You know, there's an old joke about a bunch of engineers being accidentally sent to hell, and being engineers, they spruced up the place considerably. Air conditioning, electricity, all the modern comforts. When God noticed the mistake, he went down and demanded that Satan return the engineers so they could go to heaven, as was their due. Satan refused and God threatened to sue. Satan's response was, "Sure, but where are you going to find a lawyer?"
Their scripts screwed up, they admitted the mistake, appologized and have promised to adjust the scripts. What more could you want?
While I may disagree with their initial tactics, they've been most understanding and civil about the whole matter. One could only hope more of their member organizations behaved in as level-headed a fashion.
There's always at least one winner in any major court case: The Lawyers. They managed to tie this up for 3.5 years. I can't even imagine how expensive the legal bill on this one would be.
They could probably have bought a small island somewhere and had their company executives fight it out to the death for less money. Now, that would be a reality TV special I'd tune in to watch! "On the next episode of Corporate Survivor, it's a fight to the finish between the 800lb Gorilla, Steve Balmer and the Patent Avenger, Charles Osenbaugh. Who will be the next Corporate Survivor?"
Re:There are many reasons to pay.
on
Sim-Dud?
·
· Score: 1
Actually, a really good online gaming service is GamesMania. Pay $15cdn / month and get unlimited access to about 100 full games. Sure, they're not "0-day"-type games, but for someone like myself who only has a few hours on the weekend to play games, it's wonderful. I can start playing any game which tickles my fancy without shelling out the $60 investment on something that may or may not actually be fun to play...
Actually, yes. It could be compiled from an intermediate format. (eg. Java bytecode) Not that they'd do it that way, but yes, it is possible to compile from something other than source code. =)
The whole "Windows Refund Day" is not about bundling. Yes, Microsoft, or any other vendor/manufacturer is perfectly free to bundle their software on your spiffy new PC, just like VW is free to bundle crappy stereos with their cars.
Where the important difference comes in is a quasi-legal contract called the End User License Agreement which you must agree to be bound by if you wish to use the software. 99% of the population don't read them and simply accept them. I suggest you take an afternoon some time and comb through one. The highlights of a typical EULA are this:
You have no rights to use the software in a manner not sanctioned by the manufacturer.
The manufacturer has no liability for defects in the product.
(and this is the important one in terms of the discussion at hand) If you do not agree with the terms of the EULA, you must return the unused product to the place of purchase for a full refund.
Frankly, I doubt your VW Golf, or your townhome came with such an agreement. (Your Mac is a different story, since EULAs are a standard practice in the software industry...although I am not familiar with Apple's EULAs, I suspect they have a similar clause.
The whole idea behind the Windows refund day is to illustrate that not even the software manufacturers pay any heed to their own EULAs. It's not about Microsoft-bashing, they just happen to be a very convenient target for too many reasons to list here...
True, but when you buy a car, the rear bumper doesn't come with a 5 page legal document which essentially tells you that you are not allowed to move that bumper to another car which you bought, or use the bumper in any manner other than permitted by the manufacturer, and that they have no liability even if it crumples like a tinfoil hat and kills your family. It then goes on to say that if you don't agree to these terms, you may return the unused bumper to the dealer for a full refund.
So no, it could be argued that you do NOT know what you were getting. Yes, you knew you were getting Windows, but you didn't know the details of the EULA before purchase.
Based on your discussion of Ontario politics, I am taken to assume you're a Canadian citizen. (If you're not, feel free to disregard the rest of this reply.;)
As such, you might want to consider familiarizing yourself with our system of rights and freedoms, including The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Technically speaking, we don't have any "first amendment" rights TO be eroded.
We do, however, have the right to, "freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication," under section 2(b) of the Charter.
As such, civil disobedience against the DMCA would (sadly) be a wasted effort for those of us north of the US-Canada border. About the best we can do from up here is to donate to the EFF, and hope they make a difference.
Anyway, despite my being anal about the differences between US and Canadian law, it was a good post. =)
Yes, but the point is that when you see those signs, you have the CHOICE not to do business with the company if you disagree with the posted conditions.
In the case of an EULA, you don't have that choice. You've already paid for the software. The decision has already been made, and the transaction has already been completed.
IIRC, (and IANAL) unless they have a contract with the software company explicitly stating so, the retailer from whom you purchased your software has absolutely no legal obligation accept your return simply because you disagree with the EULA.
Don't do it! The ATI TV Wonder (not to be confused with the All In Wonder) is a piece of crap!
The card itself is just a simple Bt878-based card with an MPEG-1 encoder. Just don't expect any driver support from ATI. Also, the video quality just doesn't measure up to what you get from an AIW...
The 'XP drivers', are a joke. They have strange focus issues when combined with GeForce cards. There's a workaround, but it's hackish at best. (open the tv player, then right click anywhere on the desktop before the window comes up...otherwise the video is corrupted)
Not only that, but it seems to be very crash happy, especially when doing video capture. (which is limited to a maximum vertical resolution of 240 lines)
I just did a check on their web site. The latest driver revision for the Multimedia Center drivers listed is version 7.1, posted July 5, 2001! The new AIW cards are shipping with version 7.6...which includes the cool PVR features.
Frankly, it seems that ATI couldn't give a hairy rat's ass about their TV Wonder customers. If you haven't got a Radeon, you aren't worth their time.
Perhaps you should have kept reading...and I block quoth (emphasis mine):
In a written statement attached to the audit, Gage wrote, "In hindsight, it may have been more prudent to delay execution of the agreement" until the savings claims could be evaluated.
A lawyer for the Department of General Services, meanwhile, was given only a few hours to review the contract.
The breakneck timeline was imposed by Oracle, the audit says.
"There was obviously a crushing need to hurry to get this thing done" to boost Oracle's reported earnings at the end of its fiscal year, Bowen said. "The state shouldn't be in the business of propping up any company's balance sheet, period."
I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Oracle's involvement in this particular clusterfuck...If they hadn't been so intent on proping up their 4th quarter numbers, the contract would most likely have gotten the review, and probably the subsequent shrieking gales of laughter it deserved.
Of course, a large helping of shame goes to the Gov't of Calif for letting Oracle/Logicon railroad them like that. This is the sort of thing 'due process' is meant to avoid.
Re:Why pay for something that you alreadt\y own?
on
Mandrake Asks for Support
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Perhaps you should go check out the links at the bottom of the page. Specifically, this one.
The $5 a month isn't paying for something you already 'own', it's supporting open source development. Think about it. Mandrake releases their code under the GPL. However, if they must lay off their coders, then how will they continue to contribute to the body of GPL software? The answer is easy. They won't.
You're not paying for the code. You're paying for the developer's time, the machine, and the building in which he/she works. While the result is free, the development is not.
For years, the Open Source community has been releasing free code to the masses, many of whom do not, or can not contribute. Well, this is your chance. If you've never submitted code, artwork, documumentation or even a bug report, THIS is your chance to help support the community which has given you so much.
Well, if you get around to reading the BBC article that someone else linked to, you'll notice the blurb at the end which says that Cc: (the name of the cloned kitten. Cute.) was the only survivor of 87 cloned embryos, and that this was consistent with the results in other species. 1/87 success rate is pretty damned low if you ask me.
Considering the time and expense involved, chances are you're not going to see an army of genetically identical pets roaming your neighborhood any time soon.
For those people who have more sense than money, it's far more expedient to just run down to the pet store or local animal shelter (yay) and buy/adopt a new pet.
For those people with more money than sense, I seem to recall hearing something about a fool and his money...
I want to read comments about it that don't repeatedly say 'why is this on slashdot!?'.
I agree. Of course you have to appreciate the irony that one of the most compelling arguments for filtering is so that other people can filter the stories they are not interested in rather than bitch and moan about the fact that they can't filter it out!;)
Re:New Topic Please
on
2.5.4 Kernel Out
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
I'm not trying to troll here, but I don't get it. Maybe it's just me, but is it really so onerous to read a headline and move on if you're not interested? (Just to go on the record though, I happen to like the Kernel X.Y.Z is out! news items.)
Are you paying for your desktop real estate by the pixel or something?
I rather effectively screen out JonKatz by reading the headline, and seeing the big green JonKatz underneath. Then I know it's drivel and I move on.
I just don't understand the motivation behind, "I should be able to filter this out!"...It's not like they're forcing you to read the article and all the comments. Just move along if it doesn't pique your interest. Considering how many stories flit past the front page in a day (and more with judicious use of Slashboxes), it's not hard to find something more personally interesting.
Then again, maybe I'm just being obtuse. Anyone care to enlighten me?
Region 3 for the Elven Kings under the sky,
Region 7 for the Dwarf-lords in halls of stone,
Region 9 for Mortal Men doomed to die,
Region 1 for the Dark Lord on this dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
I hope that helps.
Re:You pay for performance
on
Future Of IDS
·
· Score: 1
I don't mean to flame you, but then why not head over and give the Snort ppl some pointers? I'm sure they would welcome code that helped improve system performance.
(Enter smarmy marketroid. Linus Torvalds typing at his PC in the background.)
Here at Evil Inc., we're always on the lookout for the freshest evil money can buy. To that end, we've replaced Linus's 2.5 Kernel Tree with CP/M...Let's see if he notices!;)
(Focus on Linus at his PC)
"What the?!? What happened to the VM?!? Wait a minute! This isn't my OS! DAMN YOU GREG KILDALL!!!!!"
(Cut back to marketroid. Background switches between images of Linux developers screaming after installing 2.5.1-evil-herring)
Don't you just love the smell of steaming hot Evil in the morning? I know I do! Mmmm! Mm! Refreshing!
This message has been brought to you by the fine folks at Evil Incorporated.
One more bit of packing advice. When packing the machine, pull all the cards, and the RAM, and pack them individually in static-proof bags. I usually tape them together as a bundle, and then tape that to the inside of the case. The heatsink/fan should be removed and packed seperately, lest it break off and damage your motherboard during transport.
Speaking as someone who has had to move my ass back and forth across the continent more times than I care to count in the past 4 years, I've tried a number of methods of shipping my machines...(UPS, FedEx, Purolator, Greyhound )
So far, the best way that I've found is to take it with you on the plane as luggage. If you don't have the original case boxes, your carrier should have a range of boxes in various sizes which you can obtain at low, or no cost. (Air Canada provided me with two for free)
Once packed securely (Lacking styrofoam, I simply surround my cases with books), take them with you to the airport. Check them in as extra luggage, marked 'Fragile'. They'll cost you approx. $25CDN each. depending on your carrier...check their policies before you head to the airport!
Ususally, they'll ask you to fill out a form describing your computer(s), and it's value. IIRC, they're only insured up to $1000 each, but you can purchase additional insurance at extra cost.
Once you get to your destination, you'll find your 'puters safe and sound at the customer service desk. No fuss, no muss. Of course, carrier policies may be different in the US, post-9/11, but if the option is available to you, I would most certainly recommend it!
Actually, that seems to be something that Amazon has started doing very well with their Recommendations feature.
It's a pretty cool application of a very simple learning algorithm...it presents you with a number of products, and you either say "I'm not interested in that", or "I own it, and this is what I think about it". Slowly but surely, it tunes it's recommendations to things you're likely to enjoy...
That being said, it's not hugely intelligent, or adventurous...if I say I own all the O'Reilly Perl books, and that I really liked most of them, guess what it's going to recommend? You got it! Perl books! But maybe I'm interested in learning Python...So, it's not perfect, but it is pretty cool...
Now, if only there were an amazon.ca, so I didn't have to pay exchange on my purchases, I'd be a very happy geek indeed...at least until my credit card bill showed up!;)
Slashdot Mirror
Hehhehehe...Classic TMBG.
;)
Damn. Now I've got that song stuck in my head and I'll have to dig up that CD...Damn you, mcgroarty!
You know, there's an old joke about a bunch of engineers being accidentally sent to hell, and being engineers, they spruced up the place considerably. Air conditioning, electricity, all the modern comforts. When God noticed the mistake, he went down and demanded that Satan return the engineers so they could go to heaven, as was their due. Satan refused and God threatened to sue. Satan's response was, "Sure, but where are you going to find a lawyer?"
With apologies to the late Frank Herbert, it's obviously because, "He who controls The Sauce controls the Universe."
Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week. Try the veal.
I hate posting RTFA responses, but RTFA.
Their scripts screwed up, they admitted the mistake, appologized and have promised to adjust the scripts. What more could you want?
While I may disagree with their initial tactics, they've been most understanding and civil about the whole matter. One could only hope more of their member organizations behaved in as level-headed a fashion.
Case closed. Move along. Nothing to see here.
They could probably have bought a small island somewhere and had their company executives fight it out to the death for less money. Now, that would be a reality TV special I'd tune in to watch! "On the next episode of Corporate Survivor, it's a fight to the finish between the 800lb Gorilla, Steve Balmer and the Patent Avenger, Charles Osenbaugh. Who will be the next Corporate Survivor?"
Actually, a really good online gaming service is GamesMania. Pay $15cdn / month and get unlimited access to about 100 full games. Sure, they're not "0-day"-type games, but for someone like myself who only has a few hours on the weekend to play games, it's wonderful. I can start playing any game which tickles my fancy without shelling out the $60 investment on something that may or may not actually be fun to play...
Actually, yes. It could be compiled from an intermediate format. (eg. Java bytecode) Not that they'd do it that way, but yes, it is possible to compile from something other than source code. =)
The whole "Windows Refund Day" is not about bundling. Yes, Microsoft, or any other vendor/manufacturer is perfectly free to bundle their software on your spiffy new PC, just like VW is free to bundle crappy stereos with their cars.
Where the important difference comes in is a quasi-legal contract called the End User License Agreement which you must agree to be bound by if you wish to use the software. 99% of the population don't read them and simply accept them. I suggest you take an afternoon some time and comb through one. The highlights of a typical EULA are this:
Frankly, I doubt your VW Golf, or your townhome came with such an agreement. (Your Mac is a different story, since EULAs are a standard practice in the software industry...although I am not familiar with Apple's EULAs, I suspect they have a similar clause.
The whole idea behind the Windows refund day is to illustrate that not even the software manufacturers pay any heed to their own EULAs. It's not about Microsoft-bashing, they just happen to be a very convenient target for too many reasons to list here...
True, but when you buy a car, the rear bumper doesn't come with a 5 page legal document which essentially tells you that you are not allowed to move that bumper to another car which you bought, or use the bumper in any manner other than permitted by the manufacturer, and that they have no liability even if it crumples like a tinfoil hat and kills your family. It then goes on to say that if you don't agree to these terms, you may return the unused bumper to the dealer for a full refund.
So no, it could be argued that you do NOT know what you were getting. Yes, you knew you were getting Windows, but you didn't know the details of the EULA before purchase.
As such, you might want to consider familiarizing yourself with our system of rights and freedoms, including The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Technically speaking, we don't have any "first amendment" rights TO be eroded.
We do, however, have the right to, "freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication," under section 2(b) of the Charter.
Also, being Canadian citizens, we are not bound by the DMCA. We are bound by The Criminal Code of Canada, and, as relates to copyright infringement, The Copyright Act.
As such, civil disobedience against the DMCA would (sadly) be a wasted effort for those of us north of the US-Canada border. About the best we can do from up here is to donate to the EFF, and hope they make a difference.
Anyway, despite my being anal about the differences between US and Canadian law, it was a good post. =)
Excuse me, but I couldn't help notice your use of non-geek language. The geek-conscious version of your statement should be:
/. community. Thank you.
May You ROT-13 IN DMCA HELL!!!
These small changes will help prevent misunderstanding within the
This has been a public service announcement.
Yes, but the point is that when you see those signs, you have the CHOICE not to do business with the company if you disagree with the posted conditions.
In the case of an EULA, you don't have that choice. You've already paid for the software. The decision has already been made, and the transaction has already been completed.
IIRC, (and IANAL) unless they have a contract with the software company explicitly stating so, the retailer from whom you purchased your software has absolutely no legal obligation accept your return simply because you disagree with the EULA.
The card itself is just a simple Bt878-based card with an MPEG-1 encoder. Just don't expect any driver support from ATI. Also, the video quality just doesn't measure up to what you get from an AIW...
The 'XP drivers', are a joke. They have strange focus issues when combined with GeForce cards. There's a workaround, but it's hackish at best. (open the tv player, then right click anywhere on the desktop before the window comes up...otherwise the video is corrupted)
Not only that, but it seems to be very crash happy, especially when doing video capture. (which is limited to a maximum vertical resolution of 240 lines)
I just did a check on their web site. The latest driver revision for the Multimedia Center drivers listed is version 7.1, posted July 5, 2001! The new AIW cards are shipping with version 7.6...which includes the cool PVR features.
Frankly, it seems that ATI couldn't give a hairy rat's ass about their TV Wonder customers. If you haven't got a Radeon, you aren't worth their time.
Hugely dissapointing.
I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Oracle's involvement in this particular clusterfuck...If they hadn't been so intent on proping up their 4th quarter numbers, the contract would most likely have gotten the review, and probably the subsequent shrieking gales of laughter it deserved.
Of course, a large helping of shame goes to the Gov't of Calif for letting Oracle/Logicon railroad them like that. This is the sort of thing 'due process' is meant to avoid.
The $5 a month isn't paying for something you already 'own', it's supporting open source development. Think about it. Mandrake releases their code under the GPL. However, if they must lay off their coders, then how will they continue to contribute to the body of GPL software? The answer is easy. They won't.
You're not paying for the code. You're paying for the developer's time, the machine, and the building in which he/she works. While the result is free, the development is not.
For years, the Open Source community has been releasing free code to the masses, many of whom do not, or can not contribute. Well, this is your chance. If you've never submitted code, artwork, documumentation or even a bug report, THIS is your chance to help support the community which has given you so much.
Mr. Anderson, this is your wake up call.
Well, if you get around to reading the BBC article that someone else linked to, you'll notice the blurb at the end which says that Cc: (the name of the cloned kitten. Cute.) was the only survivor of 87 cloned embryos, and that this was consistent with the results in other species. 1/87 success rate is pretty damned low if you ask me.
Considering the time and expense involved, chances are you're not going to see an army of genetically identical pets roaming your neighborhood any time soon.
For those people who have more sense than money, it's far more expedient to just run down to the pet store or local animal shelter (yay) and buy/adopt a new pet.
For those people with more money than sense, I seem to recall hearing something about a fool and his money...
Ok. I can accept that. Choice IS good. =)
;)
I want to read comments about it that don't repeatedly say 'why is this on slashdot!?'.
I agree. Of course you have to appreciate the irony that one of the most compelling arguments for filtering is so that other people can filter the stories they are not interested in rather than bitch and moan about the fact that they can't filter it out!
I'm not trying to troll here, but I don't get it. Maybe it's just me, but is it really so onerous to read a headline and move on if you're not interested? (Just to go on the record though, I happen to like the Kernel X.Y.Z is out! news items.)
Are you paying for your desktop real estate by the pixel or something?
I rather effectively screen out JonKatz by reading the headline, and seeing the big green JonKatz underneath. Then I know it's drivel and I move on.
I just don't understand the motivation behind, "I should be able to filter this out!"...It's not like they're forcing you to read the article and all the comments. Just move along if it doesn't pique your interest. Considering how many stories flit past the front page in a day (and more with judicious use of Slashboxes), it's not hard to find something more personally interesting.
Then again, maybe I'm just being obtuse. Anyone care to enlighten me?
Region 3 for the Elven Kings under the sky,
Region 7 for the Dwarf-lords in halls of stone,
Region 9 for Mortal Men doomed to die,
Region 1 for the Dark Lord on this dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
I hope that helps.
I don't mean to flame you, but then why not head over and give the Snort ppl some pointers? I'm sure they would welcome code that helped improve system performance.
(Enter smarmy marketroid. Linus Torvalds typing at his PC in the background.)
;)
Here at Evil Inc., we're always on the lookout for the freshest evil money can buy. To that end, we've replaced Linus's 2.5 Kernel Tree with CP/M...Let's see if he notices!
(Focus on Linus at his PC)
"What the?!? What happened to the VM?!? Wait a minute! This isn't my OS! DAMN YOU GREG KILDALL!!!!!"
(Cut back to marketroid. Background switches between images of Linux developers screaming after installing 2.5.1-evil-herring)
Don't you just love the smell of steaming hot Evil in the morning? I know I do! Mmmm! Mm! Refreshing!
This message has been brought to you by the fine folks at Evil Incorporated.
One more bit of packing advice. When packing the machine, pull all the cards, and the RAM, and pack them individually in static-proof bags. I usually tape them together as a bundle, and then tape that to the inside of the case. The heatsink/fan should be removed and packed seperately, lest it break off and damage your motherboard during transport.
Speaking as someone who has had to move my ass back and forth across the continent more times than I care to count in the past 4 years, I've tried a number of methods of shipping my machines...(UPS, FedEx, Purolator, Greyhound )
So far, the best way that I've found is to take it with you on the plane as luggage. If you don't have the original case boxes, your carrier should have a range of boxes in various sizes which you can obtain at low, or no cost. (Air Canada provided me with two for free)
Once packed securely (Lacking styrofoam, I simply surround my cases with books), take them with you to the airport. Check them in as extra luggage, marked 'Fragile'. They'll cost you approx. $25CDN each. depending on your carrier...check their policies before you head to the airport!
Ususally, they'll ask you to fill out a form describing your computer(s), and it's value. IIRC, they're only insured up to $1000 each, but you can purchase additional insurance at extra cost.
Once you get to your destination, you'll find your 'puters safe and sound at the customer service desk. No fuss, no muss. Of course, carrier policies may be different in the US, post-9/11, but if the option is available to you, I would most certainly recommend it!
Actually, that seems to be something that Amazon has started doing very well with their Recommendations feature.
;)
It's a pretty cool application of a very simple learning algorithm...it presents you with a number of products, and you either say "I'm not interested in that", or "I own it, and this is what I think about it". Slowly but surely, it tunes it's recommendations to things you're likely to enjoy...
That being said, it's not hugely intelligent, or adventurous...if I say I own all the O'Reilly Perl books, and that I really liked most of them, guess what it's going to recommend? You got it! Perl books! But maybe I'm interested in learning Python...So, it's not perfect, but it is pretty cool...
Now, if only there were an amazon.ca, so I didn't have to pay exchange on my purchases, I'd be a very happy geek indeed...at least until my credit card bill showed up!
Do the TV listings work in Canada? I know this was a problem with the TiVos the last time I checked... =(