your average Bad Guy, spends his days (and nights) contemplating various ways of crushing his oh-so-inconvenient opponents, Ballmer gives credit where it's due and admits that the Open Source development model is actually working - no buts. And don't forget the briefing with Microsoft executives where he stressed that the quality of Microsoft software must be improved.
He might even be serious. If he is, I'd say he's the guy who can stop USS Microsoft from sinking into the sea of free, quality software. On the other hand, he might the proverbial last straw..
Houston, we have a problem.
Giving credit to Stallman
on
GNU Inside?
·
· Score: 2
I think this is an excellent idea. One shouldn't underestimate the effect Stallman has had on software development - let's face it: the Open Source world as it stands today wouldn't exist today if he hadn't held on to his principles back when he founded the Free Software Foundation. He really does deserve all the credit he can get. To me, the word "GNU" stands for quality software.
That being said, just calling any given Linux distribution GNU/Linux isn't the right way. It's simply too difficult to pronounce - that's not a way to make a brand.
Everyone who knows anything about Linux knows that the GNU bit is implied - it is the very foundation of Linux, but I won't be inserting it into every sentence that comes out my mouth just because of the vanity of RMS.
I'll stick the GNU sticker to my box and then I'll just stick to GNU.
I think the biggest advantage - and pitfall - of REBOL is that it is different. All the new languages we have seen in the recent years are very much alike (C-like, in fact), switching from one language to another isn't too difficult. REBOL, however, seems likes a different beast - and that's why we, at the very least, give it some thought. The very fact that it's different also means that it will never be very widely adopted.. Remember Java ? There are two things that have attributed to its success for the most part:
Its syntax is familiar to millions of C and C++ programmers out there, so writing in Java is not a big deal
It's hyped and backed by a computer industry heavyweight (Sun)
REBOL lacks both of these.
As for the "built-in networking" - I wouldn't make such a fuss out of it. It's true that other languages (perl, for example), don't come with these built-in, but with the excellent distributed module repository - CPAN - it's a non-issue. Fetching a WWW page is as simple as
Getting stuff done ? I haven't yet met a language that can beat perl when it comes to minimizing development time, as the mission of REBOL seems to be different (as it says, a Messaging Language), I doubt it can do that either.
REBOL for Internet Applications instead of Java.. hmm.. maybe;)
I have a 6 year old son myself and he doesn't have nintendo, doesn't play doom like games, nor watch violent movies. He is simply to young to understand that these are fantasy worlds.
What is this statement based on ?
There was a recent study here in Finland that showed that even a three-year-old knows that the cartoons in tv aren't real; the conclusion being that the effect of media on children is greatly exaggarated.
A healthy individual will not pick up violent tendencies from computer games.
Considering his background, it is understandable that the press would want to listen to Tim Berners-Lee rant about RDF and how it might change all search engines.
I'm not about to undermine RDF, but it should be noted that RDF is an application of XML and there are many other languages based on XML that could have an equal or even greater importance. Dozens of such languages already exist, and they include
WML for wireless communications
MathML for mathematicians
CML for chemists
I'm looking at RDF as a part of XML, which is the big thing - not any of the individual languages.
Slashdot Mirror
Suing the credit company may be a lot of things, but it surely isn't stupid - he's trying to cut his losses. Of course, in an ideal world, he should face the consequences of his actions and take responsibility like a man and so on, all this crap - but hey, it's the promised land of ridiculous law suits.
Lumping SDMI in with WTO is certainly inappropriate - these things have been done before and it will be tried again. And it has no relevance in the big picture.
On the other hand, WTO is a different beast. It's is throughly global, very powerful and - here's the cherry on the top - it doesn't care about anything but money. It is as if one of the Gibsonian megacorporations has already come alive; a globally operating giant company that has essentially become untouchable; more powerful than any single nation.
Of course, the situation isn't that bad (yet), since the WTO is only as powerful as the members let it be. In theory, at least. But it is a sign of things to come and it'll get worse, if the enlightened citizens do not watch out.
As the Germans see it, Scientologists are criminals, not preachers. And I whole-heartedly agree with them.
ESR has it right, even though I don't totally with him - Microsoft should be taken down by natural forces (ie. market). Let's ignore the fact (ie. MHO) that it wouldn't be possible without the intervention of the DOJ for now, since it's not really relevant.
Windows 2000 banned in Germany ? Fine with me. Doing it because of scientology is simply clouding the issue - the only good reason to do it would be because Microsoft and its products are bad for your health. Any other reason will allow Microsoft to be victimized and gain symphaty.
Like I said, I don't like to be on the same side with Microsoft, but for the sake of doing the right thing, I'll do it.
I really do have to assume that this is what they were originally aiming at anyway. For some reason - may it be the Microsoft trial or inappropriate timing - they kept it a secret. Building momentum, mayhaps.
In any case, this means that RedHat remains everyone's favorite child. The market loves them, the Open Source community still backs them (even though a lot of criticism exists). It may inevitable lead to a clash between RedHat and the community.. but that's far off, so let's enjoy the show for now.
As geeks, of course, we want to be in control of the hardware. As computer technology goes, we can at least harbor the illusion, if nothing else, that we do control the technology. How do you control a human computer ? How do you program a human being ? Yes, you can program a human - but the process is difficult, time-consuming and prone to errors.
Because we are what we are - humans - I don't think this thought-control thing will have much significance compared to the advances related to traditional computing (of course, it's very easy to be proved wrong with a "visionary" statement like this) . The problem is that the hardware is incredibly complex - and mostly, after all the research that has been put into it, essentially a black box.
The idea of AI is much more appealing to me. Unfortunately, AI:s don't help much with this problem since we need to understand the human brain to be able to successfully construct an AI. Back to square one.
OK, that wasn't a very coherent comment, so I'll just start again:
I don't...%&%&"/#%(
Incredible.
As for WTO, I'm quickly developing a chronic dislike for it. It only serves the interests of the big players - countries, companies.. Who cares what happens to the rest.
Mark my word, they're only doing this so they could get rid of Bruce Willis. (And I don't blame them).
As for the Amiga, it wasn't because of Microsoft that it died (yes, I'm considering it dead - see below) - and neither was it because the platform wasn't good enough. No, it was Commodore's horrible management that killed it.
Now, let's return to the issue of death. What does it mean when you say that a computer platform is dead ? As it has been pointed, Amigas do exist in some form and software for it is being actively developed. Yes, this is true. But still, for most people, it's only a reason for nostalgy.
Amiga, as a phenomenon, is gone. It was a great computer, years ahead of its time - and in the mainstream computing world, with millions of users and lots of software. The days of glory are gone, and no matter how much the Amiga enthusiasts would want it, those days will not return. Amiga is, and will remain, a niche computer, with no significance to the majority of the user base.
So - as a former Amiga user - for me, as I used to know it, Amiga is dead. Period.
But at least you saw how much my centimes are worth ;)
Just my two centimes.
Me too !
I only wish it wouldn't have been an entity that is friendly towards Linux (well, at least in theory). And no, I didn't mention that one special everyone's favorite company, they have enough lawsuits anyway.. ;)
I wonder if Corel felt like they can do whatever they want, pee on Debian people and the whole Linux community just because Debian isn't a commercial distribution.. Could you see them do this if Corel Linux was based on RedHat ?
The reason (a partial one, at least) for many other patents is to keep others from patenting the same thing. This is exactly why NSA is doing it too. The catch here is that NSA has a special position with the patent office: the patent doesn't come public until someone else tries to patent the same thing.
As it was stated, this kind of technology is not new, certainly not for NSA. For all we know, the patent may have lain dormant for years - or a decade. Given what we know about Echelon (or rather, the rumors we've heard about it) suggest that it has been around for a long time. And you can rest assured that no matter how sophisticated the technology in the patent may sound, it does not compare to what NSA has now. Because the patent is now public, it means that regarding this particular technology, the rest of the world (well, ok, the US), collectively, is where NSA was years ago.
Let's say this was a conventional war where someone was holding a line and shooting with a machine gun. It would not sense to send dozens of to the direct line of fire, because they would die anyway. However, sending a single fighter to go around the shooter and then finish him would be reasonable. Just using your wits.
In this case, manpower does not matter. Big companies like Microsoft can throws dozens (or even hundreds, like in the case of IE) of programmers at a project at will. They really do have people to spare. As for the identity of these engineers, don't think that they are among the least competent ones. There's a thing called "alternative cost" in economics - these people could be programming NT, but that would actually be a waste of resources, because they are in the Linux team because that way they are providing the best value for their labor.
On another line of thought, the forming of this team proves one thing:
Microsoft doesn't know how to fight Linux.
Linux is really a dangerous opponent; a hydra which grows two heads when you strike one off; a fast-evolving virus that Microsoft has no cure for. Other organisms - companies - have adapted to it, learned from it, taken advantage of it - and most importantly - helped it grow and flourish.
So many people have included the wise - and appropriate - quotation of Gandhi that I won't repeat it. Instead I'll provide another one:
You can't win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
Beat Linux in a benchmark - Boom! - it's already stronger.
If you looked at AbiWord more closely, you would see how these "gimmick technologies" and "buzzwords" make sense to the creators of AbiWord.
As an end user, these three points do matter to me. And generally my opinion that developers who speak of these technologies usually know what they are talking about.
Have you tried reading abiword documents with a simple text reader (like, less) ? It would've at least shown the folly of your statement.
Abiword's native format is XML.
Secondly, using XML as a native file format is one of the most brilliant ideas, as far as I am concerned anyway. This would mean that I could do less abiworddoc , and, if necessary, I could write some quickie perl script to do some processing and formatting for output myself if AbiWord wasn't available. (Does it look like a document format like this would make sense to MicroSoft ? Didn't think so). Of course, in an ideal case, I wouldn't need to.
I, for one, will support the development of AbiSource if for no other reason than helping them set an example (if there is such an example to be set after the success of RedHat). It should show that Open Source is the best development model - not because it brings the most money to the company, but because it brings out the best software - which is what every user should want.
While Billy boy, who hasn't quite managed to grow up and give up his adolescent world domination fantasies, gets excited about mind-staggering new technologies like electronic mail in 1996 and, like your average Bad Guy, spends his days (and nights) contemplating various ways of crushing his oh-so-inconvenient opponents, Ballmer gives credit where it's due and admits that the Open Source development model is actually working - no buts. And don't forget the briefing with Microsoft executives where he stressed that the quality of Microsoft software must be improved.
He might even be serious. If he is, I'd say he's the guy who can stop USS Microsoft from sinking into the sea of free, quality software. On the other hand, he might the proverbial last straw..
Houston, we have a problem.
That being said, just calling any given Linux distribution GNU/Linux isn't the right way. It's simply too difficult to pronounce - that's not a way to make a brand.
Everyone who knows anything about Linux knows that the GNU bit is implied - it is the very foundation of Linux, but I won't be inserting it into every sentence that comes out my mouth just because of the vanity of RMS.
I'll stick the GNU sticker to my box and then I'll just stick to GNU.
- Its syntax is familiar to millions of C and C++ programmers out there, so writing in Java is not a big deal
- It's hyped and backed by a computer industry heavyweight (Sun)
REBOL lacks both of these.As for the "built-in networking" - I wouldn't make such a fuss out of it. It's true that other languages (perl, for example), don't come with these built-in, but with the excellent distributed module repository - CPAN - it's a non-issue. Fetching a WWW page is as simple as
Getting stuff done ? I haven't yet met a language that can beat perl when it comes to minimizing development time, as the mission of REBOL seems to be different (as it says, a Messaging Language), I doubt it can do that either.
REBOL for Internet Applications instead of Java.. hmm.. maybe ;)
What is this statement based on ?
There was a recent study here in Finland that showed that even a three-year-old knows that the cartoons in tv aren't real; the conclusion being that the effect of media on children is greatly exaggarated.
A healthy individual will not pick up violent tendencies from computer games.
I'm not about to undermine RDF, but it should be noted that RDF is an application of XML and there are many other languages based on XML that could have an equal or even greater importance. Dozens of such languages already exist, and they include
I'm looking at RDF as a part of XML, which is the big thing - not any of the individual languages.