To the "Worst Episode Ever" people... (sorta ot)
on
X-Files FPS Episode
·
· Score: 2
Salon ran a piece last month about all the people referring to recent Simpsons episodes as "The Worst Episode Ever." Have a read, it bears some resemblance to what's going on here. Plus it's funny.
I use myinternet.com and/or its mydomain.com service to forward my domain to my college account since I don't want to pay for hosting. The service is nice, when it works. You get free email redirection, but again, this is when it works. It's down a *lot*, probably 50% of the time when I try to access my domain it doesn't work. I guess they just make a frame and put the target URL inside it. This pretty much sucks, since if you click a link from inside the frame the URL doesn't change in the Location: box, and the title remains the same. The frames are most likely there so that they can put ads up eventually, but I don't really care, like I said, it's free. But with it being down all the time, it's pretty much useless, since you can't just say "joeblow.com", you have to say "joeblow.com, but if that's down, try www.cs.college.edu/~joeblow", and you have to do the same thing with the email forwarding -- "joe@joeblow.com, but if that's down, it's joe@cs.college.edu". But I guess it's better than nothing, and like I said, it's free.
You notice when you burn a disc that when you look at the data side you can see where the data was written? Like if you only write 100 mb, only the first centimeter from the center is used. Well I would guess that if you cut the corners but leave the written portion alone it would work. You'd have to make sure not to bend the CD up, too.
But like I said, this is a complete guess and I have no reason to think this would work other than it seems logical.
Yeah, but at least they report things on DoubleClick at all. This way, they can at least say that they are unbiased. But I agree, it is very hypocritical -- they acknowledge that Amazon and DoubleClick engage in highly unethical practices but they still support them. And didn't CmdrTaco invent AdFu so that he wouldn't have to pay DoubleClick? Now he does. Some things about Andover's takeover were very bad.
Amazon.com was awarded a patent recently for "affiliate programs." The text of the patent is here: http://www.patents.ibm.com/details?pn=US06029141__ . This patent is, to say the least, a very bad thing. This seems to be exactly what CDNOW does with its Cosmic Credit system. So my question is, what are you going to do about this? I am a member of Cosmic Credit, am I somehow violating a patent? Or is it just CDNOW? Are you guys going to sue them, or bring them to court to show how stupid and *wrong* this patent is? Patents like this should be illegal, but that apparently doesn't mean anything to the USPTO. Affiliate Programs, just like One-Click Shopping, are obvious uses of internet technology, and should not be patentable. Please tell me you guys are doing something about this.
You've all probably seen this before, but I'm posting it again. It seems rather prophetic, though not regarding Microsoft -- large corporation patents everything obvious. Plus it's funny.
After all, he IS the man of the year! And after seeing all these innovative processes he's invented (which he must have done in order to patent them, right?), how can anyone argue with anything he does? He knows best!
He's probably under tons of pressure from stockholders who are starting to get pissed off that Amazon, for all its millions in sales, can't turn a penny of profit -- so he patents everything in sight in a bizarre plan to charge royalties for them. I guess... who knows at this point. How can they get a patent when there are so many, many similar programs that have been around for so long? I have been an "affiliate" of CDNOW's since at least February 1997.
Doesn't Amazon care about the bad press it gets? If these patents don't stand up in court (which I would hope is the case), what does Amazon gain from the entire ordeal? If this is the future of "ecommerce," it's not anything of which I'd like to be part.
I've been around and working with software under the GPL license for almost 10 years now. I've seen some very good things come out of it, and in the past I have been a strong supporter of the GPL, I still am to a great extent, well the spirit of the GPL at any rate. For without this great license, it is very doubtful that Id would have made their (in)famous release of the code that most of our work is based upon. In the past months I've had a great deal of problems with the GPL people regarding the QuakeLives project. I am very sad to say that my experiences with these people show that the GPL community as a whole has completely forgotten what they set out to do in the first place, people coming and expecting source codes and explanations and other favors because they believe they have a right to it, not because they wish to use this code to improve it, or use it for their own works, but simply because they wanted it. Out of everyone who ever asked me for the code, everyone demanded it saying it's his or her god-given right to the code. Not a single person said they wanted it for fixing up the numerous bugs, or adding to it, or anything that the GPL is supposed to stand for. So, disappointed with what the community has become, I've decided to take a stand, not for the purpose of avoiding the GPL(most of our sensitive code is not under the GPL so this would not be important at any rate), but to improve the condition of the GPL community as well as the gaming society as a whole. People who speak to us, do it publicly and have their own public intentions and not the benefit to the public(the P in GPL is public) as a whole. And even one of the head coders of Id Software suggested obfuscating the code before releasing to aid in making it difficult to figure out. This defies the real purpose of the GPL as well. So the basic limitation here is the legal letters of the law, where obfuscating the code is 'legal' according to the letter of the law. It completely violates the purposes of the GPL. The legal issues, however, are easily overcome. You do have a right to the source code, under the GPL. This is law. However much like the Constitutional American "Right to Bear Arms". I have the right to deny you access for exercising this right. While you can bear a concealed handgun, you are not allowed to bring it on a public bus, or many places of business. The signs usually say something like 'No firearms beyond this point'. Which is basically making people to give up their Constitutional rights to bear arms. The rules here will be similar.
To download binaries or proceed into this site, you have to give up your rights under the GPL. Specifically the rights regarding access to the source code. And while we are obligated to offer you the source code, for up to 3 years until we stop releasing this. To gain access to this site, you are obligated not to ask. Please note that you have no right to access the binaries, source code or artwork ("Content") produced by QuakeLives or the content herein without specifically agreeing to this. Any other access is illegal. And being as the GPL only regulates HOW we distribute, it does not regulate WHO we distribute to, if you do not agree to this, QuakeLives does not give you permission to access the Content of this site, hence, you legally are not allowed access to these files and doing so is punishable by law. Also note that you are still allowed to distribute the works within freely, but please be aware that software contained herein is still under the GPL and you personally will be responsible for the licensing restrictions of the GPL. So I strongly suggest that you have people you send to agree to similar terms. For all those who really don't care about this and just want the game so they can play, I apologize for the delay this has caused. -- Slade
I wonder if this guy has any CLUE what he's bringing upon himself?
_________________
Re:No... why would they?
on
MacOS X DP3
·
· Score: 2
Now, remember, like VA, they make their money on the hardware. The OS income is almost chump change to them except that without an OS they're dead in the water. Apple will continue to make their money from their hardware.
Is Apple beginning to see that, by holding the software close to its vest back in 84, it practically created the M$ behemoth we all know and loathe?
Steve Jobs has said on several occasions that the Mac OS is Apple's Crown Jewel, and despite the hardware, they're really a software company. While they make more money off the hardware, the OS is Apple. I still think it is crazy to expect any "traditional" company to open source its most valuable asset. Especially when so much of the Mac OS is based on QuickTime, a technology Apple will do anything to protect from Microsoft.
Apple has made great strides in Open Source, far more than most traditional closed-source software companies have, but I think it will be a cold day in hell, or at least 5 or 10 years, before Apple Open Sources the MacOS. And I don't think that's really such a bad thing. Why SHOULDN'T they protect their investment?
You didn't specify whether you used the internet in your home or in a local library. I'm not saying this would be the best solution for every censoring project (eg it's a little much for a home computer) but it may give parents the flexibility to tailor their kids' activities to their own values. While you may or may not agree with this goal, I think it's what most of parental America would want.
As for instilling morality and good judgement into children, I would like to think I have a good sense of morality and good judgement, but I still read/look at porn all the time. I just don't think porn is some kind of evil (nor do I think "curse words" are evil). The problem is that what is "moral" for one person is "immoral" for another. I honestly see absolutely nothing wrong with pictures of two people having sex, or a girl giving a guy a blowjob. But I wouldn't want to watch a movie of some girl eating crap, and I wouldn't want my kids to see that either. I'm sure there are people out there who think eating crap is just great, and wouldn't mind if their kids saw that. The words "good judgement" and "morality" are just too loaded to be useful here -- if I instill my "morality" in my kids, and they do something that I don't care about (like looking up porn) at the library, and then the kid gets banned from the library for doing something I would have done, I would be somewhat pissed.
The pro-censorship people are apparently trying to appeal to the lowest-common-denominator in the morality crowd -- themselves. The problem is that they want to use this crappy filtering software which is wholly and utterly useless.
Say a 14 year old girl accidentally gets pregnant. She goes to the library and searches for abortion clinics or adoption or whatever. Then her parents get emailed a list of all these abortion sites that she's visited and then they find out she's pregnant.
Or, a kid is gay but does not tell his parents because they wouldn't understand. But he visits a web forum or something and then the parents get emailed all of his postings.
Granted, these are exceptions to the rule, but they are not insignificant. Privacy is important to kids. I remember way back when I was a kid (whoo, we're going way back to 1996 here...) there were millions of things I never told my parents just because I didn't feel comfortable telling them. I don't think they would have been mad or anything, I just didn't want them to know. Then again, the library is funded by tax dollars and so their parents are really funding the internet connection, and as long as the kids KNOW their parents will see all the sites they visit then it should be okay. If the kids are really adamant about their privacy they can pay for their own ISP account.
Another option may be to simply put the computers in the middle of the library so that everybody can see them. I personally would never look at porn if anybody could see what I was doing, so maybe that would be motivation enough to stop them from looking at anything they "shouldn't" see. Though this may backfire if the porn viewer is brazen and doesn't care what others think about him -- the other people in the library may get offended, which would be very bad.
But all in all, I think emailing a log of urls to the parents would be a good idea. And if the censorware crowd says "but what if the parents don't read the email and check those sites?" we can counter with "Be responsible for your own fucking kids, idiot!" Granted, this solution is not perfect (if the parent does not have an internet/email account, what is he/she supposed to do?), but it is by far the best one I have heard so far.
Then again, the problem itself is rather ridiculous.
The library is funded by taxes. So it is up to the residents of the town -- the taxpayers, the ones who pay the library's rent and light bills, as well as for the filtering software -- whether the stuff gets blocked or not. It is not up to "the library." Unless it is a private library, in which case they can do whatever the hell they want, but I assume this is a public library, supported with tax dollars.
I think the reason they list "spices" is so that they don't have to give away their "secret ingredients." If they listed exactly what was in it, it would be easy to make something that tastes exactly like it (for better or worse). I could be wrong here but it is a somewhat logical explanation.
I'm not one who really ever eats ramen noodles, unless there is *nothing* else to eat. I have about 10 packs of ramen sitting in my drawer, which have all been there for 2 months.
But in response to your question, I think a lot of this junk food ethic comes from college. I live in a dorm and we're not allowed to have hotplates or anything in our rooms (although I do have an "illegal" hotplate, but that doesn't really help prepare a huge meal). There is a kitchen in the building, but I live on the third floor and the kitchen is in the basement, so that's a no-go right there.
When I was on break, I cooked lots and lots. Hot dogs, pasta dishes, fancy meals, steaks, everything. I would love to be able to cook meals all the time but it's just not possible.
I realize many "geeks" (note, I don't really consider myself a true "geek") are no longer in college, but the move from college to work is often a matter of location. They find themselves doing the same thing at work as they did in college and so they fall into the habits they had in college. Pulling an all-nighter to get the server running? Well, eat the Dilberto.
Also, I usually get hungry around 2 am. There aren't many places that deliver at 2 am and preparing a huge dish that late is a pain. So there the Dilberto (or other quick/junk food) comes in handy.
I will have to taste one before passing final judgement, but I have a standing policy against eating anything that doesn't have Meat and/or cheese. Pasta? Not without meatballs... or maybe fettucine alfredo... mmm... alfredo sauce... (drooling like homer).
Anyway, this looks like a nice idea and I guess it's good if you're a vegetarian (and/or lactose intolerant). I, however, am a carnivore. The only salad I eat is chicken salad (or normal salad with big chicken slabs in it.... mmmm.... chicken...). The Dilberito has plenty of beans in it, so at least when you're pulling that all-nighter in the computer lab, you'll gas the place up. Oh, wait, that's not a good thing...
So maybe I'm not that healthy, at least what I eat is yummy. And so what if I die 3 years ahead of schedule, at least I enjoy the time I'm here.
I took the poll and Al Gore came up as my #1, followed by Bradley, Buchannan (!), Keyes, McCain, and, lastly, Bush. Not what I expected. Of course, this is just a toy survey, but it is a neat toy nonetheless. A neat tool. Thanks for the link!
Angela Basset would have been a much better Storm, she at least looks the part. Halle Berry looks to "pretty" -- not to imply that Ms. Basset is unattractive, but her looks are more sophisticated than those of Berry, and IMHO more suited to Storm. I think Iman would have also been a good choice, at least for the voice.
Halle Berry does not look like storm, and from the little I heard from her in the trailer, she does not sound like Storm either. Storm is supposed to be taller than she is, and is supposed to have enormous breasts (this is not a troll or flamebait. Every comic or cartoon I have seen has had her with huge breasts.). Also she is supposed to have a British/South African accent.
Even with Patrick Stewart on board, this movie does not look like it is going to be very good. I'll try and reserve judgement until I actually SEE it, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
I personally think it would have been much cooler if they had done an animated movie instead of a live action one. The X-Men cartoon (at least the earlier episodes) was one of the coolest cartoons ever.
Has anyone figured out why NSI was being so childish about not giving back the domain even after the lawsuit was dropped? And why they took it in the first place even when they didn't have to? One would think with all the bad press they've already received that they would try as hard as possible to get back in the public's good graces... Guess not.
(IIRC, the court order simply said that etoy couldn't use it, not that they couldn't own it.)
The article I found said that the BLM/Slashdot partnership STARTED in mid-april '98, but in the comment you linked to, you say they broke it off at mid-april...?
There are 3 versions (currently) of VPC3. Win95, Win98, and PC-DOS. I got the DOS version because you don't have to pay the Windows tax, and because I already have Win98. I installed RedHat on a VPC disk image and it ran well, though extremely slow (G3 333, 192 MB).
Connectix will be shipping a version with RedHat preinstalled soon. Someone below linked to the press release.
Slashdot Signs with Black Light Media April 9, 1998
By the InternetNews.com Staff Advertising Report Archives Black Light Media in Portland, ME said alternative Web site Slashdot has signed on for advertising sales, ad management, promotions, and public relations. Billings were not disclosed. "Slashdot will significantly enhance BLM's ability to reach a diverse and tightly targetable audience for our advertising clients," said Ryan Meader, president of Black Light. "We believe that Slashdot is becoming a major player in the Linux and Open Software News markets." Slashdot, "News for Nerds on the Stuff that Matters," is an alternative site catering to power users on the cutting edge of the computing industry--specifically, people interested in Open Source Software and mainstream (or not-so-mainstream) technology. Black Light Media clients include Mac OS Rumors, InterWeather, Snoot, ClickWorld, and others.
"Alternative Web site." Boy, if Meader hadn't lost Slashdot he'd be a happy man now...
MOSR probably submits all these wacky stories so that they get Slashdotted and their hits go up. This is a MacOSrumors spoof site, it's quite funny. Take a look at the slide show to see the mastermind behind the BLM Media empire.
Also, I remember there used to be some kind of partnership between BLM and Slashdot, several years ago. Can anybody provide more info? What was lowly Ryan Meader's role in the creation of Slashdot? This is going back at least 2 years.
The only proof I can find (other than my memory of a mention of BLM on Slashdot a couple of years ago) is this page, which has a capture of a MOSR page from December, 1998. Look down at the bottom, it says "For those who don't follow the development of Linux (for those interested, Slashdot is an excellent place for all manner of geek news -- not that we're exactly totally unbiased, as Slashdot is a BLM partner)".
Anybody know anything about this? Maybe this has something to do with the recent stories from MOSR being posted lately... maybe Rob feels bad for Meader, whose site does nowhere near this much traffic. But then again... (funny).
Slashdot Mirror
http://www.salon
Note -- I didn't see the X-Files episode in question (no tv), so this may well be the worst episode ever, but this is still food for thought.
_________________
_________________
You notice when you burn a disc that when you look at the data side you can see where the data was written? Like if you only write 100 mb, only the first centimeter from the center is used. Well I would guess that if you cut the corners but leave the written portion alone it would work. You'd have to make sure not to bend the CD up, too.
But like I said, this is a complete guess and I have no reason to think this would work other than it seems logical.
_________________
_________________
_________________
You've all probably seen this before, but I'm posting it again. It seems rather prophetic, though not regarding Microsoft -- large corporation patents everything obvious. Plus it's funny.
_________________
He's probably under tons of pressure from stockholders who are starting to get pissed off that Amazon, for all its millions in sales, can't turn a penny of profit -- so he patents everything in sight in a bizarre plan to charge royalties for them. I guess... who knows at this point. How can they get a patent when there are so many, many similar programs that have been around for so long? I have been an "affiliate" of CDNOW's since at least February 1997.
Doesn't Amazon care about the bad press it gets? If these patents don't stand up in court (which I would hope is the case), what does Amazon gain from the entire ordeal? If this is the future of "ecommerce," it's not anything of which I'd like to be part.
_________________
_________________
This is an interview with Steve Jobs, but the formatting is lost so it's hard to tell who's the asker and who's the answerer sometimes.
This one is jsut about Jobs and Apple's new direction in general.
They are both from Fortune/Northernlight, It took me about an hour and a half to find them because I thought I had seen them on forbes.com... ugh.
_________________
Is Apple beginning to see that, by holding the software close to its vest back in 84, it practically created the M$ behemoth we all know and loathe?
Steve Jobs has said on several occasions that the Mac OS is Apple's Crown Jewel, and despite the hardware, they're really a software company. While they make more money off the hardware, the OS is Apple. I still think it is crazy to expect any "traditional" company to open source its most valuable asset. Especially when so much of the Mac OS is based on QuickTime, a technology Apple will do anything to protect from Microsoft.
Apple has made great strides in Open Source, far more than most traditional closed-source software companies have, but I think it will be a cold day in hell, or at least 5 or 10 years, before Apple Open Sources the MacOS. And I don't think that's really such a bad thing. Why SHOULDN'T they protect their investment?
_________________
As for instilling morality and good judgement into children, I would like to think I have a good sense of morality and good judgement, but I still read/look at porn all the time. I just don't think porn is some kind of evil (nor do I think "curse words" are evil). The problem is that what is "moral" for one person is "immoral" for another. I honestly see absolutely nothing wrong with pictures of two people having sex, or a girl giving a guy a blowjob. But I wouldn't want to watch a movie of some girl eating crap, and I wouldn't want my kids to see that either. I'm sure there are people out there who think eating crap is just great, and wouldn't mind if their kids saw that. The words "good judgement" and "morality" are just too loaded to be useful here -- if I instill my "morality" in my kids, and they do something that I don't care about (like looking up porn) at the library, and then the kid gets banned from the library for doing something I would have done, I would be somewhat pissed.
The pro-censorship people are apparently trying to appeal to the lowest-common-denominator in the morality crowd -- themselves. The problem is that they want to use this crappy filtering software which is wholly and utterly useless.
_________________
Or, a kid is gay but does not tell his parents because they wouldn't understand. But he visits a web forum or something and then the parents get emailed all of his postings.
Granted, these are exceptions to the rule, but they are not insignificant. Privacy is important to kids. I remember way back when I was a kid (whoo, we're going way back to 1996 here...) there were millions of things I never told my parents just because I didn't feel comfortable telling them. I don't think they would have been mad or anything, I just didn't want them to know. Then again, the library is funded by tax dollars and so their parents are really funding the internet connection, and as long as the kids KNOW their parents will see all the sites they visit then it should be okay. If the kids are really adamant about their privacy they can pay for their own ISP account.
Another option may be to simply put the computers in the middle of the library so that everybody can see them. I personally would never look at porn if anybody could see what I was doing, so maybe that would be motivation enough to stop them from looking at anything they "shouldn't" see. Though this may backfire if the porn viewer is brazen and doesn't care what others think about him -- the other people in the library may get offended, which would be very bad.
But all in all, I think emailing a log of urls to the parents would be a good idea. And if the censorware crowd says "but what if the parents don't read the email and check those sites?" we can counter with "Be responsible for your own fucking kids, idiot!" Granted, this solution is not perfect (if the parent does not have an internet/email account, what is he/she supposed to do?), but it is by far the best one I have heard so far.
Then again, the problem itself is rather ridiculous.
_________________
_________________
_________________
But in response to your question, I think a lot of this junk food ethic comes from college. I live in a dorm and we're not allowed to have hotplates or anything in our rooms (although I do have an "illegal" hotplate, but that doesn't really help prepare a huge meal). There is a kitchen in the building, but I live on the third floor and the kitchen is in the basement, so that's a no-go right there.
When I was on break, I cooked lots and lots. Hot dogs, pasta dishes, fancy meals, steaks, everything. I would love to be able to cook meals all the time but it's just not possible.
I realize many "geeks" (note, I don't really consider myself a true "geek") are no longer in college, but the move from college to work is often a matter of location. They find themselves doing the same thing at work as they did in college and so they fall into the habits they had in college. Pulling an all-nighter to get the server running? Well, eat the Dilberto.
Also, I usually get hungry around 2 am. There aren't many places that deliver at 2 am and preparing a huge dish that late is a pain. So there the Dilberto (or other quick/junk food) comes in handy.
These are just theories, of course.
_________________
Anyway, this looks like a nice idea and I guess it's good if you're a vegetarian (and/or lactose intolerant). I, however, am a carnivore. The only salad I eat is chicken salad (or normal salad with big chicken slabs in it.... mmmm.... chicken...). The Dilberito has plenty of beans in it, so at least when you're pulling that all-nighter in the computer lab, you'll gas the place up. Oh, wait, that's not a good thing...
So maybe I'm not that healthy, at least what I eat is yummy. And so what if I die 3 years ahead of schedule, at least I enjoy the time I'm here.
mmmm... steak...
_________________
I believe what you meant to say was that royalty-based consumer technologies don't get adopted unless they're supported by Intel.
_________________
_________________
_________________
Even with Patrick Stewart on board, this movie does not look like it is going to be very good. I'll try and reserve judgement until I actually SEE it, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
I personally think it would have been much cooler if they had done an animated movie instead of a live action one. The X-Men cartoon (at least the earlier episodes) was one of the coolest cartoons ever.
I wonder if Apocalypse will be in the movie...
_________________
(IIRC, the court order simply said that etoy couldn't use it, not that they couldn't own it.)
_________________
_________________
Connectix will be shipping a version with RedHat preinstalled soon. Someone below linked to the press release.
_________________
"Alternative Web site." Boy, if Meader hadn't lost Slashdot he'd be a happy man now...
Anyway, this seems to answer my question.
_________________
Also, I remember there used to be some kind of partnership between BLM and Slashdot, several years ago. Can anybody provide more info? What was lowly Ryan Meader's role in the creation of Slashdot? This is going back at least 2 years.
The only proof I can find (other than my memory of a mention of BLM on Slashdot a couple of years ago) is this page, which has a capture of a MOSR page from December, 1998. Look down at the bottom, it says "For those who don't follow the development of Linux (for those interested, Slashdot is an excellent place for all manner of geek news -- not that we're exactly totally unbiased, as Slashdot is a BLM partner)".
Anybody know anything about this? Maybe this has something to do with the recent stories from MOSR being posted lately... maybe Rob feels bad for Meader, whose site does nowhere near this much traffic. But then again... (funny).
_________________