IANAL, but apparently the claim was a california company trying to take the domain name of the arizona operation, when the two were never in competition.
The plaintiffs failed to show that the they had even bothered to do business or anything else in Texas, and so the california court could not compell a Texas business to had over the Domain name.
Also, the plaintiff had abandoned their trade mark in 1994. and were trying to assert it now.
I can think of several things in this bit that people will disagree with:
Microsoft has made a study of the situation. Its activities as system provider and manufacturer of office automation products alone will not be enough to keep its dominant position. Bill Gates understood early on that tomorrow's stakes will be based on communication, whether it is on the Web or interactive TV. However, Microsoft's difficulties in establishing a monopoly on the Web are well-known. Government regulators even feel endangered by media manipulation, and this has created a rather hostile relationship between the regulators and the corporation. The alternative? To tackle this challenge from the other end. And launching an Internet-ready console seems quite sensible within the scope of the company's global strategy. Microsoft has all the necessary resources at its disposal: it produces games and designs systems. But above all, it is has the best programming kit in the world with DirectX. All that's left is to assemble the console, connect it to the Internet and, once again, everything is in place to be the leader in the online gaming and communication market of tomorrow. Without a doubt, the final goal is, on one hand, to dominate massive multiplayer gaming and, on the other, to integrate this console into an Internet-connected living room. On the practical side, in order to build the console, Microsoft chose the obvious: it turned to PC components, which it masters through Windows and Direct X.
Although I can see this easily how the world is, at least according to MS.
The Gene Bank, the only one of its type in Australia, has lost its technician and the laboratories used for the program face being taken over by a well-funded program on cattle breeding.
[shakes head] Sounds like the government there really has it's priorities straight.
I mean, wouldn't even a tenth of the money spent on "protecting" the morality of the Australian websurfing public be better served by setting a good example and protecting the future of the planet?
* I heard something about a "Klingon Forth". Is this it? And why isn't it called loSDIch?
Yes, in a way. It's a stack-based RPN language like Forth or PostScript; the reason for this has nothing to do with an original desire to emulate one of those languages, but simply the unusual object-verb-subject syntax of Klingon. This sort of dictated the required form of the language right up front, ruling out a more traditional ALGOL-like syntax (based on English). Stack-based languages are actually easier to parse anyway, especially in Perl: just chomp and process. It is also an impure functional language in the same vein as Lisp or ML; it supports local variables, but it is really intended to do everything off the stack.
As for calling it loSDIch (Klingon for fourth), that would be an obvious joke title to anyone who actually spoke Klingon; this being at least a semi-serious exercise in artificial culture development, such a title would be noticeably silly at best. var'aq is actually completely meaningless, though it suggests identification with a famous Klingon mathematician or computer scientist in sort of the same way as Pascal recalls Blaise Pascal or Ada recalls Ada Lovelace. In any case, the name var'aq came before the form of the language. (In any case, var'aq is based more directly on PostScript anyway. But they're all part of the same family.)
[...]
In terms of genetics, var'aq is the bastard child of a back-room tryst between PostScript and Lisp after a Star Trek convention.
[...]
* Why doesn't this construct translate to its PostScript/Forth equivalent?
The question is one of verisimilitude. The likelihood of a Klingon concept being an exact translation of its English equivalent isn't always good. Consequently, pure translation of an Earth language might make for a cute joke, but it would sacrifice plausibility. A prime example is the qaw/qawHa' instructions, which perform the same function as PostScript's mark/cleartomark instructions but literally translate to remember/forget; the idea is that the metaphor chosen in Klingon might more reflect the purpose of marking the stack than the actual act. Incidentally, It's quite true that many of the idioms chosen for var'aq are anything but obvious. This is the reason why; though mathematics is considered universal, it's not too likely that everything would be described in the same way. (That said, I did cheat in a few places; for example, the word for logarithm is a direct translation from the Greek logarithmos, meaning roughly "logic-number".)
For a rather thorough and creative discussion on the issues involved in translation, you might wish to look at Le ton beau de Marot by Douglas Hofstadter (the author of the hacker classic Goedel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid), an intricate and well-written look at the pitfalls of translation between languages.
I think I now understand why Davies was so hung up on the issue. He had developed a one-node packet switch in the UK before the ARPANET was deployed. Unfortunately, the UK would not provide enough financial support to Davies so that he could expand his one-node switch into an operational network. Had they done so, the Internet might have been born in the UK; instead his work was stalled and could not go forward. This must have been very frustrating for him.
That would have been interesting. Britain as the home of the Internet.
The possibilities of an alternate history are fascinating.
In any case some of it is a matter of research being done in parallel, which means that these sort of debates will take place as a matter of course.
they can document the functionality down to the level that computer code is now
The functionality is one that is not previously existing or discovered in nature.
a unique combination of features where the majority of the code is new work. The thought here is that Ford company probably could not patent a new engine unless they owned the patents on the component parts and technologies. But there are an indefinite number of ways to build car engines.
Thus one probably could not patent a fire breathing dragon, but could patent the various implementations of the various subsystems.
patenting huge random chunks of DNA, hoping that something practical will come out of it is not the way to go.
On the other hand, a dollar, euro, etc, is probably the minimum that most people would pay, since much less is possible too much of a hassle. dollar stores, dollar menus are popular because people think these provide good value, even if it is not true.
and think: when was the last time you changed a candy bar to a credit card? by itself? there is a point when paying by electronic means is perceived to be too much of a hassle.
The world of motion pictures is "a never-never land of illusion," according to this class action complaint brought against the major studios, referring not to the movie magic that has made Hollywood famous but to the bookkeeping techniques that may be unique to Hollywood studios.
The suit was filed by the heirs of Jim Garrison, the late New Orleans District Attorney, who wrote "On the Trail of the Assassins," the book that inspired Oliver Stone's film, "JFK."
According to the Garrison estate, the film has earned over $150 million for Warner Bros., the studio that distributed the film, but has still not shown a "net profit" in which the Garrison estate is entitled to share.
This complaint goes into the history of Hollywood's allegedly "creative" bookkeeping practices, from the days of the nickelodeon through the "Golden Age" and the modern era where major stars have the clout to share in the gross revenue of a film, avoiding the studio's allegedly problematic definition of "net profit."
The parent company of Warner Bros., Time Warner Inc., is a part owner of Court TV.
I guess this is what betting the company is all about. It is always better to have a large reserve. I forget what the odds are, but I seem to remember that most movies seem to loose money.
It is sort of like the mentality I saw in some article a while back (salon? suck? someplace) where there guys running the valley all too often had demo or promo copies of software, and basically had the attitude of "only the foolish actually pay for software"
It is slippery ground because of the need for legitimate fair exchange between folks. The problem comes when one side says that fair exchange means "All your base are belong to us"
This is where you find people objecting to MS, and justifying piracy. The fact that MS also has engaged in a sort of a legalized piracy is also part of the trap.
and so you get the system being supported by decent folks trying to do the right thing. No one likes the idea that they are getting ripped off, customer or company. I have no problem letting someone make a fair markup on something. But don't try to play me for a fool.
Leave the job of making me look silly to me. I can do that well enough as it is;-)
Something to terrify just about anyone. Some how I think some of these are weird enough to be japanese or geek recipes (thinking of the japanese mint beer)
It sounds like another group is trying to take the MS software rental idea and do something creative with it. It is not entirely from the articles how this will be handled. (the business news wire seems to be bucklling under the strain)
If it is a usage fee for each individual use, then this is a bad thing.
He probably would have gotten more traffic and support and less hassle if had spent all that time learning to create satirical flash movies of administration officials.
Play George Bush the fighter pilot trying to shoot Osama bin laden.
There so many angles that would have done much better. So instead he thinks to do things like bombs and stuf like that.
Heck even stuff like WhiteHouse.ORG is much more effective, even if in questionable taste. The opportunity is boundless if you have that talent. Which this kid probably did not.
The pay services have not been doing well so well. But I suppose they will do as well as those soda machines out in the street selling 5 dollar sodas. Only the truly desperate will stoop to purchase the warm bottles, cans, whatever.
Actually. I would not mind the law being changed to state that Copyright would gracefully change into Copy Left after a certain respectable period of time, with appropriiate penalties for alteration and lack of attribution, or false attribution, etc.
Also, I wonder about grandfathering older works into changes in copyright law, but I can see both sides of this one.
advertising - corporate mind control. or at least a bad attempt at it.
I cannot wonder how many billions have gone down the drain in order to gain the market share that corporations want? How many billions has MS spent trying to convince folks they they are good?
The fact that MS has not fully succeeded demonstrates the actual effectiveness of such techniques against a group of people who can thing for themselves on occasion
except for the occasional marketing campaign for a favorite gameing system, etc.
although this announcement seems a bit early on the research curve for me right now. I suppose an organ like a kidney would be slightly easier than a section of intestine, or something like that.
Slashdot Mirror
This would be probably educational, as well as a possible boost in moral.
Something titled: "Countries in the world where open source is recommended"
Extra brownie points for links, etc.
You merely _think_ you have problems now.
Telepathy comes much later, mostly due to the bandwidth issues.
The plaintiffs failed to show that the they had even bothered to do business or anything else in Texas, and so the california court could not compell a Texas business to had over the Domain name.
Also, the plaintiff had abandoned their trade mark in 1994. and were trying to assert it now.
doh
http://www.ifilm.com/superbowl
Although alot of the various companies also have their ads up on their corporate sites
feh
The build hasn't made it to a lot of the mirrors yet. I checked about a half dozen before I went back to the main ftp server.
Fortunately, it is late at night, when nothing important usually happens.
;-)
[shakes head] Sounds like the government there really has it's priorities straight.
I mean, wouldn't even a tenth of the money spent on "protecting" the morality of the Australian websurfing public be better served by setting a good example and protecting the future of the planet?
* I heard something about a "Klingon Forth". Is this it? And why isn't it called loSDIch?
Yes, in a way. It's a stack-based RPN language like Forth or PostScript; the reason for this has nothing to do with an original desire to emulate one of those languages, but simply the unusual object-verb-subject syntax of Klingon. This sort of dictated the required form of the language right up front, ruling out a more traditional ALGOL-like syntax (based on English). Stack-based languages are actually easier to parse anyway, especially in Perl: just chomp and process. It is also an impure functional language in the same vein as Lisp or ML; it supports local variables, but it is really intended to do everything off the stack.
As for calling it loSDIch (Klingon for fourth), that would be an obvious joke title to anyone who actually spoke Klingon; this being at least a semi-serious exercise in artificial culture development, such a title would be noticeably silly at best. var'aq is actually completely meaningless, though it suggests identification with a famous Klingon mathematician or computer scientist in sort of the same way as Pascal recalls Blaise Pascal or Ada recalls Ada Lovelace. In any case, the name var'aq came before the form of the language. (In any case, var'aq is based more directly on PostScript anyway. But they're all part of the same family.)
[...]
In terms of genetics, var'aq is the bastard child of a back-room tryst between PostScript and Lisp after a Star Trek convention.
[...]
* Why doesn't this construct translate to its PostScript/Forth equivalent?
The question is one of verisimilitude. The likelihood of a Klingon concept being an exact translation of its English equivalent isn't always good. Consequently, pure translation of an Earth language might make for a cute joke, but it would sacrifice plausibility. A prime example is the qaw/qawHa' instructions, which perform the same function as PostScript's mark/cleartomark instructions but literally translate to remember/forget; the idea is that the metaphor chosen in Klingon might more reflect the purpose of marking the stack than the actual act. Incidentally, It's quite true that many of the idioms chosen for var'aq are anything but obvious. This is the reason why; though mathematics is considered universal, it's not too likely that everything would be described in the same way. (That said, I did cheat in a few places; for example, the word for logarithm is a direct translation from the Greek logarithmos, meaning roughly "logic-number".)
For a rather thorough and creative discussion on the issues involved in translation, you might wish to look at Le ton beau de Marot by Douglas Hofstadter (the author of the hacker classic Goedel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid), an intricate and well-written look at the pitfalls of translation between languages.
inteligent writing is hard to find in general, and so this is very welcome news.
That would have been interesting. Britain as the home of the Internet.
The possibilities of an alternate history are fascinating.
In any case some of it is a matter of research being done in parallel, which means that these sort of debates will take place as a matter of course.
they can document the functionality down to the level that computer code is now
The functionality is one that is not previously existing or discovered in nature.
a unique combination of features where the majority of the code is new work. The thought here is that Ford company probably could not patent a new engine unless they owned the patents on the component parts and technologies. But there are an indefinite number of ways to build car engines.
Thus one probably could not patent a fire breathing dragon, but could patent the various implementations of the various subsystems.
patenting huge random chunks of DNA, hoping that something practical will come out of it is not the way to go.
Somethings that are free are not worth the price.
On the other hand, a dollar, euro, etc, is probably the minimum that most people would pay, since much less is possible too much of a hassle. dollar stores, dollar menus are popular because people think these provide good value, even if it is not true.
and think: when was the last time you changed a candy bar to a credit card? by itself? there is a point when paying by electronic means is perceived to be too much of a hassle.
Garrison v. Warner Bros.
The world of motion pictures is "a never-never land of illusion," according to this class action complaint brought against the major studios, referring not to the movie magic that has made Hollywood famous but to the bookkeeping techniques that may be unique to Hollywood studios.
The suit was filed by the heirs of Jim Garrison, the late New Orleans District Attorney, who wrote "On the Trail of the Assassins," the book that inspired Oliver Stone's film, "JFK."
According to the Garrison estate, the film has earned over $150 million for Warner Bros., the studio that distributed the film, but has still not shown a "net profit" in which the Garrison estate is entitled to share.
This complaint goes into the history of Hollywood's allegedly "creative" bookkeeping practices, from the days of the nickelodeon through the "Golden Age" and the modern era where major stars have the clout to share in the gross revenue of a film, avoiding the studio's allegedly problematic definition of "net profit."
The parent company of Warner Bros., Time Warner Inc., is a part owner of Court TV.
There is also the hollywood system that ensures that even the most wildy successful movies are never documented as having made a profit. Although there are rumors of changes that will improve things. Ofcourse, if you screw up, you merely make sure that someone else gets all the profits after you have done all of the hard work.
The really important question, of course, is why this happen doesn't to Microsoft? bet the company and loose, that is.
Maybe we'll finally get a version of Windows 3.1 that actually works ...
add in the mix the people who want you to do all the work so they can live easy ...
So what you get is a mix of philosophies, some of them rather daffy or short sighted, that force the struggle over the long term
It is slippery ground because of the need for legitimate fair exchange between folks. The problem comes when one side says that fair exchange means "All your base are belong to us"
This is where you find people objecting to MS, and justifying piracy. The fact that MS also has engaged in a sort of a legalized piracy is also part of the trap.
and so you get the system being supported by decent folks trying to do the right thing. No one likes the idea that they are getting ripped off, customer or company. I have no problem letting someone make a fair markup on something. But don't try to play me for a fool.
Leave the job of making me look silly to me. I can do that well enough as it is ;-)
Kentucky Bourbon Deviled Crab
Bacon-Burger-Fried Okra
Potato Candy
Turmeric Potatoes
Hot Sweet Pickled Durian
Chocolate Steak
Sausage and Muenster Couscous
Chicken-Bacon-Banana Kebobs with Garlic Rice
Survival Biscuit Casserole
Rockcastle County Vampire Tonic
Bubblegum Sauce
Baked Calpis Soda Ham
Marzipan Milkshake
Appalachian Voodoo Beer Cheese
Sweet Potatoes Baked in Hazelnut Oil
Pocky-Paraffin Edible Architecture
Squambo
Something to terrify just about anyone. Some how I think some of these are weird enough to be japanese or geek recipes (thinking of the japanese mint beer)
If it is a usage fee for each individual use, then this is a bad thing.
http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/2mass/gallery/gc_movie .html
it's of the galactic center
pretty cool
Play George Bush the fighter pilot trying to shoot Osama bin laden. There so many angles that would have done much better. So instead he thinks to do things like bombs and stuf like that.
Heck even stuff like WhiteHouse.ORG is much more effective, even if in questionable taste. The opportunity is boundless if you have that talent. Which this kid probably did not.
I am reminded of in"duh"viduals as seem in Dilbert.
just a mental image.
The pay services have not been doing well so well. But I suppose they will do as well as those soda machines out in the street selling 5 dollar sodas. Only the truly desperate will stoop to purchase the warm bottles, cans, whatever.
Also, I wonder about grandfathering older works into changes in copyright law, but I can see both sides of this one.
I cannot wonder how many billions have gone down the drain in order to gain the market share that corporations want? How many billions has MS spent trying to convince folks they they are good?
The fact that MS has not fully succeeded demonstrates the actual effectiveness of such techniques against a group of people who can thing for themselves on occasion
except for the occasional marketing campaign for a favorite gameing system, etc.
although this announcement seems a bit early on the research curve for me right now. I suppose an organ like a kidney would be slightly easier than a section of intestine, or something like that.