What's to stop the recipient of one of these letters from quoting from it for purposes of satire, review, criticism, and creating a derivative work by inserting their comments and responses within the body of the letter? All of these things are considered "fair use" and should be protected under existing law, and would not cause any violation of copyright.
What the asshole lawyers SHOULD be doing in order to be perfect assholes is to start each letter with an EULA-like clause, which states "By reading this letter, you signify your agreement not to publish this letter or show it to anyone not listed on the "To:" line. Once this is established, we won't even need courts anymore, because lawyers will be able to craft EULA-letters compelling people to do anything they want at all, with their consent granted the moment they open and read the letter. We'll finally have our perfect utopian society.
Yeah, but except on calmest days, being on a ship is like being in an earthquake 24/7. I really feel bad for those poor hard drive platters... they never stood a chance.
Geez, I can't believe how many people took my grandparent post seriously, like I was actually advocating that you can audit the source code of closed-source software for security holes by decompiling it. Well, I mean, you could, but it'd be fairly ridiculous.
This movie (Flash required) goes through the process of examining the 'pre-patch' version of tcpip.sys and comparing it against the 'post-patch' version of tcpip.sys. This comparison yields the actual code that
See? And they said without FOSS, this couldn't be done!
That's 39% of computers sold in 2007, not 39% of all computers. It used to be, Windows %CurrentVersion% sold on something like 95% of all systems sold, every year, and the only thing you could get was Windows %CurrentVersion%, either the crippled Home edition or the full Professional edition. The only exceptions would be corporations with enterprise licenses that entitle them to install (%CurrentVersion% - 1) and hacked/pirated copies. All new OEM-builds shipped with %CurrentVersion%.
Now, 39% is still great, healthy marketshare, but it's a far cry from monopoly. Almost 2/3 of all new computers sold this year didn't have the current verison of Microsoft's flagship product. That's telling. Even if Vista + XP sales add up to the same 95% that it's always been, it's still encouraging to see that the market is resisting something as blatantly bloated and broken as Vista is. It means that people aren't going to just take whatever's shoved down their throats, and are going to be increasingly open to alternatives, and in time will likely seek them actively.
My development team has a few know-nothing outsiders on every project, and it really slows things down and we end up wasting a lot of time AND doing things wrong because we have to placate someone who has no clue when they insist that the project must be re-worked to incorporate some idea they had in the 9th hour.
What you really need on projects is clear vision and leadership so you can have good decision making. Someone who has the ability to say "no", someone who can defer a good idea to a future version when it makes sense and won't derail the release date for the current version, someone who understands that less can be more, someone who is capable of putting ego aside and listening to (and heeding) good ideas when they are brought up.
The freeness of Linux is a virtue. But the Freedom of Linux is where it's real value lies. Tying the Freedom to cheap-ass hardware and trying to sell that to the price-conscious market on the low end is a miscalculation. A lightweight Linux distro will certainly run better than current Windows on low-end hardware, but if a PC OEM wants to use Linux in this way, it shows that they only understand the bottom line dollar value aspect of why Linux is good for customers, and fails to recognize the stability, performance, security, and Freedom aspects of Linux's value. If Linux were interested in achieving marketshare (which, it kind of is, and kindof isn't -- Linux is not a single-minded entity, although I'm going to talk about it as though it were) then it would be in Linux's interest to position itself in the market on a high-end system that will be coveted and envied by users with high-end needs. Linux needs to dispell the myth that just because it is free, doesn't mean that it's cheaply made, and running it on low-end, barely adequate hardware is not going to accomplish that end.
There goes my plans to get rich quickly by making copies of pyramids and sphinxes and selling them on the street for way lower than the original pyramid and sphinx.
There are many ways to fail, to suck, or to do something wrong, and only a few ways to do something successfully, well, or right. I think, with this in mind, there's no need for further investigation into the size of Microsoft's patent portfolio.
If you think journalists are bad, you should try talking to rap artists. They keep talking about superstars, when there is no such designation. They probably mean super giants, but who can say? Also, they keep getting confused with simple distinctions, I mean stuff that should be completely freakin' obvious, like intergalactic vs. planetary. I had this intergalactic/planetary, planetary/intergalactig debate with these three rappers (I mean, they were white dudes, but they were still trying to rap) for like an HOUR and they still didn't get it. I just shrugged and told them they were from another dimension before washing my hands of them. I'd rather talk to science journalists any day of the week, let me tell you.
OK, but how do you keep the silicon cool while the laptop is soaking up solar energy? Most manuals I've read recommend keeping laptops out of direct sunlight, and modern laptop processors already push the limits of what you can cool reasonably on air over a copper heat sink as it is. Add thermal load from direct sunlight and you're probably asking for thermal shutdown in a few minutes.
Slashdot Mirror
Could it be everyone smart enough not to fall for urban legend forwards is also smart enough to block adware?
Too bad Ballmer wouldn't be appointed Secretary of State, that would give a whole new meaning to "armchair diplomacy"...
What's to stop the recipient of one of these letters from quoting from it for purposes of satire, review, criticism, and creating a derivative work by inserting their comments and responses within the body of the letter? All of these things are considered "fair use" and should be protected under existing law, and would not cause any violation of copyright.
What the asshole lawyers SHOULD be doing in order to be perfect assholes is to start each letter with an EULA-like clause, which states "By reading this letter, you signify your agreement not to publish this letter or show it to anyone not listed on the "To:" line. Once this is established, we won't even need courts anymore, because lawyers will be able to craft EULA-letters compelling people to do anything they want at all, with their consent granted the moment they open and read the letter. We'll finally have our perfect utopian society.
Can Netcraft confirm that Microsoft is dying?
I'll buy that for a dollar!
I've been modeling the physics for this using an old lava lamp and a Cray 1 supercomputer. It's strangely compelling.
Yeah, but except on calmest days, being on a ship is like being in an earthquake 24/7. I really feel bad for those poor hard drive platters... they never stood a chance.
Geez, I can't believe how many people took my grandparent post seriously, like I was actually advocating that you can audit the source code of closed-source software for security holes by decompiling it. Well, I mean, you could, but it'd be fairly ridiculous.
This movie (Flash required) goes through the process of examining the 'pre-patch' version of tcpip.sys and comparing it against the 'post-patch' version of tcpip.sys. This comparison yields the actual code that
See? And they said without FOSS, this couldn't be done!
Yes, but apparently NYU grads can only program in Java.
That's 39% of computers sold in 2007, not 39% of all computers. It used to be, Windows %CurrentVersion% sold on something like 95% of all systems sold, every year, and the only thing you could get was Windows %CurrentVersion%, either the crippled Home edition or the full Professional edition. The only exceptions would be corporations with enterprise licenses that entitle them to install (%CurrentVersion% - 1) and hacked/pirated copies. All new OEM-builds shipped with %CurrentVersion%.
Now, 39% is still great, healthy marketshare, but it's a far cry from monopoly. Almost 2/3 of all new computers sold this year didn't have the current verison of Microsoft's flagship product. That's telling. Even if Vista + XP sales add up to the same 95% that it's always been, it's still encouraging to see that the market is resisting something as blatantly bloated and broken as Vista is. It means that people aren't going to just take whatever's shoved down their throats, and are going to be increasingly open to alternatives, and in time will likely seek them actively.
It used to be, I'd grab a snack in order to avoid a short video.
Can you move your elbow, dude? It's getting crowded in here.
My development team has a few know-nothing outsiders on every project, and it really slows things down and we end up wasting a lot of time AND doing things wrong because we have to placate someone who has no clue when they insist that the project must be re-worked to incorporate some idea they had in the 9th hour.
What you really need on projects is clear vision and leadership so you can have good decision making. Someone who has the ability to say "no", someone who can defer a good idea to a future version when it makes sense and won't derail the release date for the current version, someone who understands that less can be more, someone who is capable of putting ego aside and listening to (and heeding) good ideas when they are brought up.
The freeness of Linux is a virtue. But the Freedom of Linux is where it's real value lies. Tying the Freedom to cheap-ass hardware and trying to sell that to the price-conscious market on the low end is a miscalculation. A lightweight Linux distro will certainly run better than current Windows on low-end hardware, but if a PC OEM wants to use Linux in this way, it shows that they only understand the bottom line dollar value aspect of why Linux is good for customers, and fails to recognize the stability, performance, security, and Freedom aspects of Linux's value. If Linux were interested in achieving marketshare (which, it kind of is, and kindof isn't -- Linux is not a single-minded entity, although I'm going to talk about it as though it were) then it would be in Linux's interest to position itself in the market on a high-end system that will be coveted and envied by users with high-end needs. Linux needs to dispell the myth that just because it is free, doesn't mean that it's cheaply made, and running it on low-end, barely adequate hardware is not going to accomplish that end.
There goes my plans to get rich quickly by making copies of pyramids and sphinxes and selling them on the street for way lower than the original pyramid and sphinx.
I believe in IP Freely.
Giraffa? Why would you start counting giraffe subspecies at 11? Clearly the more natural progression is:
Giraffe000
Giraffe001
Giraffe010
Giraffe011
Giraffe100
Giraffe101
This also leaves room for a few additional, as yet undocumented giraffes, namely Giraffe110 and Giraffe111.
It turns out that Octave is one of the lesser-known products of 3DRealms. Also, Duke Nukem Forever/Hurd will be out next quarter.
Sodomsky's partner, Gammorahsky, is reported to still be at large.
There are many ways to fail, to suck, or to do something wrong, and only a few ways to do something successfully, well, or right. I think, with this in mind, there's no need for further investigation into the size of Microsoft's patent portfolio.
Yeah, I was thinking light sabers...
I thought green lasers are used by the Rebellion, while the Empire uses red lasers?
If you think journalists are bad, you should try talking to rap artists. They keep talking about superstars, when there is no such designation. They probably mean super giants, but who can say? Also, they keep getting confused with simple distinctions, I mean stuff that should be completely freakin' obvious, like intergalactic vs. planetary. I had this intergalactic/planetary, planetary/intergalactig debate with these three rappers (I mean, they were white dudes, but they were still trying to rap) for like an HOUR and they still didn't get it. I just shrugged and told them they were from another dimension before washing my hands of them. I'd rather talk to science journalists any day of the week, let me tell you.
OK, but how do you keep the silicon cool while the laptop is soaking up solar energy? Most manuals I've read recommend keeping laptops out of direct sunlight, and modern laptop processors already push the limits of what you can cool reasonably on air over a copper heat sink as it is. Add thermal load from direct sunlight and you're probably asking for thermal shutdown in a few minutes.