A lot of tax ? Read this: "Microsoft enjoyed more than $12 billion in total tax breaks over the past five years. Microsoft, in fact, actually paid no tax at all in 1999, despite $12.3 billion in reported U.S. profits. Microsoft's tax rate for the past two years was only 1.8 percent on $21.9 billion in pre-tax U.S. profits."
My Acorn RiscPC has actually a CD driver that shows me each of the disc's sessions as a separate disc drive... It just won't accept to open the Sony buggy track:-)
Nowadays, Freedom is becoming more and more important than technological achievements, we must afford to preserve it if what we want to offer is a human structure. Calling RMS a nut is a lack of tolerance as we've always known his positions regarding Free Software. Whatever he wants to achieve he wants to do it a given way which is what Free Software stands for. Know, after reading this article I accept to consider Linux (as not in GNU/Linux) as alternative software, not as Free Software and this is this point that hurts him. If you want RMS to deal with your Freedom and to help you getting rid of software patents, you'd better contact your software editors and ask them to open their APIs so that you can develop Free alternatives to what they sell. Wasn't this here that I read some B. Franklin quote about security and freedom ? Well, RMS message is similar, if you even remove a bit of Freedom from Free Software, it then becomes "not-so-Free software". If you just want to race technologically against billion-earning companies that just want Free Software to be considered as passive terrorism, then you fight on another front because this is not what RMS discusses about and he shouldn't be attacked on his ethical views because your technological considerations hinder them. Let's discuss about it and agree on which ethical model is the best. and here, no doubt : RMS has started thinking about it, has made choices way before most of us actually began coding for the first time, he has too many years of experiences to be called a nut.
not the first but still pleasing...
on
Creative Commons
·
· Score: 4, Informative
I am however pleased to see that other people begin in the same direction which will make this way of thinking more and more popular until the merchants begin to think differently about what copyright protection should mean for the artists.
now they are trying to sell us the combined product and for cheaper than both the original products?
Exactly : they make more money forcing all their consummers tobuy the same product than developping fewer specific product with less features... But in the final you not only get something too much featured compared to what you primarily shopped for but also you pay a lot:
a phone with subscription with an organizer with mp3 playing abilities is more expensive than only one of the above...
let's take the nokia 9xx0 : it costs 1500CHF here. the previous treo was also 1000CHF expensive!
if you supposedly want 2 of these features only, you can buy a 300CHF palm (or a psion revo) + a 300CHF philips mp3 expanium.
you may even add a cheapphone to this equipment while keeping the costs lower than this all-in-one.
why would you ask ?
because you don't want your organizer to require a daily battery load.
my palm can work 2 months on batteries.
my mp3 disman can play non stop during 12 hours.
my phone, well... it will support a one hour conversation.
so, no way, buying too much will first reduce your mobility, especially on the battery-life point of view.
And soon, there'll be new DMCA-aware photocopier who'll report the copyright infringers to the BSA/SPA/CIA/FEMA... when detecting such a book chip in the item being copied?
I have been using RiscOS from 1995. People who commented it here actually posted either their disgust for the UI look or their reluctancy to use an OS which only happenned to get DHCP/multi-user. There's however a point that shouldreally be taken into account: RiscOS is modular. Totally modular. This means whatever you don't like, including the filer access modes, the RiscOS core or whatever can be replaced without even rebooting the machine. I saw many patched RiscOS which looked like other OSses, like NeXTstep, AmigaOS, or even some Mondrian-on-crack GUI. I also saw friends patching their OS to get pre-emptive multi-tasking or background printing. Some even coded a DHCP module yars ago but got threatened by major RiscOS investor not to release these publicly because of some legal issue. What actually killed Acorn was its investors who wanted to turn this closed but financially perfomant market into some raw R&D company. Most of you benefit from whatever came from around Acorn during the 80's and the 90's : The ATM network protocol that is Internet essence (originally the Cambridge Ring, used by the BBC Micro computers), the ARM processor (the most successful processor ever, with much more units sold every year than Intel could dream of), TopModel, the best 3D modelling program ever that is used by Nintendo's designers to create their games... Now, here's my point: RiscOS is a Geek's dream. Denying this fact is just proving one's laziness. There nothing that can't be done easilly with this system. Despite the lack of Math Copro or OpenGL facilities of RiscOS-aware hardware, I saw some unique stuff on these, like the only MP3 player that can run on a 20MHz-copro-less ARM processor (http://www.eqrd.net/english/riscos.html)... A Quake1 port that run in 25fps minimum on a 200MHz machine (still no copro), some pseudo GL programs rendering fractal landscape in real time(Iron Dignity)... Coding for RiscOS is not only a dream but is also a step closer to developping for embedded ARM devices. Developping podules (hardware) for RiscOS is also as pleasant. Back in 1997, there was as much free software for RiscOS than for Linux, it was simply ported than 10-100 less people. You may want to check riscos level of activity by visiting comp.sys.acorn.* newsgroups. So, yes, RiscOS still rules, it is not as widespread as Linux or any other commercial OS but I can bet most of the RiscOS coders I know will keep their machines until they are dead. It's simply a matter of opportunity : either you choose a widespread shit which software suite are either obfuscated, unoptimal or expensive... or you choose to prototype efficient solutions on such simple machines... I think Leo Brodie had a similar argument in his "Thinking Forth" book : get to learn to do it simply...
Demolinux is a project that consists of booting Linux from a Live CD. This is IMHO the best Linux distro for newcomers and it looks quite like what is intended for this project : See Free Software in use without touching one's HD..
Otellini also said that Intel's hyper-threading technology, which lets a single processor act in
some ways like two, will debut in desktop Pentium 4 systems in 2003. Hyper-threading
currently is available only on Intel's top-end Xeon version of the Pentium 4 and is enabled in
servers but not workstations. The technology allows two different applications to use different
components of a microprocessor simultaneously.
Not to be availablke as retail, huh ?
This actually reminds me of the 486SX which was a 486DX with its math copro deactivated...
Windows XP is actually said to refuse to run on a machine which hardware has been modified since its registration, so if they break the agreement on this point by refusing to launch it then you may prove you virtually changed of PC. So, play around with your hardware and when windows won't boot, then you're supposed to be free...
what about the average income of an average internet connected family? But anyway I agree with you on one point : this would make the same songs around 40$ each for a 90k$ earning family which nobody wants to spend.
A Break down would be quite stupid and irrelevant, as it didn't prevent many baby Bells to merge again and to continue their monopolistic practises. I think it'd be fairer to ask them (and most other corporations) to open their APIs, but as this'd imply a complete revision (suppression?) of the software patenting system this might not happen for some time.
the big difference between music and a program/algo... is that the later is supposedly interactive, which means it is supposed to be context sensitive and act differently according to external events. If you make interactive music, then you have a program that generate music, that is. You may however GPL your music and send it to my web gallery (see.sig;-)
10 years ago, people were reproaching Linux with its lack of drivers and now, some whine about its lack of applications...
I guess it'll soon be fixed once people express their needs instead of their "états d'âme".
And BTW, the loudest ones are also the ones that are supposed to pay for apps, so, let's give money to Sun or Ximian or whoever develop corporate stuff and we'll soon have more than enough Office Suites, etc.
Of course, the others who actually work with Linux on a daily basis just didn't remark such lacks and, for example, are happy with the light-weight Ted when it comes to view/edit/print RTF:-)
The screen shot was taken on April 29... I guess it is around one year old, so, hopefully, loads of progress have been made (unless this is not "news" but only "stuff that could matter";-)
So when you call support to get your lost password, will they ask you what your mothers maiden hair color was?
Today's is now 25 years after the Punk explosion in England (1977) so I believe it would be a bad idea to ask today's 25'ers about which color their mother could have painted her hairs:-D
If you are interested this product, then you're most probably willing to wander in some places where you would neither have time to cook...
So, you're probably trekking.
The problem is with the container itself as you can't obviously just drop it in a bush and it may be an oversupply in terms of volume, once used.
Especially if, as they say, you use it for Baby-food : you will need its place to store the pampers... If you at least have some respect for the environment.
I saw such self-heating doses of food here in Switzerland and they actually took care of this detail by storing these (and their self-heating chemicals) in plastic/metal bag which advantage is to occupy very little space, once empty...
The problem with infra-red keyboards is that it becomes easy to just sniff what their user sends to his computer... With such devices, won't there be similar issues ?
Where were you *before" 1996 ? Internet is a library, an useful one, it helped me to build an Acorn user community by providing news and progs to the others. It also helped me as a teacher to prepair my computing classes. Then in 1995 came win95 which brought the internet to the masses, turning it into a supermarket. Then came everybody else... And now, you think it "becomes" useful ? Actually, for who knows what to expect from such a tool it has always been and will always be useful as it is.
Actually, if you go to yahoogroups.com, you sometime get a popup window with a contest to win an xbox... End on contest is on feb. 15th:-D I hope their software are not so outdated. I heard one need to *buy* a remote control to use the XBox integrated DVD !? Are they crazy or what ? So, well, I understand this box is not even worth talking about.
Posted by
michael
on Wednesday March 13, @10:48PM from the things-not-to-tell-your-life-insurance-company dept. Usquebaugh submitted this link to a guy who built his own roller coaster. The guy builds grain elevators for a living and - let me take a wild, city-slicker guess - they probably use some sort of rail system for transporting grain, so....
Slashdot Mirror
A lot of tax ? :
Read this
"Microsoft enjoyed more than $12 billion in total tax breaks over the past five years. Microsoft, in fact, actually paid no tax at all in 1999, despite $12.3 billion in reported U.S. profits. Microsoft's tax rate for the past two years was only 1.8 percent on $21.9 billion in pre-tax U.S. profits."
Never underestimate GwB's close friends.
Try here :o ujoure/FreeSoftware.zip...
http://www.gnuart.net/data/musique/Tompox/AmoureT
It's a remix using the original sound file.
My Acorn RiscPC has actually a CD driver that shows me each of the disc's sessions as a separate disc drive... :-)
It just won't accept to open the Sony buggy track
Nowadays, Freedom is becoming more and more important than technological achievements, we must afford to preserve it if what we want to offer is a human structure.
Calling RMS a nut is a lack of tolerance as we've always known his positions regarding Free Software. Whatever he wants to achieve he wants to do it a given way which is what Free Software stands for.
Know, after reading this article I accept to consider Linux (as not in GNU/Linux) as alternative software, not as Free Software and this is this point that hurts him.
If you want RMS to deal with your Freedom and to help you getting rid of software patents, you'd better contact your software editors and ask them to open their APIs so that you can develop Free alternatives to what they sell.
Wasn't this here that I read some B. Franklin quote about security and freedom ?
Well, RMS message is similar, if you even remove a bit of Freedom from Free Software, it then becomes "not-so-Free software".
If you just want to race technologically against billion-earning companies that just want Free Software to be considered as passive terrorism, then you fight on another front because this is not what RMS discusses about and he shouldn't be attacked on his ethical views because your technological considerations hinder them.
Let's discuss about it and agree on which ethical model is the best.
and here, no doubt : RMS has started thinking about it, has made choices way before most of us actually began coding for the first time, he has too many years of experiences to be called a nut.
GNUArt opened a GPL'ed Art Gallery in January 2001.
I am however pleased to see that other people begin in the same direction which will make this way of thinking more and more popular until the merchants begin to think differently about what copyright protection should mean for the artists.
Exactly : they make more money forcing all their consummers tobuy the same product than developping fewer specific product with less features...
But in the final you not only get something too much featured compared to what you primarily shopped for but also you pay a lot:
a phone with subscription with an organizer with mp3 playing abilities is more expensive than only one of the above...
let's take the nokia 9xx0 : it costs 1500CHF here.
the previous treo was also 1000CHF expensive!
if you supposedly want 2 of these features only, you can buy a 300CHF palm (or a psion revo) + a 300CHF philips mp3 expanium.
you may even add a cheapphone to this equipment while keeping the costs lower than this all-in-one.
why would you ask ?
because you don't want your organizer to require a daily battery load.
my palm can work 2 months on batteries.
my mp3 disman can play non stop during 12 hours.
my phone, well... it will support a one hour conversation.
so, no way, buying too much will first reduce your mobility, especially on the battery-life point of view.
And soon, there'll be new DMCA-aware photocopier who'll report the copyright infringers to the BSA/SPA/CIA/FEMA... when detecting such a book chip in the item being copied?
I have been using RiscOS from 1995. : :
People who commented it here actually posted either their disgust for the UI look or their reluctancy to use an OS which only happenned to get DHCP/multi-user.
There's however a point that shouldreally be taken into account
RiscOS is modular.
Totally modular.
This means whatever you don't like, including the filer access modes, the RiscOS core or whatever can be replaced without even rebooting the machine.
I saw many patched RiscOS which looked like other OSses, like NeXTstep, AmigaOS, or even some Mondrian-on-crack GUI.
I also saw friends patching their OS to get pre-emptive multi-tasking or background printing.
Some even coded a DHCP module yars ago but got threatened by major RiscOS investor not to release these publicly because of some legal issue.
What actually killed Acorn was its investors who wanted to turn this closed but financially perfomant market into some raw R&D company.
Most of you benefit from whatever came from around Acorn during the 80's and the 90's : The ATM network protocol that is Internet essence (originally the Cambridge Ring, used by the BBC Micro computers), the ARM processor (the most successful processor ever, with much more units sold every year than Intel could dream of), TopModel, the best 3D modelling program ever that is used by Nintendo's designers to create their games...
Now, here's my point
RiscOS is a Geek's dream.
Denying this fact is just proving one's laziness.
There nothing that can't be done easilly with this system.
Despite the lack of Math Copro or OpenGL facilities of RiscOS-aware hardware, I saw some unique stuff on these, like the only MP3 player that can run on a 20MHz-copro-less ARM processor (http://www.eqrd.net/english/riscos.html)... A Quake1 port that run in 25fps minimum on a 200MHz machine (still no copro), some pseudo GL programs rendering fractal landscape in real time(Iron Dignity)...
Coding for RiscOS is not only a dream but is also a step closer to developping for embedded ARM devices.
Developping podules (hardware) for RiscOS is also as pleasant.
Back in 1997, there was as much free software for RiscOS than for Linux, it was simply ported than 10-100 less people.
You may want to check riscos level of activity by visiting comp.sys.acorn.* newsgroups.
So, yes, RiscOS still rules, it is not as widespread as Linux or any other commercial OS but I can bet most of the RiscOS coders I know will keep their machines until they are dead.
It's simply a matter of opportunity : either you choose a widespread shit which software suite are either obfuscated, unoptimal or expensive... or you choose to prototype efficient solutions on such simple machines...
I think Leo Brodie had a similar argument in his "Thinking Forth" book : get to learn to do it simply...
I personally use the device made by Stewart Tyrell on my RiscPC.
http://www.stdevel.demon.co.uk/
I can then plug an optical logitech mouse...
Demolinux is a project that consists of booting Linux from a Live CD.
This is IMHO the best Linux distro for newcomers and it looks quite like what is intended for this project : See Free Software in use without touching one's HD..
This actually reminds me of the 486SX which was a 486DX with its math copro deactivated...
Windows XP is actually said to refuse to run on a machine which hardware has been modified since its registration, so if they break the agreement on this point by refusing to launch it then you may prove you virtually changed of PC.
So, play around with your hardware and when windows won't boot, then you're supposed to be free...
what about the average income of an average internet connected family?
But anyway I agree with you on one point : this would make the same songs around 40$ each for a 90k$ earning family which nobody wants to spend.
A Break down would be quite stupid and irrelevant, as it didn't prevent many baby Bells to merge again and to continue their monopolistic practises.
I think it'd be fairer to ask them (and most other corporations) to open their APIs, but as this'd imply a complete revision (suppression?) of the software patenting system this might not happen for some time.
the big difference between music and a program/algo... is that the later is supposedly interactive, which means it is supposed to be context sensitive and act differently according to external events. .sig ;-)
If you make interactive music, then you have a program that generate music, that is.
You may however GPL your music and send it to my web gallery (see
10 years ago, people were reproaching Linux with its lack of drivers and now, some whine about its lack of applications...
:-)
I guess it'll soon be fixed once people express their needs instead of their "états d'âme".
And BTW, the loudest ones are also the ones that are supposed to pay for apps, so, let's give money to Sun or Ximian or whoever develop corporate stuff and we'll soon have more than enough Office Suites, etc.
Of course, the others who actually work with Linux on a daily basis just didn't remark such lacks and, for example, are happy with the light-weight Ted when it comes to view/edit/print RTF
The screen shot was taken on April 29... ;-)
I guess it is around one year old, so, hopefully, loads of progress have been made (unless this is not "news" but only "stuff that could matter"
Today's is now 25 years after the Punk explosion in England (1977) so I believe it would be a bad idea to ask today's 25'ers about which color their mother could have painted her hairs
If you are interested this product, then you're most probably willing to wander in some places where you would neither have time to cook...
So, you're probably trekking.
The problem is with the container itself as you can't obviously just drop it in a bush and it may be an oversupply in terms of volume, once used.
Especially if, as they say, you use it for Baby-food : you will need its place to store the pampers... If you at least have some respect for the environment.
I saw such self-heating doses of food here in Switzerland and they actually took care of this detail by storing these (and their self-heating chemicals) in plastic/metal bag which advantage is to occupy very little space, once empty...
The problem with infra-red keyboards is that it becomes easy to just sniff what their user sends to his computer...
With such devices, won't there be similar issues ?
Where were you *before" 1996 ?
Internet is a library, an useful one, it helped me to build an Acorn user community by providing news and progs to the others.
It also helped me as a teacher to prepair my computing classes.
Then in 1995 came win95 which brought the internet to the masses, turning it into a supermarket.
Then came everybody else...
And now, you think it "becomes" useful ?
Actually, for who knows what to expect from such a tool it has always been and will always be useful as it is.
Actually, if you go to yahoogroups.com, you sometime get a popup window with a contest to win an xbox... :-D
End on contest is on feb. 15th
I hope their software are not so outdated.
I heard one need to *buy* a remote control to use the XBox integrated DVD !?
Are they crazy or what ?
So, well, I understand this box is not even worth talking about.
XScale is *not* StrongARM, StrongARM is *not* ARM.
So, calling this the fastest ARM PDA in the world is *incorrect* !