This discussion reminds me of David Brin's theory that Anakin "bringing balance to the force" is a means of defeating the two great evils terrorizing the Galaxy: The Sith and The Jedi Order. Essentially, the Jedi are elitist fascists that disrespect the inferior populace as much as the Sith - it's just that they have an attitude of nobliese oblige rather and aspirations of exploitation.
I hope this is developed, because in this context, Darth Vader is a hero - defeating both the Palpatine and Yoda and replacing the corrupt Jedi Order (I wonder if these celibates have as much problems as the Catholic Priesthood?) with something that's a bit more humanistic.
Perhaps in this context the Jedi Science of mitocholorians (sp?) is just another example of their internal corruption - they should be training everyone in the use of the force who show potential, and not attempting to exclude people like young Anakin who was considered too old to begin training.
I'm reading between the lines here, but this development in the Napster case seems to parallel something that recently occurred with online internet rebroadcasts of radio programs. These rebroadcasts were temporarily suspended because, for the most part, the contracts between the on-air talent did not allow for rebroadcasting (these contracts were written prior to streaming audio was developed). Essentially, the work of radio on-air talent was being rebroadcast without them getting paid for it.
This RIAA mess seems to be this: Not all artists have assigned their copyrights to the record labels. Some of these assignments may rather be in the form of licenses which do not extend to internet rebroadcasting rights. This, even if RIAA members may have the right to publish music, they may not necessarily have the right to rebroadcast that music on the internet. If they do not have that right, then Napster is not interfering with that right.
Of course this does not get rid of the whole case. There is certainly much music out there of which the copyrights are owned entirely by RIAA members, and the RIAA lawsuit would still be valid with respect to this music.
Wonderfully done. Congratulations on your engagement. So when can we expect to see EnsignTaco's first post?
Commando Two: The Quickening
on
Collateral Damage
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
I remember watching his movie Commando, where he rips a seat out of a small convertible so he can hide while this woman drives the car. Then, she gets run off the road and plants the car right into a telephone pole. Arnold gets up, asks her if she's OK, and she is. Cheesy to the extreme.
There's also a scene where he kills a terrorist by throwing a circular saw blade into his head, like a frisbee. Cheesy.
Arnold movies (the best was still Conan, or maybe Kindergarten Cop) were always most watchable to those persons with very powerful disbelief suspensors. Mine are getting worn out, so I'm going to pass on this movie. That's the reason I won't watch it - not September 11th.
If AOL's IM is not defined as a monopoly, then Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly either with Windows. Is Linix and OS X just a figment of my imagination?
Monopoly status isn't defined as 100% market share - essentially it's a market share so big that the monopoly has the power to dictate to the market instead of the other way around. Instead of consumer need controlling the market, the supplier leaves the consumer with a "take it or leave it" proposition.
With a secure monopoly, AOL can tell everyone - you have the right to use IM, which you need to stay in touch (they say), but you have to use our cheesy clients and you have to expose yourself to all of our advertisements (especially for AOLTimeWarner subsidiaries).
Do you know that 80% of the celebraties featured on the AOL and Compuserve splash pages are AOLTimeWarner products?
The open source counter to this is "let's make our own IM system". This is great, but if it cannot interface with the AOL IM system, then it's back to the old Microsoft technique of "Buy Office, or forget about reading the documents produced by the people who do buy Office."
AOL plays fair? To this very day, once you install AOL or Compuserve software, the program will ask you "Do you want this version of AOL to be your default application for Internet, etc." [this isn't an exact quote].
If you answer yes, AOL/Compuserve disables all other means of accessing the Internet. I have Compuserve and DSL. After installing CS5 and providing the wrong answer to that question, my perfectly OK DSL connection would not work, until I uninstalled the CS software.
If this is AOL "playing fair", I'd rather stick with Microsoft. Netscape was just as free to the ordinary user as IE. I downloaded every version of Netscape from their own web page at no charge - how did Microsoft's free browser destroy Netscape's free browser? Simply by being better and less buggy.
I disagree with your idea. A high school student who is able to break this encryption scheme isn't necessarily a high school student of more potential then average. He or she is just a high school student who, for curiosity or any other reason, has applied his or her talents to the study of cryptography or puzzles.
The "potential" shown by the successful codebreaker is the same potential shown by successful Mensa applicants - they figured out a problem, but that doesn't necessarily translate into a "special" skill for problem solving or genius potential.
But, despite all that, why shouldn't the university give a break to the first person who can figure out the solution?
I'm sorry, but you can't use the term "Win-Win" without violating Micro$oft's trademark. Please provide me with your mailing address so I can serve you with a subpoena.
I think that we need to make a reality check here. I really doubt that Microsoft will get ANY bad publicity from this case, at least where it counts - with the consumer. Sure, the open source movement will hate Microsoft, but guess what? They already do.
What they should have done was to call the program "McLindows". That way both Micro$oft and McDonalds would get involved, and cancel each other out like matter and antimatter.
I can understand your consternation, but think of it this way: Right now, DOI is shitting bricks trying to fix things as fast as they can. The judge's order was the ONLY thing that could cause DOI to drop everything and make security their highest priority. USGS does a lot of very good and very important work, but the Indian Trust fund is important work that's been neglected for far too long. I'm OK with USGS and the rest of DOI having to suffer temporarily in order to solve this problem.
I served as an officer on the USS Hoel (DDG-13), a Guided Missile Destroyer, from 1987 to 1990.
Navy warships have a bridge, where you'll find the helmsman, the lee helmsman (transmits orders to the engine room) and the Officer of the Deck ("OOD") (who's in charge) and the Junior Officer of the Deck ("JOOD") who "has the Conn" and gives orders to the helm and lee helm. There's a nice big chair for the Captain to sit in whenever he wants.
There's also a "Combat Information Center" or "CIC" which is usually close by the bridge. This is a darkened room full of radar repeaters and various weapon control systems. There's also a nice big chair for the Captain to sit in whenever he wants. There is also a "Combat Information Center Officer" on watch, and at times of heightened alerts, there is also a "Tactical Action Officer" or "TAO" who runs the ship and tells the OOD what to do
Where does the Captain sit? Wherever he damn well wants, which is usually on the bridge.
I suppose you could argue that modern Combat Information Centers are based on the Star Trek model, but the helm and lee helm and the OOD are still on the bridge where the OOD can see outside.
I once took a tour of the USS Ticonderoga, the first Aegis class Cruiser. There was a portion of the CIC set aside for the Captain and maybe a flag officer (Admiral) if one was on board. This area had big projection screens, etc. But it sure didn't remind me of Star Trek, not at all.
So, I don't buy it. Star Trek has been on TV, off and on, from the 1960's. The US Navy has been doing its job since the Revolutionary War. The design of Navy warships has been the result of a centuries long evolutionary process and is not the result of the vision of Gene Roddenberry.
Disclaimer: I don't know German, but I remember the soldiers in Wolfenstein would say this when you stick them up.
Remember the AI of Wolfenstein? If you keep your pistol hidden and then pull it out when you are right next to a soldier or even an SS, the enemy would raise his hands and let you search him.
After which you shot him. Or used the knife in BCW.
Bye the way, Castle Wolfenstein for the Apple ][ was the FIRST computer game I ever bought. And it was still one of the most playable. Except for Three Mile Island. Now that game was a bitch.
You are absolutely right. There's a really good chance that much of the unpublished material from Douglas Adams isn't going to be very good - it's probably the sort of grab-bag off diamonds in the rough that you find while reading JRR Tolkien's posthumous compiliations. I'm not sure there's a single scrap of paper from Tolkien that hasn't been published first
My point was purely legal, not artistic. The estate or the heirs who inherit it can sell off Douglas Adams's unpublished work.
It depends on who's releasing the work. Under California law (Douglas Adams was a resident of California when he died), his unfinished work is an asset owned by his estate, which presumably passed to his surviving wife if he died without a will or to the heirs named in his will if he had one.
Guessing that he left everything to his wife and children, his wife and/or children will own, sooner or later, his unfinished work, and can consent to it's publication. I'd hope that they make money on it.
On the other hand, if someone other than the executor of the estate or Douglas Adams's successors in interest (the wife and children) were to publish the unfinished work without authorization, then that person could certainly be sued by either the estate or the heirs.
Instead of bicycling, how about someone hack one of those "Dance Dance Revolution" game pads for Quake. A player could put in on the floor in front of his chair and use his feet to control his movements, freeing up his left hand to type in comments about his l33t 5ki1z.
Fair enough, but that didn't the Virgin Atlantic guy get pulled out of the Atlantic by the Coast Guard?
And I wouldn't say that the British government's space program has been more effective than the US space program. How many UK missions have been sent to Mars - even unsuccessfully.
Also, while this balloon trip qualifies as a "Cool Thing", it's a stunt, plain and simple, with zero scientific value other than to see if it can be done.
I wonder how much taxpayer dollars the Coast Guard will spend to fish these guys out of the sea?
It seems like a really cool thing to do here, but I sure hope that QuinetiQ plans for the inevitiable failure. Frankly, the government should rethink its policy and seek reimbursement from thrillseekers.
True, true. It's going to be hard to find a better villain than Chairface Chippendale, who created a superpowered laser in an attempt to carve his name into the moon.
I picked up Civ III on Tuesday night, and I've been playing my first game (Chieftain level, Americans, random map with two other civs) ever since.
Resource development is crucial, and it adds a touch of historic realism to Civ that wasn't there before. The luxury resources (silks, incense, etc.) make happy citizens, and if you can corner the market on, say, incense, you can trade those resources for other things you need.
But the strategic resources (iron, coal, saltpeter, etc.) are the most important. When I finally discovered gunpowder, I couldn't find any saltpeter for about 10 turns. But then, I spotted it, hidden in the desert in the no-man's land between the three civs. I quickly built a bunch of workers, and sort of force-built a road about 30 squares from any of my cities so I could plant a colony (and a fortress) on top of the saltpeter. It's the only source on the continent, and that means I'm the only civ who gets cannon (the Aztecs and the Iroquis are still building catapults). I had to do the same thing a century later in order to get a source of rubber (the only other source was right next to an Aztec city, and the Aztecs hadn't developed the tech necessary to see it yet.
The point of all this is that Civ III's emphasis on strategic resources needed to build certain units creates a stimulus to expansion and building colonial empires, mirroring what Western Civilization did to the rest of the world because we needed resources. Remember the story on African Tantalum mines months back? Civ III models this sort of thing in a way never seen before.
IANAE - Dammit, Jim, I'm a lawyer, not an engineer.
Despite that, I did get a little bit of training in engineering in College. I'd have to guess that the design probably isn't ideal, because Leonardo did not have the benefit of differential equations, modern material science, etc. Engineering was by trial and error back in the day.
But, that bridge sure looks good, and I'd be we could build the bridge today, out of steel and concrete, across the Bosporus. That would be really cool, although the Turks would have to be willing to throw the extra money around.
P.S.: Leonardo, your Workshop rules. Now I can upgrade my Civ III Spearsmen to Riflemen for only 60 gold a pop! Sweet!!
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This discussion reminds me of David Brin's theory that Anakin "bringing balance to the force" is a means of defeating the two great evils terrorizing the Galaxy: The Sith and The Jedi Order. Essentially, the Jedi are elitist fascists that disrespect the inferior populace as much as the Sith - it's just that they have an attitude of nobliese oblige rather and aspirations of exploitation.
I hope this is developed, because in this context, Darth Vader is a hero - defeating both the Palpatine and Yoda and replacing the corrupt Jedi Order (I wonder if these celibates have as much problems as the Catholic Priesthood?) with something that's a bit more humanistic.
Perhaps in this context the Jedi Science of mitocholorians (sp?) is just another example of their internal corruption - they should be training everyone in the use of the force who show potential, and not attempting to exclude people like young Anakin who was considered too old to begin training.
Squirrel cage fans are even more expensive then you said. You forgot to factor in the cost of the squirrel and squirrel chow.
And forget about cleaning out the damn things. Most squirrels don't last more than a week.
Poor little bugger, being made to power a fan by application of 110 volt AC. It's inhumane I tell you.
I'm not worried about brain cancer. I'm worried about growing even MORE hair on my hands. I've got enough as it is.
Lassiter lives in Sonoma, where I live. Maybe I can get a job.
Oooh, oooh, Mr. Kotter, I can do voice overs!
I'm reading between the lines here, but this development in the Napster case seems to parallel something that recently occurred with online internet rebroadcasts of radio programs. These rebroadcasts were temporarily suspended because, for the most part, the contracts between the on-air talent did not allow for rebroadcasting (these contracts were written prior to streaming audio was developed). Essentially, the work of radio on-air talent was being rebroadcast without them getting paid for it.
This RIAA mess seems to be this: Not all artists have assigned their copyrights to the record labels. Some of these assignments may rather be in the form of licenses which do not extend to internet rebroadcasting rights. This, even if RIAA members may have the right to publish music, they may not necessarily have the right to rebroadcast that music on the internet. If they do not have that right, then Napster is not interfering with that right.
Of course this does not get rid of the whole case. There is certainly much music out there of which the copyrights are owned entirely by RIAA members, and the RIAA lawsuit would still be valid with respect to this music.
Wonderfully done. Congratulations on your engagement. So when can we expect to see EnsignTaco's first post?
I remember watching his movie Commando, where he rips a seat out of a small convertible so he can hide while this woman drives the car. Then, she gets run off the road and plants the car right into a telephone pole. Arnold gets up, asks her if she's OK, and she is. Cheesy to the extreme.
There's also a scene where he kills a terrorist by throwing a circular saw blade into his head, like a frisbee. Cheesy.
Arnold movies (the best was still Conan, or maybe Kindergarten Cop) were always most watchable to those persons with very powerful disbelief suspensors. Mine are getting worn out, so I'm going to pass on this movie. That's the reason I won't watch it - not September 11th.
If AOL's IM is not defined as a monopoly, then Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly either with Windows. Is Linix and OS X just a figment of my imagination?
Monopoly status isn't defined as 100% market share - essentially it's a market share so big that the monopoly has the power to dictate to the market instead of the other way around. Instead of consumer need controlling the market, the supplier leaves the consumer with a "take it or leave it" proposition.
With a secure monopoly, AOL can tell everyone - you have the right to use IM, which you need to stay in touch (they say), but you have to use our cheesy clients and you have to expose yourself to all of our advertisements (especially for AOLTimeWarner subsidiaries).
Do you know that 80% of the celebraties featured on the AOL and Compuserve splash pages are AOLTimeWarner products?
The open source counter to this is "let's make our own IM system". This is great, but if it cannot interface with the AOL IM system, then it's back to the old Microsoft technique of "Buy Office, or forget about reading the documents produced by the people who do buy Office."
I know exactly what you mean. Just the other day, I purchased the StarBallz movie when I was trying to buy Star Wars. Boy were my kids surprised!
AOL plays fair? To this very day, once you install AOL or Compuserve software, the program will ask you "Do you want this version of AOL to be your default application for Internet, etc." [this isn't an exact quote].
If you answer yes, AOL/Compuserve disables all other means of accessing the Internet. I have Compuserve and DSL. After installing CS5 and providing the wrong answer to that question, my perfectly OK DSL connection would not work, until I uninstalled the CS software.
If this is AOL "playing fair", I'd rather stick with Microsoft. Netscape was just as free to the ordinary user as IE. I downloaded every version of Netscape from their own web page at no charge - how did Microsoft's free browser destroy Netscape's free browser? Simply by being better and less buggy.
I disagree with your idea. A high school student who is able to break this encryption scheme isn't necessarily a high school student of more potential then average. He or she is just a high school student who, for curiosity or any other reason, has applied his or her talents to the study of cryptography or puzzles.
The "potential" shown by the successful codebreaker is the same potential shown by successful Mensa applicants - they figured out a problem, but that doesn't necessarily translate into a "special" skill for problem solving or genius potential.
But, despite all that, why shouldn't the university give a break to the first person who can figure out the solution?
I'm sorry, but you can't use the term "Win-Win" without violating Micro$oft's trademark. Please provide me with your mailing address so I can serve you with a subpoena.
I think that we need to make a reality check here. I really doubt that Microsoft will get ANY bad publicity from this case, at least where it counts - with the consumer. Sure, the open source movement will hate Microsoft, but guess what? They already do.
What they should have done was to call the program "McLindows". That way both Micro$oft and McDonalds would get involved, and cancel each other out like matter and antimatter.
Didn't I read this in Enron's employee policy manual?
I can understand your consternation, but think of it this way: Right now, DOI is shitting bricks trying to fix things as fast as they can. The judge's order was the ONLY thing that could cause DOI to drop everything and make security their highest priority. USGS does a lot of very good and very important work, but the Indian Trust fund is important work that's been neglected for far too long. I'm OK with USGS and the rest of DOI having to suffer temporarily in order to solve this problem.
I served as an officer on the USS Hoel (DDG-13), a Guided Missile Destroyer, from 1987 to 1990.
Navy warships have a bridge, where you'll find the helmsman, the lee helmsman (transmits orders to the engine room) and the Officer of the Deck ("OOD") (who's in charge) and the Junior Officer of the Deck ("JOOD") who "has the Conn" and gives orders to the helm and lee helm. There's a nice big chair for the Captain to sit in whenever he wants.
There's also a "Combat Information Center" or "CIC" which is usually close by the bridge. This is a darkened room full of radar repeaters and various weapon control systems. There's also a nice big chair for the Captain to sit in whenever he wants. There is also a "Combat Information Center Officer" on watch, and at times of heightened alerts, there is also a "Tactical Action Officer" or "TAO" who runs the ship and tells the OOD what to do
Where does the Captain sit? Wherever he damn well wants, which is usually on the bridge.
I suppose you could argue that modern Combat Information Centers are based on the Star Trek model, but the helm and lee helm and the OOD are still on the bridge where the OOD can see outside.
I once took a tour of the USS Ticonderoga, the first Aegis class Cruiser. There was a portion of the CIC set aside for the Captain and maybe a flag officer (Admiral) if one was on board. This area had big projection screens, etc. But it sure didn't remind me of Star Trek, not at all.
So, I don't buy it. Star Trek has been on TV, off and on, from the 1960's. The US Navy has been doing its job since the Revolutionary War. The design of Navy warships has been the result of a centuries long evolutionary process and is not the result of the vision of Gene Roddenberry.
You forgot:
"Kamarade" ("I surrender")
Disclaimer: I don't know German, but I remember the soldiers in Wolfenstein would say this when you stick them up.
Remember the AI of Wolfenstein? If you keep your pistol hidden and then pull it out when you are right next to a soldier or even an SS, the enemy would raise his hands and let you search him.
After which you shot him. Or used the knife in BCW.
Bye the way, Castle Wolfenstein for the Apple ][ was the FIRST computer game I ever bought. And it was still one of the most playable. Except for Three Mile Island. Now that game was a bitch.
You are absolutely right. There's a really good chance that much of the unpublished material from Douglas Adams isn't going to be very good - it's probably the sort of grab-bag off diamonds in the rough that you find while reading JRR Tolkien's posthumous compiliations. I'm not sure there's a single scrap of paper from Tolkien that hasn't been published first
My point was purely legal, not artistic. The estate or the heirs who inherit it can sell off Douglas Adams's unpublished work.
It depends on who's releasing the work. Under California law (Douglas Adams was a resident of California when he died), his unfinished work is an asset owned by his estate, which presumably passed to his surviving wife if he died without a will or to the heirs named in his will if he had one.
Guessing that he left everything to his wife and children, his wife and/or children will own, sooner or later, his unfinished work, and can consent to it's publication. I'd hope that they make money on it.
On the other hand, if someone other than the executor of the estate or Douglas Adams's successors in interest (the wife and children) were to publish the unfinished work without authorization, then that person could certainly be sued by either the estate or the heirs.
Instead of bicycling, how about someone hack one of those "Dance Dance Revolution" game pads for Quake. A player could put in on the floor in front of his chair and use his feet to control his movements, freeing up his left hand to type in comments about his l33t 5ki1z.
Fair enough, but that didn't the Virgin Atlantic guy get pulled out of the Atlantic by the Coast Guard?
And I wouldn't say that the British government's space program has been more effective than the US space program. How many UK missions have been sent to Mars - even unsuccessfully.
Also, while this balloon trip qualifies as a "Cool Thing", it's a stunt, plain and simple, with zero scientific value other than to see if it can be done.
I wonder how much taxpayer dollars the Coast Guard will spend to fish these guys out of the sea?
It seems like a really cool thing to do here, but I sure hope that QuinetiQ plans for the inevitiable failure. Frankly, the government should rethink its policy and seek reimbursement from thrillseekers.
True, true. It's going to be hard to find a better villain than Chairface Chippendale, who created a superpowered laser in an attempt to carve his name into the moon.
I picked up Civ III on Tuesday night, and I've been playing my first game (Chieftain level, Americans, random map with two other civs) ever since.
Resource development is crucial, and it adds a touch of historic realism to Civ that wasn't there before. The luxury resources (silks, incense, etc.) make happy citizens, and if you can corner the market on, say, incense, you can trade those resources for other things you need.
But the strategic resources (iron, coal, saltpeter, etc.) are the most important. When I finally discovered gunpowder, I couldn't find any saltpeter for about 10 turns. But then, I spotted it, hidden in the desert in the no-man's land between the three civs. I quickly built a bunch of workers, and sort of force-built a road about 30 squares from any of my cities so I could plant a colony (and a fortress) on top of the saltpeter. It's the only source on the continent, and that means I'm the only civ who gets cannon (the Aztecs and the Iroquis are still building catapults). I had to do the same thing a century later in order to get a source of rubber (the only other source was right next to an Aztec city, and the Aztecs hadn't developed the tech necessary to see it yet.
The point of all this is that Civ III's emphasis on strategic resources needed to build certain units creates a stimulus to expansion and building colonial empires, mirroring what Western Civilization did to the rest of the world because we needed resources. Remember the story on African Tantalum mines months back? Civ III models this sort of thing in a way never seen before.
IANAE - Dammit, Jim, I'm a lawyer, not an engineer.
Despite that, I did get a little bit of training in engineering in College. I'd have to guess that the design probably isn't ideal, because Leonardo did not have the benefit of differential equations, modern material science, etc. Engineering was by trial and error back in the day.
But, that bridge sure looks good, and I'd be we could build the bridge today, out of steel and concrete, across the Bosporus. That would be really cool, although the Turks would have to be willing to throw the extra money around.
P.S.: Leonardo, your Workshop rules. Now I can upgrade my Civ III Spearsmen to Riflemen for only 60 gold a pop! Sweet!!