He is on V2 Music which is a member of the RIAA. Moby is rich -- why doesn't he start his own label and sell music directly or through independent distributors? In case Moby hasn't noticed, all of us are currently hating the RIAA right now. I will buy this album because I already own all his previous albums. But, why does everyone immediately blame the spectre of "piracy" for their loss of sales? Has he ever considered that mabye all the techies are currently unemployed and don't have $15 to spring for the new Moby album?
Good thing the rest of us have Linux! If Microsoft suceeds in doing this a vibrant underground market will spring up to supply hardware for PC's without Palladium. Only the ignorant will buy into this scheme.
"I urge you to be very careful about what you put online...."
Very good advise! I deal with clients all the time who say things like: "We want to put all these images on the web...but, we don't want anyone to copy them". To which I reply (in a nicer sort of way): "If you don't want them to take your shit...don't put it on the Internet you morons!"
Fact: The Internet is a public network of networks
Fact: If you put shit on the public Net anyone can access it
Fact: If people steal your shit it is your fault for putting it on the Internet
Just because you are too lazy to create a robots.txt doesn't make me feel sorry for you. I have had nothing but good luck with the Wayback Machine. I was able to find work I did 4 years ago that I thought was long gone. I was able to find phone numbers to people who had taken down their web sites. I was able to research press releases and license agreements that had been changed by the authors (without telling anyone!).
So, in my opinion, the Wayback Machine is a great tool to data-mine the past. Just because you don't like it -- tough shit. Create a robots.txt file and maybe you won't get spidered. Your argument is weak.
Actually, before Walmart started selling the Microtel PC's with Lindows preinstalled they were selling the same "bare bones" machines with no OS preinstalled. It really pissed off Microsoft too because they were thinking the same thing. Someone would buy a cheap $300 box at Walmart, come home and borrow Fred's copy of Windoze and have a fully functioning machine without all the licensing bullshit or the EULA.
Actually, Walmart offers its own Internet service: $9.94 a month for email and unlimited dial-up access. They are pushing this service instead of AOHell. And, yes it does work on the Lindows machines.
That Lindows parted ways with CodeWeavers. Back in October of last year they were all gung-ho about producing a system that could run Windows software. But, once the Codeweavers deal fell through they scrapped "plan a" and opted for "plan b" instead: sell basic machines to computer novices who don't plan to install Windows software anyway. A lot of the Lindows Insiders are still trying to get Lindows to support PC games with Transgaming's version of WineX. But, we'll see what happens. Honestly, I don't think this is a bad thing. In one sense you want to "provide a bridge" for people on Windows machines to make the transition over to Linux. But, on the other hand, you want people to stop supporting Microsoft's monopoly all together. And, that means stop buying Microsoft software and start using open source alternatives. It might also convince game companies, and others to start release Linux versions of their software as well.
I was just over there now... everything comes up nothing but "X" 's now. No matter how bad you mispell the title or the artist.... nothing. nada. zilch. Oh, well.... off to KaZaa and Gnutella. It's a shame really. AudioGalaxy was actually a service that I liked. So, place your bets now: How long until AudioGalaxy ends up on fuckedcompany.com ? I say 6 months.
I have been running their latest version of "Sneak Preview X" and all I can say is that this OS is full of bugs and holes! It is based on Debian and Wine. But, there are tons of problems with video, networking, and hardware. The only Windows programs that I have gotten to successfully run is Word and Excel. No other Windows software will even install. (Even though Lindows claims that you can run tons of programmes!). They have been telling the Insiders all along that this product isn't even beta yet (it is just in the "Sneak Preview" phase). Yet, here they turn around and start selling copies to "Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel" at Walmart. This is going to be a complete and utter failure for Lindows. And unfortunately, this will be the first impression that many of these people will have of Linux. This may sour them completely.
I think that they are ramping up to pass a bunch of freedom-stealing legislation in the United States. And, they can point to all of this stuff as "evidence" to prove that they are right. It is all just a smokescreen to legislate corporate control.
I've been doing this for years. Just make sure your neighbors don't rat you out on http://www.cabletheft.com. With a $5.00 T-splitter you can do amazing things.
I have a Palm M105 too and it works fine. I've never had any hardware trouble with it. However, I used to own the M100 and I did have a few problems with that one. I would guess that you just got a piece of defective hardware. Take it back and exchange it for one that works.
I have Adelphia right now. When I started the service last year I was charged $39 a month. Now my bill is $45. And the service and bandwidth both suck. I have complained to them a couple of times about raising their rates. They haven't increased the capacity of the network or improved the speed -- but, they feel justified in raising the rates. I guess they were busy buying condos, golf courses, hockey teams, and forests with my money. I just dread going to Verizon instead because their caps suck!
If you REALLY want to stop the flow of spam we need to change the punishment. Right now if you get caught spamming what happens to you? The first through the tenth time you get caught the ISP or the host simply cancels your account leaving you free to find another ISP. If you run your own servers and spam -- you get added to the blackhole and maybe get the FTC looking at you. Occasionally a spammer will get sued or goes to jail. But, really this isn't much of a punishment.
But, what if we started offering public execution of spammers? Maybe something slow and painful like crucifiction, or being drawn-and-quartered? How many people do you think would spam if they ended up looking like this? Not too many. Let's stop being easy on these people and let them know how much we really hate them and the crime of spamming.
Is it legal for them to increase the montly rate on something I'm locked into for a year an a half?
IANAL but it would seem that you could have a case if they did this. Legally they are allowed to change their contract with you whenever they want. But, by changing "unlimited" to "limited" they would be in breach of contract. They offered you one thing and changed it halfway through. This would be like entering a lease on a vehicle only to have the dealer raise the rates and limit the amount of mileage you are allowed AFTER you have already signed the contract. If they cap your bandwidth -- start a class-action suit and sue them.
After all, the T1 lines we use at work are metered. UUNet sends us a bill based on how much bandwidth we use. But, along with that comes a SLA (Service Level Agreement). I would be happy to pay my ISP for bandwidth usage as long as they were willing to guarantee me a level of service. Of course, they won't do that (I've already asked) because there service sucks ass. They want the best of both possible worlds -- running a large, mediocre network with lots of downtime and differential billing based on bandwidth usage. If they had to adhere to a 99.995% uptime guarantee I would be getting broadband for free. Once they are willing to offer me a guaranteed level of quality I will pay for the bandwidth I use. Right now I'm just happy their network isn't down again.
Seriously. On a first offense with no prior history what is a judge going to do to you? I have like 300 bucks in my bank account right now... what are they going to do? Sue me? Good luck. You'll get all I have --- which is nothing.
It's too bad... I like the program. I joined their "Gold" program for like $2.75 a month you get access to faster servers and better quality downloads. I've been happy with it. I always find what I want. A song pops into my head -- and 5 minutes later: I'm listening to it. I wish that all of these dying companies would open-source their code. Since they will be getting a new asshole from the RIAA and the US legal system anyway they might as well "leak" the source to the Net. That way a 1000 new networks could spring up in their place. The further we spread the RIAA the weaker they get! Muahahahahahahahaha!
Re:Time to switch yet again...
on
KaZaA Collapses
·
· Score: 1
If the RIAA and MPAA handle this right, and get some lucky breaks, this could be the best thing that ever happened to the entertainment business.
I find it hard to believe that a monopoly can be the best thing that ever happened to the entertainment business. Granted, they already have a monopoly. But, the whole point behind their spin/lobby/litigate strategy is to position themselves as the default distribution channel. They could have signed a deal with Napster and KaZaa but, that would have meant that the P2P networks would get a cut. Instead they would just like to wait long enough to force them out of business so they can start their own monopoly instead. Verizon did the same thing with DSL service. First they made it EXTREMELY difficult for the competition to get into the market. Then they went about offering terrible service to the CLEC's. The final stage of the plan was to just sit back and wait for the CLEC's to go out of business. After the competition was gone -- Verizon started rolling out their own DSL services.
Re:Kazaa isn't dead, it's a dodge, read the articl
on
KaZaA Collapses
·
· Score: 1
Are you sure about that? Don't they use "FastTrack" as their underlying software? A few months ago KaZaa fucked over the people at Morpheus because they wouldn't play along. One day the Morpheus network worked -- the next day it didn't. That seems to indicate that there is centralized control somewhere.
Slashdot Mirror
http://www.house.gov/berman/
Let's /. his ass into next week!
He is on V2 Music which is a member of the RIAA. Moby is rich -- why doesn't he start his own label and sell music directly or through independent distributors? In case Moby hasn't noticed, all of us are currently hating the RIAA right now. I will buy this album because I already own all his previous albums. But, why does everyone immediately blame the spectre of "piracy" for their loss of sales? Has he ever considered that mabye all the techies are currently unemployed and don't have $15 to spring for the new Moby album?
Good thing the rest of us have Linux! If Microsoft suceeds in doing this a vibrant underground market will spring up to supply hardware for PC's without Palladium. Only the ignorant will buy into this scheme.
It's true!
(But only if the Web site is running on Windows/IIS...)
Very good advise! I deal with clients all the time who say things like: "We want to put all these images on the web...but, we don't want anyone to copy them". To which I reply (in a nicer sort of way): "If you don't want them to take your shit...don't put it on the Internet you morons!"
Fact: The Internet is a public network of networks
Fact: If you put shit on the public Net anyone can access it
Fact: If people steal your shit it is your fault for putting it on the Internet
Just because you are too lazy to create a robots.txt doesn't make me feel sorry for you. I have had nothing but good luck with the Wayback Machine. I was able to find work I did 4 years ago that I thought was long gone. I was able to find phone numbers to people who had taken down their web sites. I was able to research press releases and license agreements that had been changed by the authors (without telling anyone!).
So, in my opinion, the Wayback Machine is a great tool to data-mine the past. Just because you don't like it -- tough shit. Create a robots.txt file and maybe you won't get spidered. Your argument is weak.
Wrong!
Lindows = Debian + KDE + WINE
Actually, before Walmart started selling the Microtel PC's with Lindows preinstalled they were selling the same "bare bones" machines with no OS preinstalled. It really pissed off Microsoft too because they were thinking the same thing. Someone would buy a cheap $300 box at Walmart, come home and borrow Fred's copy of Windoze and have a fully functioning machine without all the licensing bullshit or the EULA.
Actually, Walmart offers its own Internet service: $9.94 a month for email and unlimited dial-up access. They are pushing this service instead of AOHell. And, yes it does work on the Lindows machines.
That Lindows parted ways with CodeWeavers. Back in October of last year they were all gung-ho about producing a system that could run Windows software. But, once the Codeweavers deal fell through they scrapped "plan a" and opted for "plan b" instead: sell basic machines to computer novices who don't plan to install Windows software anyway. A lot of the Lindows Insiders are still trying to get Lindows to support PC games with Transgaming's version of WineX. But, we'll see what happens. Honestly, I don't think this is a bad thing. In one sense you want to "provide a bridge" for people on Windows machines to make the transition over to Linux. But, on the other hand, you want people to stop supporting Microsoft's monopoly all together. And, that means stop buying Microsoft software and start using open source alternatives. It might also convince game companies, and others to start release Linux versions of their software as well.
I was just over there now... everything comes up nothing but "X" 's now. No matter how bad you mispell the title or the artist.... nothing. nada. zilch. Oh, well.... off to KaZaa and Gnutella. It's a shame really. AudioGalaxy was actually a service that I liked. So, place your bets now: How long until AudioGalaxy ends up on fuckedcompany.com ? I say 6 months.
I have been running their latest version of "Sneak Preview X" and all I can say is that this OS is full of bugs and holes! It is based on Debian and Wine. But, there are tons of problems with video, networking, and hardware. The only Windows programs that I have gotten to successfully run is Word and Excel. No other Windows software will even install. (Even though Lindows claims that you can run tons of programmes!). They have been telling the Insiders all along that this product isn't even beta yet (it is just in the "Sneak Preview" phase). Yet, here they turn around and start selling copies to "Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel" at Walmart. This is going to be a complete and utter failure for Lindows. And unfortunately, this will be the first impression that many of these people will have of Linux. This may sour them completely.
I think that they are ramping up to pass a bunch of freedom-stealing legislation in the United States. And, they can point to all of this stuff as "evidence" to prove that they are right. It is all just a smokescreen to legislate corporate control.
I've been doing this for years. Just make sure your neighbors don't rat you out on http://www.cabletheft.com. With a $5.00 T-splitter you can do amazing things.
I have a Palm M105 too and it works fine. I've never had any hardware trouble with it. However, I used to own the M100 and I did have a few problems with that one. I would guess that you just got a piece of defective hardware. Take it back and exchange it for one that works.
I have Adelphia right now. When I started the service last year I was charged $39 a month. Now my bill is $45. And the service and bandwidth both suck. I have complained to them a couple of times about raising their rates. They haven't increased the capacity of the network or improved the speed -- but, they feel justified in raising the rates. I guess they were busy buying condos, golf courses, hockey teams, and forests with my money. I just dread going to Verizon instead because their caps suck!
But, what if we started offering public execution of spammers? Maybe something slow and painful like crucifiction, or being drawn-and-quartered? How many people do you think would spam if they ended up looking like this? Not too many. Let's stop being easy on these people and let them know how much we really hate them and the crime of spamming.
Nothing graphic in nature... but skin nontheless:t / raf,%20Steffi.gif
b / ages/4/steffi_graff.jpg
_ 001.jpg
http://www.allegaatjes.nl/AFBEELDINGEN/bekendbloo
http://www.ads.aveit-media.co.uk/jokes/content/em
http://www.garisquash.yucom.be/images/steffi_graf
Enjoy.
Is it legal for them to increase the montly rate on something I'm locked into for a year an a half?
IANAL but it would seem that you could have a case if they did this. Legally they are allowed to change their contract with you whenever they want. But, by changing "unlimited" to "limited" they would be in breach of contract. They offered you one thing and changed it halfway through. This would be like entering a lease on a vehicle only to have the dealer raise the rates and limit the amount of mileage you are allowed AFTER you have already signed the contract. If they cap your bandwidth -- start a class-action suit and sue them.
After all, the T1 lines we use at work are metered. UUNet sends us a bill based on how much bandwidth we use. But, along with that comes a SLA (Service Level Agreement). I would be happy to pay my ISP for bandwidth usage as long as they were willing to guarantee me a level of service. Of course, they won't do that (I've already asked) because there service sucks ass. They want the best of both possible worlds -- running a large, mediocre network with lots of downtime and differential billing based on bandwidth usage. If they had to adhere to a 99.995% uptime guarantee I would be getting broadband for free. Once they are willing to offer me a guaranteed level of quality I will pay for the bandwidth I use. Right now I'm just happy their network isn't down again.
What's to persue? Tens of thousands of home users sharing their files? Even they can't afford that many lawsuits.
Seriously. On a first offense with no prior history what is a judge going to do to you? I have like 300 bucks in my bank account right now... what are they going to do? Sue me? Good luck. You'll get all I have --- which is nothing.
It's too bad... I like the program. I joined their "Gold" program for like $2.75 a month you get access to faster servers and better quality downloads. I've been happy with it. I always find what I want. A song pops into my head -- and 5 minutes later: I'm listening to it. I wish that all of these dying companies would open-source their code. Since they will be getting a new asshole from the RIAA and the US legal system anyway they might as well "leak" the source to the Net. That way a 1000 new networks could spring up in their place. The further we spread the RIAA the weaker they get! Muahahahahahahahaha!
I find it hard to believe that a monopoly can be the best thing that ever happened to the entertainment business. Granted, they already have a monopoly. But, the whole point behind their spin/lobby/litigate strategy is to position themselves as the default distribution channel. They could have signed a deal with Napster and KaZaa but, that would have meant that the P2P networks would get a cut. Instead they would just like to wait long enough to force them out of business so they can start their own monopoly instead. Verizon did the same thing with DSL service. First they made it EXTREMELY difficult for the competition to get into the market. Then they went about offering terrible service to the CLEC's. The final stage of the plan was to just sit back and wait for the CLEC's to go out of business. After the competition was gone -- Verizon started rolling out their own DSL services.
Are you sure about that? Don't they use "FastTrack" as their underlying software? A few months ago KaZaa fucked over the people at Morpheus because they wouldn't play along. One day the Morpheus network worked -- the next day it didn't. That seems to indicate that there is centralized control somewhere.