GPL doesn't restrict you from doing anything. The only thing GPL does is to allow you to do some things with copyrighted work [...]
And if the GPL is found invalid in court, then these allowances become void, and this you aren't legally allowed to do anything with the code. So an infringing company attempting to avoid the GPL by challenging it in court will lose either way, either by having the GPL upheld and found to be infringing, or having the GPL found invalid, and found to be infringing as well.
Makes me dislike even more PCs (and Macs) with permanently-wired internal microphones that you can't just unplug as with an external one, or even cover up as you can with an internal camera.
When I was in the emergency room with chest pain and they handed me a form, with a place for my SSN on it, and I asked if I had to give it, and they said "you won't be seen until you fill it out," what would you have done?
123-456-7890 (or however many digits one has, and preferably a more random-seeming number). They probably won't hold up your emergency care while they verify that it is correct.
Whenever I'm asked for my SSN, I always ask if there's an alternative. (And wait while they check with their supervisor). I succeed maybe half the time. The other half, well, I usually cave.
Lately I've been getting some health care work done and faced with providing my social security number. I've just left the fields on the forms blank. If they really need it, they'll bother me, otherwise they won't waste the effort on something unneeded. If I asked, on the other hand, I'm sure they'd say that they needed it, since I'm just setting myself up for that response. Half the time, I imagine they just use it for a unique number for their stupid computer record keeping, when any old random number would do. I'm not going to put that information in the hands of all the receptionists there.
Close, but not quite. When they had less competition, they probably just threw people at problems their current staff couldn't solve. Now that there's competition, they have to cut back. The simple reaction you talk about was probably needlessly throwing people at problems in the past.
I hear Microsoft has a similar approach, only it's not people they throw, and it's not problems they throw these things at.
Thanks for your insight. I guess I was just in the mood for a rant about bending words. You're probably right about the word "theft" too. I wonder what word we'll use in the future for the removal of someone's physical property. There's still something to bending words to obscure the truth that gets under my skin.
Yeah, Windows sucks, Apple would never... oh, wait, they've been doing this for over a decade!
I can't count the number of times I've booted one of my Macs and had the startup sound come out really loud. I usually have amplified speakers connected and usually have the volume cranked up, but the Mac's software-controlled volume down, allowing me to turn up the volume without having to mess with the speakers. Problem is, the startup sound doesn't seem to always respect my lower software-based volume. Maybe it's a useful feature, knowing that the system will make a loud annoying sound if it's booting properly, but it's been an endless source of annoyance for me. I think I even read of people plugging things into their PowerBooks to stop the sound, which is a great way to wear out/damage the headphone socket (especially if you leave it plugged in and sticking out all the time). At least in Vista you can probably just replace it with the "sound of silence", since it's not burned into ROM (at least not yet).
Sounds like the standard thing that happens to any concept or idea. Over time, it becomes associated with "good", and its absence associated with "bad". The term then has its meaning diluted by more and more things being shoved into its definition, to avoid them seeming bad. I'd guess that something like that is going on here. "If it's Wiki, it's good; if it's not Wiki, it's bad (for Wikipedia). Since our new changes are good, they must make it more Wiki."
For a perfect example of this process, examine the concept of theft and the rampant misuse of it (theft = bad, here's something that's bad, therefore it must be theft).
I (stupidly) had my mom go unescorted to a Radio Shack to get a replacement battery for her cordless phone. It wasn't charging so I investigated. The phone needed a NiCd battery, but I found a freaking NiMHreplacement in it! The worst: the polarity of the connector was wrong, too! I took out my multimeter and found that the poor battery was actually holding a charge around 0.8V of the opposite polarity. Of course my mom defended the salesperson, but this is just sheer incompetence. I sure hope they don't give that fscked NiMH battery to someone else.
And then she most recently went in for a cable to connect her tape recorder to the TV, and they gave her one that didn't do any attenuation. Can you say seriously overmodulated? A headphone to microphone connection needs an attenuator since the levels are different.
This is the store I used to go to every week when I was a little lad, buying electronic parts to build my own projects. Too bad they went down the tubes.
I have to agree with this. I used Retrospect for Mac years ago, but wasn't satisfied with how it did things (and it is very configurable). In the end, I've written my own backup program (just recently re-wrote it) and it's served me well. It keeps a mirror copy of the drive and only copies changed files when doing successive backups. I have it filter out some temporary files that are large, change often, but don't need to be copied. I've learned more in the process and thought a lot about backups and what data matters most.
Did he also drink water regularly? Well, let's ban water. Ahhh, he read the newspaper, better ban that too. Watched TV? Good riddance! Wore clothing? Better eliminate that too, might cause other people to go mad too. etc.
I went to the dentist recently and they wanted my name, address, phone number, social security number, and driver's license number. Since I wasn't paying my cash, I decided that they would like some kind of contact information in case my check bounced (though I guess that's on the check), but I left the SS # and DL # fields blank, since I couldn't figure out what the hell they needed those for (perhaps if I was using insurance?). I figure I'll encounter the same at the doctor. With all the terrorist paranoia, I wonder if I'll become a suspect because I'm not willingly giving over my SS # to anyone who asks. Even the government's "avoid ID theft" pamphlet recommends not giving out such information unless absolutely necessary.
Are you saying that Apple-products lasted long because they used PowerPC? Now that they use Intel, they are more likely to break?
Duh! The PowerPC has special power conditioners (hence the name) that smooth and regulate those crazy electrons, reducing the damage they do when they go zooming through other components on the motherboard. It might not make your hard drive last longer, since it is insulated by the interface chips.
This "Linux is for freeloading pr0n downloaders" meme sure is making the rounds here, and getting modded up too. Someone even posted the exact same wording (a longer paragraph than yours) to two separate articles.
The GPL is totally irrelevant to the end user. Now it does matter to other developers, but in all honesty the actual user of a project could give a damn.
It does matter to a user of the software, because it means he can hire any programmer to improve the software if he has a problem or good idea. If he's using non-free software, he can only contact the company who made it and hope they listen to his request (yeah right).
When they consider however many households changing one bulb to a CFL, did they consider the cost to produce all those bulbs, or just the energy savings they would being over several years?
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And if the GPL is found invalid in court, then these allowances become void, and this you aren't legally allowed to do anything with the code. So an infringing company attempting to avoid the GPL by challenging it in court will lose either way, either by having the GPL upheld and found to be infringing, or having the GPL found invalid, and found to be infringing as well.
BUY^H^H^H BUY^H^H^H BUY^H^H^H (for proper flashing effect, view in a terminal emulator)
What's to bet that a grudge and agenda is behind this unfounded swipe?
Makes me dislike even more PCs (and Macs) with permanently-wired internal microphones that you can't just unplug as with an external one, or even cover up as you can with an internal camera.
SSID="linksys" (or SSID="default")
123-456-7890 (or however many digits one has, and preferably a more random-seeming number). They probably won't hold up your emergency care while they verify that it is correct.
Lately I've been getting some health care work done and faced with providing my social security number. I've just left the fields on the forms blank. If they really need it, they'll bother me, otherwise they won't waste the effort on something unneeded. If I asked, on the other hand, I'm sure they'd say that they needed it, since I'm just setting myself up for that response. Half the time, I imagine they just use it for a unique number for their stupid computer record keeping, when any old random number would do. I'm not going to put that information in the hands of all the receptionists there.
I hear Microsoft has a similar approach, only it's not people they throw, and it's not problems they throw these things at.
Thanks for your insight. I guess I was just in the mood for a rant about bending words. You're probably right about the word "theft" too. I wonder what word we'll use in the future for the removal of someone's physical property. There's still something to bending words to obscure the truth that gets under my skin.
Yeah, Windows sucks, Apple would never... oh, wait, they've been doing this for over a decade!
I can't count the number of times I've booted one of my Macs and had the startup sound come out really loud. I usually have amplified speakers connected and usually have the volume cranked up, but the Mac's software-controlled volume down, allowing me to turn up the volume without having to mess with the speakers. Problem is, the startup sound doesn't seem to always respect my lower software-based volume. Maybe it's a useful feature, knowing that the system will make a loud annoying sound if it's booting properly, but it's been an endless source of annoyance for me. I think I even read of people plugging things into their PowerBooks to stop the sound, which is a great way to wear out/damage the headphone socket (especially if you leave it plugged in and sticking out all the time). At least in Vista you can probably just replace it with the "sound of silence", since it's not burned into ROM (at least not yet).
Sounds like the standard thing that happens to any concept or idea. Over time, it becomes associated with "good", and its absence associated with "bad". The term then has its meaning diluted by more and more things being shoved into its definition, to avoid them seeming bad. I'd guess that something like that is going on here. "If it's Wiki, it's good; if it's not Wiki, it's bad (for Wikipedia). Since our new changes are good, they must make it more Wiki."
For a perfect example of this process, examine the concept of theft and the rampant misuse of it (theft = bad, here's something that's bad, therefore it must be theft).
Who cares about the browser when your ISP is logging every URL you visit anyway?
I (stupidly) had my mom go unescorted to a Radio Shack to get a replacement battery for her cordless phone. It wasn't charging so I investigated. The phone needed a NiCd battery, but I found a freaking NiMHreplacement in it! The worst: the polarity of the connector was wrong, too! I took out my multimeter and found that the poor battery was actually holding a charge around 0.8V of the opposite polarity. Of course my mom defended the salesperson, but this is just sheer incompetence. I sure hope they don't give that fscked NiMH battery to someone else.
And then she most recently went in for a cable to connect her tape recorder to the TV, and they gave her one that didn't do any attenuation. Can you say seriously overmodulated? A headphone to microphone connection needs an attenuator since the levels are different.
This is the store I used to go to every week when I was a little lad, buying electronic parts to build my own projects. Too bad they went down the tubes.
I have to agree with this. I used Retrospect for Mac years ago, but wasn't satisfied with how it did things (and it is very configurable). In the end, I've written my own backup program (just recently re-wrote it) and it's served me well. It keeps a mirror copy of the drive and only copies changed files when doing successive backups. I have it filter out some temporary files that are large, change often, but don't need to be copied. I've learned more in the process and thought a lot about backups and what data matters most.
Vulcans?!? I meant Klingons... ugh, I suck at jokes.
There, I corrected it. Press release = 0 byte file.
Did he also drink water regularly? Well, let's ban water. Ahhh, he read the newspaper, better ban that too. Watched TV? Good riddance! Wore clothing? Better eliminate that too, might cause other people to go mad too. etc.
Duh! That stuff makes Vulcans look like harmless fairies! Talk about violent. No wonder they went extinct.
I went to the dentist recently and they wanted my name, address, phone number, social security number, and driver's license number. Since I wasn't paying my cash, I decided that they would like some kind of contact information in case my check bounced (though I guess that's on the check), but I left the SS # and DL # fields blank, since I couldn't figure out what the hell they needed those for (perhaps if I was using insurance?). I figure I'll encounter the same at the doctor. With all the terrorist paranoia, I wonder if I'll become a suspect because I'm not willingly giving over my SS # to anyone who asks. Even the government's "avoid ID theft" pamphlet recommends not giving out such information unless absolutely necessary.
Hmmm, was that mischevious Conker involved? Don't ever go to a bar with him.
Duh! The PowerPC has special power conditioners (hence the name) that smooth and regulate those crazy electrons, reducing the damage they do when they go zooming through other components on the motherboard. It might not make your hard drive last longer, since it is insulated by the interface chips.
</sarcasm>
This "Linux is for freeloading pr0n downloaders" meme sure is making the rounds here, and getting modded up too. Someone even posted the exact same wording (a longer paragraph than yours) to two separate articles.
Bytes of text total in first page: 7349
Bytes in article text in first page: 1161
Deciding not to read such drivel: priceless
It does matter to a user of the software, because it means he can hire any programmer to improve the software if he has a problem or good idea. If he's using non-free software, he can only contact the company who made it and hope they listen to his request (yeah right).
When they consider however many households changing one bulb to a CFL, did they consider the cost to produce all those bulbs, or just the energy savings they would being over several years?
Will the future of HCI
p a=printer_friendly&pid=402&page=1
Next
be a bunch of dialogs
Next
or will it be one page?
Next
Ahh, here we go:
http://www.acmqueue.com/modules.php?name=Content&