Yeah, it was developed as an alternative to cddb. See, a bunch of people got really upset at cddb as they had been plugging in all these tracklists and other assorted CD info for free, and along comes Gracenote, buys out whoever was the prime mover behind cddb, and promptly starts capitalizing on a lot of work done gratis by a large community. Hence, freedb.
I don't remember exactly, but I think there's some sort of GPL-ish clause in freedb that would prevent such a crass co-opting. At least I hope so.
Is anyone surprised that the challenge has broad support from libraries and librarians? I've worked in libraries pretty much solidly since 1994, and I've never never ever met any librarian who thought that censorware was a good idea.
The reason? Censorware is simply too broad. There exists many cases where censorware companies blocked not only obscene material but also perfectly legitimate constitutionally-protected material like sites on women's rights and birth control. And as for pornography, what happens when someone is doing legitimate research on porn or needs to access material commonly described as porn? The last library I worked at stocks Playboys (and yes, this is one time when the old saw about "buying playboys for the articles" actually is actually true). You had to ask for them at the front desk, but they were there.
Anyway, bottom line -- this is Yet Another Totally Unconstitutional Load of Bull-Plop that even the lizards on the current Supreme Court will probably strike down. Hopefully.
Geez, I thought I had seen the last of David Burt -- I was a long-time member of a library mailing list (web4lib), the very same place David Burt first started rearing his ugly head. David took it upon himself to promote censorware as the One True Way to save "children" (although he made no allowances for adult-access only library terminals) from the scourge of Internet porn. I had to leave the list because it had basically turned into David Burt's soapbox, even though just about everyone else there couldn't stand him either.
David Burt should turn in his MLS degree -- he doesn't deserve to have the title "Librarian" being as he is dedicated to the blocking of information.
They also did a CD based on similar criteria to the paintings -- surveys as to what people liked and disliked in music. It's a damn hilarious release... indescribable really. It should be somewhere on their website.
Don't worry. Someone like Rep. Sonny Bono will come along and make a new law extending patents for one kajillion years after the sun burns out and all human life ceases to exist.
Just like copyright. Big Business thinks: Oh no, we CAN'T have Mickey Mouse falling into public domain in 2003! Wait, I know, I'll use the in my pocket and rubber-stamp a law guaranteeing my right to gouge the consumer for as long as possible while I swim in piles of gold coins ala Scrooge McDuck.
Why, *yes*, I practically *am* a Communist. Can't you tell?
All the more reason to use PNG, JPG, or some other real format that is created by an open standards group. GIF, for all intents and purposes, is completely outmoded and outdated, and even though we have our "vulgar" Open Source proponents who berate poor secretaries with their harsh e-mails, there's no use feeling sorry for them. Even though they go about it completely the wrong way, the Visigoths are correct; Unisys is a pile of horse doo-doo, and GIFs and the patents concerning GIFs are even bigger piles of horse doo-doo. Let's all make Unisys (or at least GIFs) obsolete: if you need lossless graphics, use PNG, if you don't mind lossy, use jpegs.
Even though Wasenaar (sp?) specifically excludes "public domain" encryption software from the draconian control of the United States, is anyone surprised that the feds consider elimination of *all* encryption schemes to be a top priority? Make no mistake; this is not a government "for the people". Not at all.
Let's just hope the rest of the world isn't as spineless as the U.S. is hoping they are.
Nah. I mean, everybody signed Wasenaar, after all. Goodbye privacy.
C'mon guys... the US and its band of cronies (Canada, UK, NZ, Australia) do this already. Remember? It's called Echelon. Echelon Echelon Echelon. And it's nasty.
There's something like one hundred and two comments on us.imdb.com about this movie... and it is *just* now being released into theatres today. I find it very hard to believe that those reviews are solid and honest... they've probably got a whole huge MegaMovieHype Perl script or something that sits around and bangs out positive reviews with fake names. Or something.
Dude, five'll get you ten that the sooper-seekret chip is Transmeta's. Amiga's trying to perpetrate a major geek coup by using both Linux *AND* Transmeta's CPU. The real question is, will any of us bite? Will we care? What do you think?
Dude. I live in Butler County, Ohio, although I think probably on the other side of the county from where this happened (at least I don't recognize the day care center or the shop). This made my day. I wish I could've seen it.
I guess we have to strike a balance between telling the truth (which, IMHO, most of those mails on Mindcraft's page *do*, albeit maybe a touch more directly than they oughta) and playing the good diplomatic game.
Mindcraft *is* in Microsoft's pocket. It's complete idiocy to pretend otherwise.
I had a totally no-name pirate knock-off of the Apple II that I got in Singapore before Singapore had copyright laws. But it wasn't a cheap piece of crap, by any means -- it worked entirely too well and had these nifty-ass macro keys besides... you'd hit the macro key, and then another key on the keyboard, and the machine would spell out "RUN" or "PRINT" or "CALL-161" or whatever the macro key was bound to.
is that the guy who actually owns the LinuxHQ.com name is selling it to the highest bidder. While it's his name to do with as he will, it's unfortunate that he didn't notify anyone before yanking it out from under us.
Watch www.linuxhq.com to surface in the next couple of months as the "hottest, latest Linux site" brought to you by Really Big Corporation, LLC... making the world safe for corporate oligarchy.
Hell, I used to go to school with the author -- he and I got our first UNIX-related jobs running a NeXTStep cluster. Got my autographed copy of his book right here in my lap. He's a great guy, it's a great book, and it's totally worth it.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, it was developed as an alternative to cddb. See, a bunch of people got really upset at cddb as they had been plugging in all these tracklists and other assorted CD info for free, and along comes Gracenote, buys out whoever was the prime mover behind cddb, and promptly starts capitalizing on a lot of work done gratis by a large community. Hence, freedb.
I don't remember exactly, but I think there's some sort of GPL-ish clause in freedb that would prevent such a crass co-opting. At least I hope so.
Is anyone surprised that the challenge has broad support from libraries and librarians? I've worked in libraries pretty much solidly since 1994, and I've never never ever met any librarian who thought that censorware was a good idea.
The reason? Censorware is simply too broad. There exists many cases where censorware companies blocked not only obscene material but also perfectly legitimate constitutionally-protected material like sites on women's rights and birth control. And as for pornography, what happens when someone is doing legitimate research on porn or needs to access material commonly described as porn? The last library I worked at stocks Playboys (and yes, this is one time when the old saw about "buying playboys for the articles" actually is actually true). You had to ask for them at the front desk, but they were there.
Anyway, bottom line -- this is Yet Another Totally Unconstitutional Load of Bull-Plop that even the lizards on the current Supreme Court will probably strike down. Hopefully.
Geez, I thought I had seen the last of David Burt -- I was a long-time member of a library mailing list (web4lib), the very same place David Burt first started rearing his ugly head. David took it upon himself to promote censorware as the One True Way to save "children" (although he made no allowances for adult-access only library terminals) from the scourge of Internet porn. I had to leave the list because it had basically turned into David Burt's soapbox, even though just about everyone else there couldn't stand him either.
David Burt should turn in his MLS degree -- he doesn't deserve to have the title "Librarian" being as he is dedicated to the blocking of information.
adr
They also did a CD based on similar criteria to the paintings -- surveys as to what people liked and disliked in music. It's a damn hilarious release... indescribable really. It should be somewhere on their website.
adr
Dammit, Canada kicks absolute ass. Someone help me emigrate.
adr
Yeah, I know he's dead. Unfortunately, the general idiocy regarding copyrights and patents did not die with him.
-- adr
Don't worry. Someone like Rep. Sonny Bono will come along and make a new law extending patents for one kajillion years after the sun burns out and all human life ceases to exist.
Just like copyright. Big Business thinks: Oh no, we CAN'T have Mickey Mouse falling into public domain in 2003! Wait, I know, I'll use the in my pocket and rubber-stamp a law guaranteeing my right to gouge the consumer for as long as possible while I swim in piles of gold coins ala Scrooge McDuck.
Why, *yes*, I practically *am* a Communist. Can't you tell?
-- adr
(sorry for error).
All the more reason to use PNG, JPG, or some other real format that is created by an open standards group. GIF, for all intents and purposes, is completely outmoded and outdated, and even though we have our "vulgar" Open Source proponents who berate poor secretaries with their harsh e-mails, there's no use feeling sorry for them. Even though they go about it completely the wrong way, the Visigoths are correct; Unisys is a pile of horse doo-doo, and GIFs and the patents concerning GIFs are even bigger piles of horse doo-doo. Let's all make Unisys (or at least GIFs) obsolete: if you need lossless graphics, use PNG, if you don't mind lossy, use jpegs.
-- adr
who hates "Ender's Game". After I read it, I wanted to kill Ender, that 3133Tist little dipsmack.
waiting for the deluge of geek wrath...
adr
Is "Webiste" anything like "Artiste"?
-- adr
Even though Wasenaar (sp?) specifically excludes "public domain" encryption software from the draconian control of the United States, is anyone surprised that the feds consider elimination of *all* encryption schemes to be a top priority? Make no mistake; this is not a government "for the people". Not at all.
Let's just hope the rest of the world isn't as spineless as the U.S. is hoping they are.
Nah. I mean, everybody signed Wasenaar, after all. Goodbye privacy.
adr
C'mon guys... the US and its band of cronies (Canada, UK, NZ, Australia) do this already. Remember? It's called Echelon. Echelon Echelon Echelon. And it's nasty.
-- adr
Dammit, I have never been so proud to live in Ohio. Cedar Point definitely already rocks the block party, oh yes. And this coaster is just more gravy.
-- adr
There's something like one hundred and two comments on us.imdb.com about this movie... and it is *just* now being released into theatres today. I find it very hard to believe that those reviews are solid and honest... they've probably got a whole huge MegaMovieHype Perl script or something that sits around and bangs out positive reviews with fake names. Or something.
-- adr
Dude, five'll get you ten that the sooper-seekret chip is Transmeta's. Amiga's trying to perpetrate a major geek coup by using both Linux *AND* Transmeta's CPU. The real question is, will any of us bite? Will we care? What do you think?
-- adr
Dude. I live in Butler County, Ohio, although I think probably on the other side of the county from where this happened (at least I don't recognize the day care center or the shop). This made my day. I wish I could've seen it.
-adr
IBM merging? Man. Isn't that one of the Seven Signs of the Apocalypse or something?
Everybody's merging with everybody else though, so I guess it's not all that surprising.
adr
Sorry.. should be "cool Nineteen-Fifties", naturally.
adr
Sounds like an athlete's foot powder or perhaps a vitamin additive.
Note to AMD -- don't give your products "cool Ninety-Fifties Buzzword" names.
-- adr
What's wrong with "K7" anyway? I like it.
I guess we have to strike a balance between telling the truth (which, IMHO, most of those mails on Mindcraft's page *do*, albeit maybe a touch more directly than they oughta) and playing the good diplomatic game.
Mindcraft *is* in Microsoft's pocket. It's complete idiocy to pretend otherwise.
-- adr
Actually, I think that was the Apple III, a notoriously cheap-ass machine.
That's why you never see any of them.
adr
I had a totally no-name pirate knock-off of the Apple II that I got in Singapore before Singapore had copyright laws. But it wasn't a cheap piece of crap, by any means -- it worked entirely too well and had these nifty-ass macro keys besides... you'd hit the macro key, and then another key on the keyboard, and the machine would spell out "RUN" or "PRINT" or "CALL-161" or whatever the macro key was bound to.
Crazy days. I loved that damn machine.
adr
is that the guy who actually owns the LinuxHQ.com name is selling it to the highest bidder. While it's his name to do with as he will, it's unfortunate that he didn't notify anyone before yanking it out from under us.
Watch www.linuxhq.com to surface in the next couple of months as the "hottest, latest Linux site" brought to you by Really Big Corporation, LLC... making the world safe for corporate oligarchy.
pity.
-- adr
Hell, I used to go to school with the author -- he and I got our first UNIX-related jobs running a NeXTStep cluster. Got my autographed copy of his book right here in my lap. He's a great guy, it's a great book, and it's totally worth it.
--adr
This is quite likely the funniest comment I've ever read on Slashdot ever.
-- adr