If there wasn't the potential for profit through repeated sales and restricted use of these crops, Monsanto would never have created them and the farmer's would not have had access to them.
Yes they would, because there would still be a market for the fresh engineered seeds. This is a case of corporate greed, pure and simple. Or am I supposed to believe that, out of the goodness of their hearts, they developed a series of RoundUP(tm)(r)(c)-resistant crops, waited for everyone to get used to how much easier they are to use, and then start litigating once the famers are locked in? And, since when do they have a right to any particular level of profits? Their business model is clearly dependant on buy-new-seeds-yearly-or-we-litigate, but since when is that the only possible business model?
The obvious solution to these sorts of bio/medical/pharmaceutical ligitation evils is to apply the lessons of Open Source to the bio/medical/pharma industries... namely, we need a bunch of chemical hackers to come up with patent-unencumbered replacements for this stuff and release it Free. Much higher costs associated with this than with software, which is why you don't see many garage/hobbiest pharmaceutical hackers out there (unless the profits are crazy high like in the illegal drug trade...)
The purpose of the OS in my computer is to enable it to be a tool that does exactly what I tell it to do. I don't care how he rationalizes DRM, there is no reason to cripple my tools!
They are absolutely taking a political view. They are rationalizing DRM inclusion through diversionary metaphors. It's clear what he's saying... large corporate interests want to be able to collect royalties on downloaded files, and DRM is necessary to do that. That doesn't mean that I need or want it in my pc, and I'll thank Bill to stop making these decisions for me.
Oh, wait, I already did, over two years ago when I switched to Linux exclusively on the desktop. (gentoo)
I second this post. The Mac Mini is a spectacular product, perfectly placed to compete as either a desktop replacement, a desktop accessory, or a media center device. The question isn't IF I'll be ordering it, but when (tax return!)
Speaking of having it next to the game consoles... what if Apple used this as a stepping stone into the gaming world? The hardware of Apple being more fixed like consoles, the reputation for quality, a prominent position in the living room... it could happen!
"We already place limits on alcohol, tobacco, even adult movies. It's just logical that video games, which are so heavily marketed to young kids but many of which contain adult images, should not be available to young people or to minors," Ottenhoff said.
Methinks he subscribes to different logic than I.
The answer, of course, is to do nothing - allow the Invisible Hand of the Market to continue to do its work, driven by parents' enforcements of what little Johnny can and can't buy.
My concerns lie with the enforcement of overly-restrictive legislation It is my belief that I have the freedom to do as I please with my digital data, so long as I do not attempt personal financial gain from someone else's work.
Surely everyone can agree that downloading a DVD rip of, say, Shrek 2 and selling copies of it on ebay for "cheEp" is horrendously immoral and wrong. In line with that, no one would rightly complain about copyright legislation that prevents such scenarios *through civil remedies, not criminal!*
I see no reasonable argument for preventing my from copying CDs/DVDs/etc for my own personal uses (whatever those might be - stripping off forced commercials, the stupid FBI warning, editing out graphical sex scenes, etc).
Further, I see no reason why I should be prevented from obtaining a work online that is not available through other means (old roms, old movies, etc), especially if I already own a copy in another format already.
I think we all agree that "w00, free movies!" is not the point. Today's reality has brought us criminal punishments for civil crimes, the inability to legally watch movies in Linux, inability to legally even talk about bypassing encryption schemes, and other ridiculous craziness with the DMCA that frankly pisses me off.
The *AA's have made themselves representatives of all of the least-sensible aspects of current copyright legislations, and so it's not surprise that people hate them. If the legislation made sense, and we didn't have to worry that we might face criminal charges or ridiculously huge fines for doing something that used to be Fair Use - well, that'd be nice, wouldn't it?
Re: One learns something useful everyday. Thanks.
on
Preview of KDE 3.4
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Just an FYI, by default Konqueror doesn't show previews of files larger than 1 meg (not sure of the reason why, memory or speed limitations maybe)
You can change this behavior too, under Settings-> Configure Konqueror-> Previews and Meta Data, change the "Maximum filesize" to your liking.
That grinds my teeth that ppl will stick it out with Windows 'til the day they die, and I don't know why!
This says it all! There's always some apologist who says "Well I've had my WinWhatever box up for a million years, running every app known to mankind, with the cheapest Walmart hardware with the case off and a 100W lightbulb inside next to the CPU, and I *never* have a problem!!11"
Frankly, in my experience that sort of statement is a load of crap, as I have equivalent and equally useless anecdotes about how WinWhatever crashed in this way or that.
Windows 2000 finally put me on to the "Anything but Microsoft" idea. Started with Slackware, Red Hat, Mandrake, and I've settled on Gentoo. I have been using Gentoo as my ONLY OS for home and work for going on 2 years (much longer for just home use) and I'm much, MUCH happier (especially with Gentoo!)
For me, it came down to this reasoning:
- with Windows, I could learn everything there was to learn about it and configure everything right, and still be subject to hundreds of little annoyances / mysterious lockups / viruses / etc , and have NO RECOURSE except to "wait for the next update".
- with *nix, if something isn't working, it's either because I screwed up a config or there's driver/app work in progress. I retain ultimate power over my machine, not some company. Then there's the cost benefits... I love Free software!
I just can't see how anybody wouldn't bother even *trying* a linux distro, even if they think that Windows is working "good enough". It's free, and you'll learn a lot in the process... so why not? My wife says "If you want to put linux on my computer instead of WinXP, fine - but everything had better WORK!" (and I haven't switched her yet because my idea of "it works!" is vastly different than hers! GUI vs command line, you see).
Anyway, it's nice to see other rational folks here. Keep up the good fight!
The only other thing that forces me to regularly reboot is Cisco's POS VPN client - it often starts failing to connect and only a reboot fixes it. Hardly Windows' fault.
That's *exactly* Window's fault. If it wasn't, you'd be able to close and restart the *application* (in this case, the VPN client) and not have problems. Obviously something in the OS gets FUBAR, and that's why a reboot fixes it. An OS problem.
Every day, I am newly amazed at the blindness of the apologists around here.
I myself only recognize copyrights for 20 years. After that, it's fair game. They had plenty of time to make their money in twenty years, and I get the benefit of a richer public domain within my lifetime.
I think the problem is that atari joysticks were 4-switch systems while the PS2 and other modern consoles use 8-switches in their direction controller.
The PS2 / modern ones are analog. Different beast entirely.
9 out of 10 English teachers agree that the English language is full of stupid hacks.
It would be one thing to make fun of somebody for screwing up a plural if English had an easy and intuitive system for pluralization. But it doesn't. Thus, you have anal hotshots who pride themselves on memorizing trivial and non-sensical pluralizations, and then you have everyone else who doesn't give a shit, and uses plural forms that make sense.
Not that the octopus example helps me... octopus / octopuses. But now consider: Mouse / Mice? House / Houses?!? Hice! Foot / feet? Tooth / Teeth? Boot / boots?!? beet!
Ridiculous. Any plural that isn't the singular form with -s or -es on the end is non-intuitive crap and should be stricken.
3) Geeks buying them for linux boxen are skewing the market results, making retailers think that there's more demand for the XBox than there really is (from a gaming point of view) which would make retailers more likely to want to carry any subsquent "XBox 2" abortion.
Yeah, if only Apple would design the exact same products everyone else already has - that'd be awesome!!11
Idiot. I don't think it's Apple that needs a head removed from it's ass...
That said - Logitech has already solved mice design. Here comes Microsoft with another 'innovation' that's really just the same old tired crap in rounded silver plastic. Whatever, Microsoft.
Let's say you only know the standard "ROYGBV" color words. Someone presents you a pink, and you respond with "red". Someone Shows you three or four different shades of red, and you respond "They are red, but they are different reds..." and perhaps sort them on brightness or something.
The ability to differentiate color (provided you aren't colorblind) is physically inherent. The vocabulary of color was created to help express our perceptions. If you could precisely label the various shades of any colors from #000000 to #FFFFFF on the RGB scale, you could still differentiate shades on the CMYK scale even though you didn't have the precise "color words" to label them with.
As people grow and learn, they associate words and phrases with concepts that they experience, and as their experiences broaden and deepen they look for vocabulary to assist in communicating what they've learned with others.
Your example about skiing - learning to ski puts you in position to experience and appreciate the subtle differences between types of snow - learning the vocabulary along with the experience itself just helps you communicate the subtleties of the experience to others.
Ending ramble - I just get a bit concerned when people profess the belief that our understandings are limited by our language. It is QUITE the opposite - our language grows as our understanding expands.
I respectfully submit that your statement is a lot of crap. It makes oodles more sense that DNA simply describes the mechanism for constructing a brain capable of complex behaviors rather than explicitly hard-coding responses.
Can't, for instance, aggressive dogs learn to be passive/tame? Vice versa? Don't newborns learn gross motor skills through practice, rather than instinct? Cockroaches / wildebeasts are born knowing how to walk / run because their physical body construction is favorable to walking successfully using instinctual movements. I would be quite surprised, however, to learn that such animals did not improve their coordination at walking with practice (which would show that they 'learned' different and more correct behaviors through experience). Nobody knows quite how turtles navigate the oceans (perhaps magnetic field or complex temperature sensitivity) but I truly suspect it is all due to a *basic* grasp of an innate physical ability rather than DNA programming migratory patterns or whatnot in.
Folks seem to forget that DNA really only codes for construction of protiens. That's it - mmm, protiens. It's all in the complex brewing of protiens, and their interactions in different proportions over time, that govern cell growth and the *physical* constructions of the body. Lucky for us, our DNA gives us gigantic noggins with tons of capacity for quick and complex learning.
It seems to me that the brain, once 'constructed' properly, is pre-disposed to altering the way it responds to stimuli through feedback mechanisms (the 'learning' process, 'practice makes perfect', and so on) - but the mechanics of how the brain does this is set by DNA (hand-waving over brain growth from birth through adulthood) and so we come to the conclusion that one's "programming" is built up over time by our brain's experiences (reaction to stimuli compounded with *hugely* multiple and parallel feedback mechanisms). Hence, although we may have certain pre-dispositions (drug addictions, violent behavior from hormone imbalance,etc) and we definitely get some innate limitations (fuzzy/fading/inaccurate memories, perceptional limits), we are a product of our experiences and decisions, not our physical constructions.
Scientific evidence of any of my above conjecture is an exercise for the reader.
Seems to me that they would be liable for any sales incurred under a period of time in which they were non-compliant with the GPL. Such a scenario screams for a fat settlement check.
all digital cameras I've ever head of work just fine in linux, with the usb-storage driver. Worst case is you pop out the memory card and plug it into a reader on your linux box.
I agree on the GPS... isn't it obvious that it would be one more reason to buy the phone and would cost next to nothing to implement since it's already in the phone anyway?
I suspect that the GPS in these phones isn't accurate enough to be used in such a manner, but for my needs it would rock.
I agree with this post. Thankfully not everyone posting to slashdot is a raving liberal nutter.
It is not an issue of "protecting women's rights to their bodies". It is an issue of protecting the child's right to it's life. Once conceived, it has as much right to exist as any human who was likewise conceived.
The heinous murder of a pre-born child by its OWN MOTHER is clearly an evil of today's society, and the dreadful number of people who shrug-off or even condone this despicable behavior is a sad indicator of the dishonor of the American people.
Any woman who commits such an act is guilty of murder, legal or not, as is any doctor who performs such a procedure, legal or not.
It seems that you may be doing something wrong with your USB mass storage. You don't mention if this is a compact flash reader or usb hard drive or anything, but your description of 'stuck' seems to me to indicate that you aren't mounting / unmounting it properly.
It should seriously be as simple as 1) boot the machine 2) pop in your usb device 3) modprobe usb-mass-storage (if you have it as a module, perhaps it's built into the kernel in red hat 8?) 4) mount the drive 5) cp whatever 6) umount the drive 7) unplug it.
This should be a very simple issue to solve if you can find any halfway knowledgable linux person to help you with your particulars. If your pc becomes slow and unresponsive during a huge copy, then perhaps your PC is just busy throwing files around, eh? Have you checked your hard drive settings (hdparm)? Not that this is a 'help me with my particular issue' forum...
WinXP typically doesn't 'crash' (meaning freeze with an arcane Blue Screen)... if there's an error, the default response is to automatically reboot. And THAT happens as often as ever.
Install an app, tweak a setting, change some hardware, run windows update... all of these things risk bringing WinXP down, same as every other windows version.
I've never seen WinXP crash when it's just sitting there, not doing anything, though. They seem to have made progress in that case.
Slashdot Mirror
More like a Tri-wing Screwdriver
Try finding that at the hardware store.
Yes they would, because there would still be a market for the fresh engineered seeds. This is a case of corporate greed, pure and simple. Or am I supposed to believe that, out of the goodness of their hearts, they developed a series of RoundUP(tm)(r)(c)-resistant crops, waited for everyone to get used to how much easier they are to use, and then start litigating once the famers are locked in? And, since when do they have a right to any particular level of profits? Their business model is clearly dependant on buy-new-seeds-yearly-or-we-litigate, but since when is that the only possible business model?
The obvious solution to these sorts of bio/medical/pharmaceutical ligitation evils is to apply the lessons of Open Source to the bio/medical/pharma industries... namely, we need a bunch of chemical hackers to come up with patent-unencumbered replacements for this stuff and release it Free. Much higher costs associated with this than with software, which is why you don't see many garage/hobbiest pharmaceutical hackers out there (unless the profits are crazy high like in the illegal drug trade...)
The purpose of the OS in my computer is to enable it to be a tool that does exactly what I tell it to do. I don't care how he rationalizes DRM, there is no reason to cripple my tools!
... large corporate interests want to be able to collect royalties on downloaded files, and DRM is necessary to do that. That doesn't mean that I need or want it in my pc, and I'll thank Bill to stop making these decisions for me.
They are absolutely taking a political view. They are rationalizing DRM inclusion through diversionary metaphors. It's clear what he's saying
Oh, wait, I already did, over two years ago when I switched to Linux exclusively on the desktop. (gentoo)
I second this post. The Mac Mini is a spectacular product, perfectly placed to compete as either a desktop replacement, a desktop accessory, or a media center device. The question isn't IF I'll be ordering it, but when (tax return!)
Speaking of having it next to the game consoles... what if Apple used this as a stepping stone into the gaming world? The hardware of Apple being more fixed like consoles, the reputation for quality, a prominent position in the living room... it could happen!
"We already place limits on alcohol, tobacco, even adult movies. It's just logical that video games, which are so heavily marketed to young kids but many of which contain adult images, should not be available to young people or to minors," Ottenhoff said.
Methinks he subscribes to different logic than I.
The answer, of course, is to do nothing - allow the Invisible Hand of the Market to continue to do its work, driven by parents' enforcements of what little Johnny can and can't buy.
My concerns lie with the enforcement of overly-restrictive legislation It is my belief that I have the freedom to do as I please with my digital data, so long as I do not attempt personal financial gain from someone else's work.
Surely everyone can agree that downloading a DVD rip of, say, Shrek 2 and selling copies of it on ebay for "cheEp" is horrendously immoral and wrong. In line with that, no one would rightly complain about copyright legislation that prevents such scenarios *through civil remedies, not criminal!*
I see no reasonable argument for preventing my from copying CDs/DVDs/etc for my own personal uses (whatever those might be - stripping off forced commercials, the stupid FBI warning, editing out graphical sex scenes, etc).
Further, I see no reason why I should be prevented from obtaining a work online that is not available through other means (old roms, old movies, etc), especially if I already own a copy in another format already.
I think we all agree that "w00, free movies!" is not the point. Today's reality has brought us criminal punishments for civil crimes, the inability to legally watch movies in Linux, inability to legally even talk about bypassing encryption schemes, and other ridiculous craziness with the DMCA that frankly pisses me off.
The *AA's have made themselves representatives of all of the least-sensible aspects of current copyright legislations, and so it's not surprise that people hate them. If the legislation made sense, and we didn't have to worry that we might face criminal charges or ridiculously huge fines for doing something that used to be Fair Use - well, that'd be nice, wouldn't it?
Just an FYI, by default Konqueror doesn't show previews of files larger than 1 meg (not sure of the reason why, memory or speed limitations maybe)
You can change this behavior too, under Settings-> Configure Konqueror-> Previews and Meta Data, change the "Maximum filesize" to your liking.
Geez, how about ripping all your PURCHASED carts onto one mega cart so you don't have to tote around a huge bag with your GBA?
Nobody's stealing here, man.
This says it all! There's always some apologist who says "Well I've had my WinWhatever box up for a million years, running every app known to mankind, with the cheapest Walmart hardware with the case off and a 100W lightbulb inside next to the CPU, and I *never* have a problem!!11"
Frankly, in my experience that sort of statement is a load of crap, as I have equivalent and equally useless anecdotes about how WinWhatever crashed in this way or that.
Windows 2000 finally put me on to the "Anything but Microsoft" idea. Started with Slackware, Red Hat, Mandrake, and I've settled on Gentoo. I have been using Gentoo as my ONLY OS for home and work for going on 2 years (much longer for just home use) and I'm much, MUCH happier (especially with Gentoo!)
For me, it came down to this reasoning:
- with Windows, I could learn everything there was to learn about it and configure everything right, and still be subject to hundreds of little annoyances / mysterious lockups / viruses / etc , and have NO RECOURSE except to "wait for the next update".
- with *nix, if something isn't working, it's either because I screwed up a config or there's driver/app work in progress. I retain ultimate power over my machine, not some company. Then there's the cost benefits... I love Free software!
I just can't see how anybody wouldn't bother even *trying* a linux distro, even if they think that Windows is working "good enough". It's free, and you'll learn a lot in the process... so why not? My wife says "If you want to put linux on my computer instead of WinXP, fine - but everything had better WORK!" (and I haven't switched her yet because my idea of "it works!" is vastly different than hers! GUI vs command line, you see).
Anyway, it's nice to see other rational folks here. Keep up the good fight!
That's *exactly* Window's fault. If it wasn't, you'd be able to close and restart the *application* (in this case, the VPN client) and not have problems. Obviously something in the OS gets FUBAR, and that's why a reboot fixes it. An OS problem.
Every day, I am newly amazed at the blindness of the apologists around here.
I myself only recognize copyrights for 20 years. After that, it's fair game. They had plenty of time to make their money in twenty years, and I get the benefit of a richer public domain within my lifetime.
I suggest you all do the same.
The PS2 / modern ones are analog. Different beast entirely.
9 out of 10 English teachers agree that the English language is full of stupid hacks.
It would be one thing to make fun of somebody for screwing up a plural if English had an easy and intuitive system for pluralization. But it doesn't. Thus, you have anal hotshots who pride themselves on memorizing trivial and non-sensical pluralizations, and then you have everyone else who doesn't give a shit, and uses plural forms that make sense.
Not that the octopus example helps me... octopus / octopuses. But now consider:
Mouse / Mice? House / Houses?!? Hice!
Foot / feet? Tooth / Teeth? Boot / boots?!? beet!
Ridiculous. Any plural that isn't the singular form with -s or -es on the end is non-intuitive crap and should be stricken.
also
3) Geeks buying them for linux boxen are skewing the market results, making retailers think that there's more demand for the XBox than there really is (from a gaming point of view) which would make retailers more likely to want to carry any subsquent "XBox 2" abortion.
XBox? just say no!
Yeah, if only Apple would design the exact same products everyone else already has - that'd be awesome!!11
Idiot. I don't think it's Apple that needs a head removed from it's ass...
That said - Logitech has already solved mice design. Here comes Microsoft with another 'innovation' that's really just the same old tired crap in rounded silver plastic. Whatever, Microsoft.
No.
Let's say you only know the standard "ROYGBV" color words. Someone presents you a pink, and you respond with "red". Someone Shows you three or four different shades of red, and you respond "They are red, but they are different reds..." and perhaps sort them on brightness or something.
The ability to differentiate color (provided you aren't colorblind) is physically inherent. The vocabulary of color was created to help express our perceptions. If you could precisely label the various shades of any colors from #000000 to #FFFFFF on the RGB scale, you could still differentiate shades on the CMYK scale even though you didn't have the precise "color words" to label them with.
As people grow and learn, they associate words and phrases with concepts that they experience, and as their experiences broaden and deepen they look for vocabulary to assist in communicating what they've learned with others.
Your example about skiing - learning to ski puts you in position to experience and appreciate the subtle differences between types of snow - learning the vocabulary along with the experience itself just helps you communicate the subtleties of the experience to others.
Ending ramble - I just get a bit concerned when people profess the belief that our understandings are limited by our language. It is QUITE the opposite - our language grows as our understanding expands.
Sigh... now if only I could build an LCD display... doh!
I respectfully submit that your statement is a lot of crap. It makes oodles more sense that DNA simply describes the mechanism for constructing a brain capable of complex behaviors rather than explicitly hard-coding responses.
Can't, for instance, aggressive dogs learn to be passive/tame? Vice versa? Don't newborns learn gross motor skills through practice, rather than instinct? Cockroaches / wildebeasts are born knowing how to walk / run because their physical body construction is favorable to walking successfully using instinctual movements. I would be quite surprised, however, to learn that such animals did not improve their coordination at walking with practice (which would show that they 'learned' different and more correct behaviors through experience). Nobody knows quite how turtles navigate the oceans (perhaps magnetic field or complex temperature sensitivity) but I truly suspect it is all due to a *basic* grasp of an innate physical ability rather than DNA programming migratory patterns or whatnot in.
Folks seem to forget that DNA really only codes for construction of protiens. That's it - mmm, protiens. It's all in the complex brewing of protiens, and their interactions in different proportions over time, that govern cell growth and the *physical* constructions of the body. Lucky for us, our DNA gives us gigantic noggins with tons of capacity for quick and complex learning.
It seems to me that the brain, once 'constructed' properly, is pre-disposed to altering the way it responds to stimuli through feedback mechanisms (the 'learning' process, 'practice makes perfect', and so on) - but the mechanics of how the brain does this is set by DNA (hand-waving over brain growth from birth through adulthood) and so we come to the conclusion that one's "programming" is built up over time by our brain's experiences (reaction to stimuli compounded with *hugely* multiple and parallel feedback mechanisms). Hence, although we may have certain pre-dispositions (drug addictions, violent behavior from hormone imbalance,etc) and we definitely get some innate limitations (fuzzy/fading/inaccurate memories, perceptional limits), we are a product of our experiences and decisions, not our physical constructions.
Scientific evidence of any of my above conjecture is an exercise for the reader.
see Gobo Linux
Seems to me that they would be liable for any sales incurred under a period of time in which they were non-compliant with the GPL. Such a scenario screams for a fat settlement check.
all digital cameras I've ever head of work just fine in linux, with the usb-storage driver. Worst case is you pop out the memory card and plug it into a reader on your linux box.
I agree on the GPS... isn't it obvious that it would be one more reason to buy the phone and would cost next to nothing to implement since it's already in the phone anyway? I suspect that the GPS in these phones isn't accurate enough to be used in such a manner, but for my needs it would rock.
I agree with this post. Thankfully not everyone posting to slashdot is a raving liberal nutter.
It is not an issue of "protecting women's rights to their bodies". It is an issue of protecting the child's right to it's life. Once conceived, it has as much right to exist as any human who was likewise conceived.
The heinous murder of a pre-born child by its OWN MOTHER is clearly an evil of today's society, and the dreadful number of people who shrug-off or even condone this despicable behavior is a sad indicator of the dishonor of the American people.
Any woman who commits such an act is guilty of murder, legal or not, as is any doctor who performs such a procedure, legal or not.
I am pro-life.
It seems that you may be doing something wrong with your USB mass storage. You don't mention if this is a compact flash reader or usb hard drive or anything, but your description of 'stuck' seems to me to indicate that you aren't mounting / unmounting it properly.
It should seriously be as simple as
1) boot the machine
2) pop in your usb device
3) modprobe usb-mass-storage (if you have it as a module, perhaps it's built into the kernel in red hat 8?)
4) mount the drive
5) cp whatever
6) umount the drive
7) unplug it.
This should be a very simple issue to solve if you can find any halfway knowledgable linux person to help you with your particulars. If your pc becomes slow and unresponsive during a huge copy, then perhaps your PC is just busy throwing files around, eh? Have you checked your hard drive settings (hdparm)?
Not that this is a 'help me with my particular issue' forum...
Install an app, tweak a setting, change some hardware, run windows update... all of these things risk bringing WinXP down, same as every other windows version.
I've never seen WinXP crash when it's just sitting there, not doing anything, though. They seem to have made progress in that case.