You will soon, Mr. "I like to brag in public that I steal software." In fact, you might want to avoid answering the door for a few days, especially if 6' tall men wearing suits and sunglasses, driving a Crown Victoria with Federal license plates, show up unannounced.
Did I mention that now would be an excellent time to wipe that hard drive and install Linux?
And then what? "Rock solid" legal agreements don't mean shit unless you have the money to take then to court if they violate the terms or even outright steal the idea. That they did it isn't enough. You have to PROVE it in court, and that takes $$$. Are you prepared for the appeals, motions for discovery, and dozens of other motions filed that are designed to tie you up and run up your legal bills? And even if you do win a decision you have to collect which is another matter entirely.
A bunch of words on paper isn't going to do much good for someone who may have trouble scraping together the $20,000 for the patent work, the $100,000+++ needed to sue a large corporation with a fleet of slick attorneys is going to be difficult to find.
"Well I'm sure people will just refil the old cartidges. "
Oh, yeah, as if walking around with blue, cyan and magenta ink-stained skin wasn't bad enough. Now we're going to have the "do it yourself and save a buck" crowd dousing themselves in methanol. Can you hear that? It's the sound of lawyer's giddy laughter as they contemplate retirement in Bermuda from the profit off inevitable lawsuits filed by char-broiled geeks.
I was reading the summary thinking "Blue Screen of Death OSs... a retrospective on the legacy of Windows. Cool." Then I realized we're talking about the other BSD. I'm gussing I should take this as a clue that I've been using Windows way too long!
First opportunity during WWI? Hardly. Try the Civil War. Lincoln shut down newspapers critical of the war, imprisoned civilians without trial, ordered and approved attacks on civilian targets and the execution of prisoners, etc.
To claim this quest for control over the populace began during WWI is short sighted. There have always been power-hungry politicians who will seize any opportunity to expand their authority. It's human nature, as anyone who's read the Bible will be familiar.
That's an easy one -- it's not Microsoft! And that's appealing to many, including, I suspect, a few of the Slashdot crowd.
Sometimes, it's worthwhile to spend a little more, wait in a line, drive a little further, shop on the other side of town, etc., just for the principle of the matter. Have you ever refused to shop somewhere because you were displeased with the service or product? Same thing. I think that may earn Lindows more than a few sales. For example, I prefer visiting the local hardware store for housewares rather than the Big Box Hardware Superstore down the street. I feel like a valued customer, the owner greets me when I arrive, he helps me with advice, etc. Yes, I pay more for my purchase, but shopping on price isn't always the most important thing to me.
If Lindows can provide good service and a seamless OS experience, I think they'll survive.
Besides, most computers only run three apps anyway -- a word processor, an email client, and a web browser. If it does these things well, it's "good enough" for the majority of users.
If you're looking for a freebie, keep moving. Lindows currently costs $99.00. (Alternately, it comes bundled on some systems from WalMart.com starting at only $200.00!) So what do you get for $99? A well-integrated, easy-to-setup and attractive Linux desktop with two years' access to Lindows' application download servers via an easy-to-use web app front end they call "Click and Run".
If you want a free version, you'll need to wait for the LindowsOS General Release later this year.
"Yes, dear, we and the children are starving to death, human rights are unheard of here thanks to our corrupt government, and easily-cured disease is spreading like wildfire leading to a life expectancy of less than 30 years. But, hey, look on the bright side. If only we could get electricity and a television we could watch our favorite Wesley Crusher episode of Star Trek on this fancy new DVD player..."
Apple has sent out a warning to its customers: "We're no different than any other manufactuer, despite the proclamations of our marketing weasels. Don't get under the hood or your machine or attempt to use your hardware to it's potential or our attorneys will slap you down, bi-atch."
How far we've come from the days when The Woz actually encouraged hackers to experiment with the Apple. It looks like we're moving back to the closed architecture days of the early Mac. That's not good.
However, for me this is a blessing in disguise. After being Mac-free, Mac-clean, and Mac-sober for almost five years I was considering buying an iMac for home. I even went CompUSA and played around with one yesterday. However, this article snapped me out of my "Stephen Jobs field effect" judgement fog -- like an abused wife being shown pictures of her cuts and bruises this reminded me what it's like when Apple doesn't behave itself.
Thanks, Apple Computer, Inc. -- I was almost ready to relapse. I guess I'll just spend my quarterly bonus on a new p4 upgrade & a flatscreen for my PC where I can burn all the DVD's I want.
The difference is freedom. I wasn't compelled to buy my DirectTV dish. I purchased it willingly because I wanted the service DTV provided. The FCC is compelling all television viewers to upgrade.
One side effect, though may be a large-scale switch to satellite programming. My DTV box decodes from digital input to analog output which is fed to my 10-year-old television set and I get local channels off the satellite, rather than from an antenna. Unless this bill is amended to require that satellite decoder box outputs are digital, all those old TV's will keep working. Now (and here's the unintended consequence), since, as you stated, a DTV setup is many times less expensive than the initial cost for one or more new televisions or digital-to-analog converter boxes, expect to see a huge increase in satellite subscribers. At least for the first several years, a satellite subscription will be substantially less expensive than replacing a television set or buying a settop decoder.
No, the way it should be done is NOT by confiscating people's salaries through taxation and giving that to companies to gamble on technology noone may want, it's by letting the free market work unimpeded. If an inventor comes up with a Better Way, at an affordable price, and can market it effectively it will succeed. If not, it won't. And shouldn't. You state that America is a free country but your "solution" of giving tax breaks ("corporate welfare") to digital TV companies simply makes America less free by compelling people to support the business ventures of corporations. If you want it, buy it. If you can't afford it then pool your money with others and start your own company but don't force others to pay for something just because you want it.
"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong." -- Thomas Sowell
First the mandatory (and useless) V-Chip, then the "Gore Tax" on telecommunications devices to provide internet access to schools whether or not they need it, then a ruling that internet by cablemodem is not considered "communication" so the government can snoop without a search warrant, now the forced obsolescence of analog television. Does anyone with more than two brain cells believe that these FCC bureaucrats are making decisions in the public interest?
What could be next, a mandate that all communications devices use sawtooth waveforms?
Since the safety belts (an integral, legally required part of the vehicle's restraint system) are not included in the office chair, wouldn't that be a violation of DMCA and the Biden DRM amendment? After all, this "pirate" stole BMW's intellectual property by "reverse engineering" the protection systems's protection system (in this case, a bolt) in order to remove it, then modified the content (the chair) for an unauthorized purpose without BMW's permission, in advance, in writing, et. al. Even worse, he disseminated this information on a web page -- it's as though he's BRAGGING about his brazen theft of BMW's IP! Since BMW sold far fewer automobiles than Chevrolet last year, it's clear that this seat modification procedure is to blame.
How do you shameless, seat-modifying pirates sleep at night? -- JonTurner "Don't just do something, stand there!"
Correct, but there's a bit more to it so reaching back slightly further in computer history may explain this more fully. More than just what one sees on a Unix terminal, the "carrot-H" is what one would see on a teletype console, where backspacing is impossible (since the output is paper and thus irreversible). In other words, since the display output is ink on greenbar paper, the device can't go back and erase the previous character, "^H" is shown to let the operator know that the backspace key was accepted.
Re:Changes the dynamic of the business
on
Borrowing ROMs
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
When you buy or play old games you aren't at the store buying new ones.
Yes, but that doesn't prove your point. Even without this system I'm not at the store buying new games. I haven't bought a new game in years -- I wait for some sucker to shell out $40-$60.00 for a new title, play it for a few weeks, then sell it used to me for less than half price (usually $20)because that's all it's worth to me.
Let's go back and talk about business dynamics for a moment, though, since that's the title of this thread. The software industry is operating on the Economics 101 rule that scarcity increases demand -- while true for hard goods (food, shelter, clothing) with items that can be reproduced by the consumer at almost zero cost (e.g. software) it doesn't apply.
It's all about market forces. Does the company want to make a high profit margin on a low volume (the mainstream software industry approach) or a low profit on a high volume? IOW, would a certain software company sell more than 4x as many copies of their Home OS if they dropped the price from $99 to $25? I believe so and I've seen market studies to back that assumption. That, IMO, is the solution to piracy -- sell more product at an affordable price which will reduce the incentive to steal. Much of piracy is a statement from the consumer to the producer; "your product is not worth the cost."
Let's think about expensive software packages: Office suites, voice control software, CAD packages, graphics/layout software, etc. Stuff you'd never consider shelling out $300-$1000+ for but would love to own for $30.00 just to "try out" or use on some small project. Think the publisher's would sell enough lower-priced items to break even or increase their incomes? I do.
As much as we all love to hate them, the movie houses are beginning to recognize this -- DVD movies prices are falling, selling for around $20.00 and offering lots of new features while videogame prices hover around $45.00 and CD audio costs are somwhere around $18.00. Again, think about the prices -- how many of you would "take a chance" on some unfamiliar musician for $5, vs. paying $18? (hands go up in the audience) Think that has anything to do with the popularity of file-sharing networks? I do, and I think that the music studios need to recognize that they must compete with free by selling quality, diversity, and convenience. Much of that applies to the other industries, too.
But in the end, it's not my decision to make 'cause I'm not in charge of the studios, or the software houses. I'm just a jerk at the bottom of the consumer chain being ignored by the marketing weasels at the aforementioned empires. I've lived without their products for this long, and I guess I'll continue. It's their decision. Rant over.
Since I'm not an Italian citizen, is there any reason I should have to obey their laws in the United States? Would the U.S. government let the Italians prosecute me? I would certainly hope not.
Don't you read the newspapers? the United Nations has drafted a treaty for the establishment of an International Criminal Court (ICC), which would operate with the stated purpose of bringing to justice individuals charged with ill-defined "war
crimes" and "crimes against humanity." See http://jbs.org/congress/alerts/106_congress/icc_le tter.htm for more info
Thankfully, this treaty must be signed by congress in order to be effective upon American citizens, and that has not happened. President Bush, in his usually wishy-washy fashion has first steadfastly opposed it, but has "compromised" and recently signalled a willingness to support it proved some limited protections for military are put in place, so you shouldn't feel safe just yet.
So in short, yes, if the ICC treaty is signed, you could possibly be arrested for a "War Crime" against Italy because your Constitutionally protected speech on US soil violated Italy's high laws.
The rules have changed with the arrival of insanely fast processor speeds. The CPU is so much faster than the memory bus that, on some architectures, it's MUCH faster to compute a sin/cos than it is to fetch the precomputed answer from memory, ESPECIALLY if you break the onchip cache and have to reach into main memory. Even worse, the lookup causes the processor to stall while waiting for the results of the lookup. Result? You've just screwed up the entire superscalar pipeline, flushed the cache, and stalled the hell out of everything because you tried to save a half-dozen cycles.
You never know until you test. -- JonTurner
"We won't just shoot the bastards, but rip out their living guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks." -- General George S. Patton
When the investors lose faith, that should be a message to the Chief Officers that they're not making the right decisions.[AOLTW stock slid from $60/share (Sep) to its current level of ~$12/share.]
They haven't been making good decisions, and the stock price represents that. AOLTW got too big, too bloated, and too undefined in its corporate mission to be competitive.
What ever happened to the notion of skepticism in science? I mean, if a science team claims something new, novel or unexpected, the scientific community turns it's attention to disproving that claim -- picking it apart, looking for mistakes and/or weaknesses. You mean to tell me that noone else has ever tried to find elements 116 or 118? I am truly shocked!
You know, now that I think about it element 119, CmdrTacoium, sounds a little funny, too.
"Apparently all the non-google engines are on vacation" I'm assuming you mean "engineers?" (Of course, the engines may as well go on vacation, too. It's not like anyone actually uses AltaVista/Yahoo/etc.)
Slashdot Mirror
"they are sheet-fed, which is useless for scanning pages out of books"
Not if you tear out the pages, first.
You will soon, Mr. "I like to brag in public that I steal software." In fact, you might want to avoid answering the door for a few days, especially if 6' tall men wearing suits and sunglasses, driving a Crown Victoria with Federal license plates, show up unannounced.
Did I mention that now would be an excellent time to wipe that hard drive and install Linux?
Think next time, McFly!
"What to do?"
How about an 87-hour Everquest marathon? Sure, you may die, but that's less painful than reading FCC rulings.
A bunch of words on paper isn't going to do much good for someone who may have trouble scraping together the $20,000 for the patent work, the $100,000+++ needed to sue a large corporation with a fleet of slick attorneys is going to be difficult to find.
Don't just do something, stand there!
Oh, yeah, as if walking around with blue, cyan and magenta ink-stained skin wasn't bad enough. Now we're going to have the "do it yourself and save a buck" crowd dousing themselves in methanol. Can you hear that? It's the sound of lawyer's giddy laughter as they contemplate retirement in Bermuda from the profit off inevitable lawsuits filed by char-broiled geeks.
Don't just do something, stand there!
I was reading the summary thinking "Blue Screen of Death OSs... a retrospective on the legacy of Windows. Cool." Then I realized we're talking about the other BSD.
I'm gussing I should take this as a clue that I've been using Windows way too long!
First opportunity during WWI? Hardly. Try the Civil War. Lincoln shut down newspapers critical of the war, imprisoned civilians without trial, ordered and approved attacks on civilian targets and the execution of prisoners, etc.
To claim this quest for control over the populace began during WWI is short sighted. There have always been power-hungry politicians who will seize any opportunity to expand their authority. It's human nature, as anyone who's read the Bible will be familiar.
Sometimes, it's worthwhile to spend a little more, wait in a line, drive a little further, shop on the other side of town, etc., just for the principle of the matter. Have you ever refused to shop somewhere because you were displeased with the service or product? Same thing. I think that may earn Lindows more than a few sales. For example, I prefer visiting the local hardware store for housewares rather than the Big Box Hardware Superstore down the street. I feel like a valued customer, the owner greets me when I arrive, he helps me with advice, etc. Yes, I pay more for my purchase, but shopping on price isn't always the most important thing to me.
If Lindows can provide good service and a seamless OS experience, I think they'll survive. Besides, most computers only run three apps anyway -- a word processor, an email client, and a web browser. If it does these things well, it's "good enough" for the majority of users.
If you want a free version, you'll need to wait for the LindowsOS General Release later this year.
FAQ's may be found at: http://help.lindows.com/cgi-bin/visitors.cfg/php/e nduser/std_alp.php
"Yes, dear, we and the children are starving to death, human rights are unheard of here thanks to our corrupt government, and easily-cured disease is spreading like wildfire leading to a life expectancy of less than 30 years. But, hey, look on the bright side. If only we could get electricity and a television we could watch our favorite Wesley Crusher episode of Star Trek on this fancy new DVD player..."
Apple has sent out a warning to its customers: "We're no different than any other manufactuer, despite the proclamations of our marketing weasels. Don't get under the hood or your machine or attempt to use your hardware to it's potential or our attorneys will slap you down, bi-atch."
How far we've come from the days when The Woz actually encouraged hackers to experiment with the Apple. It looks like we're moving back to the closed architecture days of the early Mac. That's not good.
However, for me this is a blessing in disguise. After being Mac-free, Mac-clean, and Mac-sober for almost five years I was considering buying an iMac for home. I even went CompUSA and played around with one yesterday. However, this article snapped me out of my "Stephen Jobs field effect" judgement fog -- like an abused wife being shown pictures of her cuts and bruises this reminded me what it's like when Apple doesn't behave itself.
Thanks, Apple Computer, Inc. -- I was almost ready to relapse. I guess I'll just spend my quarterly bonus on a new p4 upgrade & a flatscreen for my PC where I can burn all the DVD's I want.
One side effect, though may be a large-scale switch to satellite programming. My DTV box decodes from digital input to analog output which is fed to my 10-year-old television set and I get local channels off the satellite, rather than from an antenna. Unless this bill is amended to require that satellite decoder box outputs are digital, all those old TV's will keep working. Now (and here's the unintended consequence), since, as you stated, a DTV setup is many times less expensive than the initial cost for one or more new televisions or digital-to-analog converter boxes, expect to see a huge increase in satellite subscribers. At least for the first several years, a satellite subscription will be substantially less expensive than replacing a television set or buying a settop decoder.
"Don't just do something, stand there!"
You state that America is a free country but your "solution" of giving tax breaks ("corporate welfare") to digital TV companies simply makes America less free by compelling people to support the business ventures of corporations. If you want it, buy it. If you can't afford it then pool your money with others and start your own company but don't force others to pay for something just because you want it.
"Don't just do something, stand there!"
"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong." -- Thomas Sowell
First the mandatory (and useless) V-Chip, then the "Gore Tax" on telecommunications devices to provide internet access to schools whether or not they need it, then a ruling that internet by cablemodem is not considered "communication" so the government can snoop without a search warrant, now the forced obsolescence of analog television. Does anyone with more than two brain cells believe that these FCC bureaucrats are making decisions in the public interest?
What could be next, a mandate that all communications devices use sawtooth waveforms?
Since the safety belts (an integral, legally required part of the vehicle's restraint system) are not included in the office chair, wouldn't that be a violation of DMCA and the Biden DRM amendment? After all, this "pirate" stole BMW's intellectual property by "reverse engineering" the protection systems's protection system (in this case, a bolt) in order to remove it, then modified the content (the chair) for an unauthorized purpose without BMW's permission, in advance, in writing, et. al. Even worse, he disseminated this information on a web page -- it's as though he's BRAGGING about his brazen theft of BMW's IP! Since BMW sold far fewer automobiles than Chevrolet last year, it's clear that this seat modification procedure is to blame. How do you shameless, seat-modifying pirates sleep at night?
--
JonTurner
"Don't just do something, stand there!"
Correct, but there's a bit more to it so reaching back slightly further in computer history may explain this more fully.
More than just what one sees on a Unix terminal, the "carrot-H" is what one would see on a teletype console, where backspacing is impossible (since the output is paper and thus irreversible). In other words, since the display output is ink on greenbar paper, the device can't go back and erase the previous character, "^H" is shown to let the operator know that the backspace key was accepted.
Yes, but that doesn't prove your point. Even without this system I'm not at the store buying new games. I haven't bought a new game in years -- I wait for some sucker to shell out $40-$60.00 for a new title, play it for a few weeks, then sell it used to me for less than half price (usually $20)because that's all it's worth to me.
Let's go back and talk about business dynamics for a moment, though, since that's the title of this thread. The software industry is operating on the Economics 101 rule that scarcity increases demand -- while true for hard goods (food, shelter, clothing) with items that can be reproduced by the consumer at almost zero cost (e.g. software) it doesn't apply. It's all about market forces. Does the company want to make a high profit margin on a low volume (the mainstream software industry approach) or a low profit on a high volume? IOW, would a certain software company sell more than 4x as many copies of their Home OS if they dropped the price from $99 to $25? I believe so and I've seen market studies to back that assumption. That, IMO, is the solution to piracy -- sell more product at an affordable price which will reduce the incentive to steal. Much of piracy is a statement from the consumer to the producer; "your product is not worth the cost."
Let's think about expensive software packages: Office suites, voice control software, CAD packages, graphics/layout software, etc. Stuff you'd never consider shelling out $300-$1000+ for but would love to own for $30.00 just to "try out" or use on some small project. Think the publisher's would sell enough lower-priced items to break even or increase their incomes? I do.
As much as we all love to hate them, the movie houses are beginning to recognize this -- DVD movies prices are falling, selling for around $20.00 and offering lots of new features while videogame prices hover around $45.00 and CD audio costs are somwhere around $18.00. Again, think about the prices -- how many of you would "take a chance" on some unfamiliar musician for $5, vs. paying $18? (hands go up in the audience) Think that has anything to do with the popularity of file-sharing networks? I do, and I think that the music studios need to recognize that they must compete with free by selling quality, diversity, and convenience. Much of that applies to the other industries, too.
But in the end, it's not my decision to make 'cause I'm not in charge of the studios, or the software houses. I'm just a jerk at the bottom of the consumer chain being ignored by the marketing weasels at the aforementioned empires. I've lived without their products for this long, and I guess I'll continue. It's their decision. Rant over.
I might fail, but at least I'm trying.
Don't you read the newspapers? the United Nations has drafted a treaty for the establishment of an International Criminal Court (ICC), which would operate with the stated purpose of bringing to justice individuals charged with ill-defined "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity." See http://jbs.org/congress/alerts/106_congress/icc_le tter.htm for more info
Thankfully, this treaty must be signed by congress in order to be effective upon American citizens, and that has not happened. President Bush, in his usually wishy-washy fashion has first steadfastly opposed it, but has "compromised" and recently signalled a willingness to support it proved some limited protections for military are put in place, so you shouldn't feel safe just yet.
So in short, yes, if the ICC treaty is signed, you could possibly be arrested for a "War Crime" against Italy because your Constitutionally protected speech on US soil violated Italy's high laws.
Can someone with Italian legal experience/knowledge please explain the difference between "illegally blasphemous" and "legally blasphemous" speech?
The way I understood it, all blaspheme is illegal under Italian law.
Just wondering...
Blue screens in the morning,
Ground crews take warning.
Blue screen by day,
Stay outta the way.
Blue screens at night.
Reboot, and take flight.
It depends.
The rules have changed with the arrival of insanely fast processor speeds. The CPU is so much faster than the memory bus that, on some architectures, it's MUCH faster to compute a sin/cos than it is to fetch the precomputed answer from memory, ESPECIALLY if you break the onchip cache and have to reach into main memory. Even worse, the lookup causes the processor to stall while waiting for the results of the lookup. Result? You've just screwed up the entire superscalar pipeline, flushed the cache, and stalled the hell out of everything because you tried to save a half-dozen cycles.
You never know until you test.
--
JonTurner
"We won't just shoot the bastards, but rip out their living guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks."
-- General George S. Patton
When the investors lose faith, that should be a message to the Chief Officers that they're not making the right decisions.[AOLTW stock slid from $60/share (Sep) to its current level of ~$12/share.]
They haven't been making good decisions, and the stock price represents that. AOLTW got too big, too bloated, and too undefined in its corporate mission to be competitive.
What ever happened to the notion of skepticism in science? I mean, if a science team claims something new, novel or unexpected, the scientific community turns it's attention to disproving that claim -- picking it apart, looking for mistakes and/or weaknesses. You mean to tell me that noone else has ever tried to find elements 116 or 118? I am truly shocked!
You know, now that I think about it element 119, CmdrTacoium, sounds a little funny, too.
"Apparently all the non-google engines are on vacation"
I'm assuming you mean "engineers?" (Of course, the engines may as well go on vacation, too. It's not like anyone actually uses AltaVista/Yahoo/etc.)