There is no news. There is only the truth of the signal. What I see. And, there's the puppet theater the Parliament jesters foist on the somnambulant public.
About 40 years ago populist science was predicting a coming ice age. People see things within the scope of their experience, which in the grand scheme is pretty limited without applying reason. Just ask a tree.
26 years as a Firefighter/Fire Engineer/EMT. The article is media politico garbage. Reporters and politicians should put on a SCBA and full turnout gear, or body armor and weapon and spend 1 day training. There is no radio/communications system that will overcome all environments. Get real. Hopefully I will never again have a building collpase on me and my company, but if it does I am going to be more concerned that those I am working with can think quickly enough to find a solution. Communications are always improving, but those who really know nothing about it should not find fault until they really examine the realities. ICS and Span of control have taught us a lot. Too many people communicating at one time leads to chaos.
Natural language interaction is one of BillG's hot buttons. Back in 95 he used to love demonstrating with poly the parrot. Polly the parrot could recognize speech and react to it - like "play miles davis". He demo'd it many times, and yes, it occasionally glitched but the potential was pretty cool. When he built his house, he put speech recognition technology all through it, thinking that it would be perfected very soon.
There will be many arguments presented in court to validate both sides to this, but there is an aspect of this that the Microsoft loving trolls here will never admit. This WGA is doing just what a ton of malware/spyware/crapware is doing, which is exactly why Windows can never be secure.
I would be curious to know how many Windows XP users are no longer able to validate their OS. I bought Windows XP Pro OEM when it first came out. 3 motherboards, 3 video cards, 4 harddrives, I forget how many CD/DVD-RW's, and 3 slipstreams, my Windows has been apparently installed on too many computers(?). I am told that this cannot happen, but oh well. I now use Mac and Slackware Linux.
I don't disagree with you at all, but DRM is a reality that will not completely go away, so 'Fair Use' needs to be more clearly defined.
I would question your mother's wisdom about storing her music on a company computer (or any personal property for that matter). Your mother can "De-Authorize" her work computer, and Apple will allow her to re-download her music (one time only). Her music is not lost, but she will just have to be a bit more careful, and keep backups on CD, DVD, or external hard drive. There is nothing stopping the files from being placed on any number of computers, you can only have 5computers authorized to use it at any time. Just de-authorize one, and authorize another as you wish. Very reasonable.
I do absolutely agree that DRM is the wrong way to go. People buying music are not the problem. It is really sick thinking on the part of the **AA executives to treat their customers(and artists) the way they do.
A telephone harrasment campaign will be viewed by executives as coming from a bunch of crack pots who want something for nothing. They can easily plug in the numbers into their arguments about piracy. The reality is they do have the right and responsibility to protect the products they represent. The problems exist because current copy right laws apparently do not adequately address digital content. The vacum that exists is allowing the RIAA to abuse consumers under the banner of anti-piracy. Whether or not we agree that Apple's 'FairPlay' is a good thing, it is an example of a very resonable implementation of DRM. What is really needed is educating the multitudes of consumers about the issues. All too often consumers just accept things as they exist. I wonder how many consumers have computers that are hobbled by Sony's rootkit fiasco without a clue. These are people who would blame 'pirates' and 'hackers' for problems they might experience with their computers rather than the true villans, because they just don't know.
Maybe it is think tanks run amok, or maybe it is politicos making hay, or maybe it is simply bureaucrats increasing thier staffing (importance, income and power).... Likely all this and more. I really don't see a number of things. This is not some Bush Administration plot to take away our freedoms, nor is it the Masons (or what ever conspiracy theory one might subscribe to). The worst case scenarios are really not possible. Maybe on some small scale in some isolated incidents with no lasting effect. Remember before 9-11 the airlines were going bankrupt, then after 9-11 they wer going bankrupt, and they still are going bankrupt. Matter of fact, the airline industry has always had some major issues with bankruptcy. Tylenol was poisoned, the 'Uni-bomber', 'Green River Killer', 'Son of Sam', 'Boston Strangler', etc. reigned terror all for many years (plug in any story of "gloom and doom" you wish).
International terrorism as we seem to know it today is loosely based on a fractured ideology, a hijacked religion. They have no huge infrastructure to support sustainable campaigns on a widely defined front, rather they are semi-independant cells which outside of their common enemy and common "faith" if you will, are people who would just as likely kill one another over disagreements about their own interpretations of these ideologies.
Terrorists as we know them today use the internet and technology to their advantage whenever possible. They communicate amongst themselves, research their targets, and communicate with the ever voracious press to happily get their message(s) across. Theri infrastucture of terror is our freedom. On one hand the terrorists need the cyber world, and quite frankly they are gaining much more for their cause through articles such as this, than they ever would by mounting some extreme attack.
Wal-Mart doesn't sell top line products, for the most part, but they generally do not sell junk. They also do not play in the market where 'Rebates' give the illusion that you are saving hundreds of dollars on that bargain priced 'eMachine'. I am often surprised at how many people do not have computers in thier homes. Wal-Mart will sell many computers to folks who do not have the cash or credit to pay the whole upfront price and wait many months for the rebate checks to dribble in. Also, for the knowlegable buyer Wal-Mart has a great many good quality mid priced items. Wal-Mart's purchasing folks do a pretty good job stocking the shelves with decent quality products at good prices. Their 'technology' department is doing pretty well now and will do better with this move, and it will create more work for small start up computer services companies.
All they need to do now is package advertising for cheap drugs / medications, low interst mortgages, genitalia enhancement, etc. Good for the consumer, eh?
In the 1960's it was popularly believed that over population was going to cause wide spread famine, reduce the average life span to 42 years, death of the oceans, the midwest U.S. would be a desert wasteland. When compared to reality can we say that loud mouthed extremists stopped the population bomb in 20 to 30 years? Was it the the wide acceptance of "overwhelming scientific evidence" that reversed the devastating trend within 1 generation? Who is Chicken Little and why is he saying the sky is falling? I would like to believe scientific studies. I also want to believe history. Who is writing and publishing the text?
and likely won't much care. I see a great many people who buy a computer based on price alone. AMD Sempron, 256 MB RAM, 100 GB HD, integrated graphics, running XP Home, Norotn or McAfee, and some form of manufacturer help/care/support software in the background, AOL or PeoplePC on a dial-up internet over copper that is giving them a whopping 24k connection. Anyone with a modicum of knowledge understands that this system will run horribly, but those who buy these systems believe they are experiencing the wonders of technology. How many Wal-Mart ECS laptops with 128 MB RAM w/ integrated graphics were sold running XP Home? There will always be a market for cheap, regardless of the "minimum" or "recommended" hardware requirements.
This would not be an issue of the scope that it is if M$ had built the OS well in the first place. The anit-malware industry would not exist at the level it does were it not for this. If Vista truly eliminates the vast array of Windows fundamental problems, the anit-malware and security vendors will likely provide much better products that would be more cost effective and far less intrusive to the user. There was a time, for example, when 'Norton' utilities and anti-virus were well respected products, but the mess allowed by M$ poor design and decision making created an environment where the average Joe Consumer is compelled to buy suites of 'Internet Security' products that are resource hogs and UI nightmares. M$ history of patching then patching the patches has done little to ultimately make things better for the average consumer, and keeps anit-malware vendors distracted from innovating better tools.
FTA "... and there are no books out on Open XML Formats development yet". then from the ad at the bottom of the page:"(and remember to Buy Your Books at Biff's)"
It appears to me that the folks who are upset about this so called indecency have issues. I saw the program, and as so often is the case in "Without a Trace" when the subject is a young person or child, the "message" is along the lines of 'Do you know where your children are, or what your children are doing?' I can only assume that these folks are really upset because they they don't know what thier children are doing, and this program showed them up.
Paid "press release" infomercials like this are business as usual for Microsoft. Nothing new in the MS business model except some names, terminology, and so-called "new" technologies. The sense I get from my customers, co-workers, and overall tone of discussions, bolgs and forums, etc. is an incredible lack of excitement in anything Microsoft related. The article left me with a feeling that MS is scrambling to catch up while trying to strike a spark of enthusiasm in a world that is growing more and more skeptical on a daily basis.
Slashdot Mirror
There is no news. There is only the truth of the signal. What I see. And, there's the puppet theater the Parliament jesters foist on the somnambulant public.
Mr. Universe
All this time I thought it was effect caused by all those politicians sticking their fingers in the air to see which way the wind blows.
About 40 years ago populist science was predicting a coming ice age. People see things within the scope of their experience, which in the grand scheme is pretty limited without applying reason. Just ask a tree.
26 years as a Firefighter/Fire Engineer/EMT. The article is media politico garbage. Reporters and politicians should put on a SCBA and full turnout gear, or body armor and weapon and spend 1 day training. There is no radio/communications system that will overcome all environments. Get real. Hopefully I will never again have a building collpase on me and my company, but if it does I am going to be more concerned that those I am working with can think quickly enough to find a solution. Communications are always improving, but those who really know nothing about it should not find fault until they really examine the realities. ICS and Span of control have taught us a lot. Too many people communicating at one time leads to chaos.
BonziBuddy!
Thanks again Bill.
Will it explode as well as a Dell?
Microsfot is again changing the english language.
There will be many arguments presented in court to validate both sides to this, but there is an aspect of this that the Microsoft loving trolls here will never admit. This WGA is doing just what a ton of malware/spyware/crapware is doing, which is exactly why Windows can never be secure.
I would be curious to know how many Windows XP users are no longer able to validate their OS. I bought Windows XP Pro OEM when it first came out. 3 motherboards, 3 video cards, 4 harddrives, I forget how many CD/DVD-RW's, and 3 slipstreams, my Windows has been apparently installed on too many computers(?). I am told that this cannot happen, but oh well. I now use Mac and Slackware Linux.
I don't disagree with you at all, but DRM is a reality that will not completely go away, so 'Fair Use' needs to be more clearly defined.
I would question your mother's wisdom about storing her music on a company computer (or any personal property for that matter). Your mother can "De-Authorize" her work computer, and Apple will allow her to re-download her music (one time only). Her music is not lost, but she will just have to be a bit more careful, and keep backups on CD, DVD, or external hard drive. There is nothing stopping the files from being placed on any number of computers, you can only have 5computers authorized to use it at any time. Just de-authorize one, and authorize another as you wish. Very reasonable.
I do absolutely agree that DRM is the wrong way to go. People buying music are not the problem. It is really sick thinking on the part of the **AA executives to treat their customers(and artists) the way they do.
A telephone harrasment campaign will be viewed by executives as coming from a bunch of crack pots who want something for nothing. They can easily plug in the numbers into their arguments about piracy. The reality is they do have the right and responsibility to protect the products they represent. The problems exist because current copy right laws apparently do not adequately address digital content. The vacum that exists is allowing the RIAA to abuse consumers under the banner of anti-piracy. Whether or not we agree that Apple's 'FairPlay' is a good thing, it is an example of a very resonable implementation of DRM. What is really needed is educating the multitudes of consumers about the issues. All too often consumers just accept things as they exist. I wonder how many consumers have computers that are hobbled by Sony's rootkit fiasco without a clue. These are people who would blame 'pirates' and 'hackers' for problems they might experience with their computers rather than the true villans, because they just don't know.
Maybe it is think tanks run amok, or maybe it is politicos making hay, or maybe it is simply bureaucrats increasing thier staffing (importance, income and power).... Likely all this and more. I really don't see a number of things. This is not some Bush Administration plot to take away our freedoms, nor is it the Masons (or what ever conspiracy theory one might subscribe to). The worst case scenarios are really not possible. Maybe on some small scale in some isolated incidents with no lasting effect. Remember before 9-11 the airlines were going bankrupt, then after 9-11 they wer going bankrupt, and they still are going bankrupt. Matter of fact, the airline industry has always had some major issues with bankruptcy. Tylenol was poisoned, the 'Uni-bomber', 'Green River Killer', 'Son of Sam', 'Boston Strangler', etc. reigned terror all for many years (plug in any story of "gloom and doom" you wish).
International terrorism as we seem to know it today is loosely based on a fractured ideology, a hijacked religion. They have no huge infrastructure to support sustainable campaigns on a widely defined front, rather they are semi-independant cells which outside of their common enemy and common "faith" if you will, are people who would just as likely kill one another over disagreements about their own interpretations of these ideologies.
Terrorists as we know them today use the internet and technology to their advantage whenever possible. They communicate amongst themselves, research their targets, and communicate with the ever voracious press to happily get their message(s) across. Theri infrastucture of terror is our freedom. On one hand the terrorists need the cyber world, and quite frankly they are gaining much more for their cause through articles such as this, than they ever would by mounting some extreme attack.
I bought the Internet for $29.99 after rebates.
The Justice Department must be running out of hard drive space, and want the ISP's to share the cost.
"Antenna Web", so there "Compass Orientation" reflects the change in declination.
"A new Word 2007 macro virus named W2007M.Melissa has been detected at multiple DOE sites and is known to be spreading widely."
'hurding' cats?
Wal-Mart doesn't sell top line products, for the most part, but they generally do not sell junk. They also do not play in the market where 'Rebates' give the illusion that you are saving hundreds of dollars on that bargain priced 'eMachine'. I am often surprised at how many people do not have computers in thier homes. Wal-Mart will sell many computers to folks who do not have the cash or credit to pay the whole upfront price and wait many months for the rebate checks to dribble in. Also, for the knowlegable buyer Wal-Mart has a great many good quality mid priced items. Wal-Mart's purchasing folks do a pretty good job stocking the shelves with decent quality products at good prices. Their 'technology' department is doing pretty well now and will do better with this move, and it will create more work for small start up computer services companies.
All they need to do now is package advertising for cheap drugs / medications, low interst mortgages, genitalia enhancement, etc. Good for the consumer, eh?
In the 1960's it was popularly believed that over population was going to cause wide spread famine, reduce the average life span to 42 years, death of the oceans, the midwest U.S. would be a desert wasteland. When compared to reality can we say that loud mouthed extremists stopped the population bomb in 20 to 30 years? Was it the the wide acceptance of "overwhelming scientific evidence" that reversed the devastating trend within 1 generation? Who is Chicken Little and why is he saying the sky is falling? I would like to believe scientific studies. I also want to believe history. Who is writing and publishing the text?
and likely won't much care. I see a great many people who buy a computer based on price alone. AMD Sempron, 256 MB RAM, 100 GB HD, integrated graphics, running XP Home, Norotn or McAfee, and some form of manufacturer help/care/support software in the background, AOL or PeoplePC on a dial-up internet over copper that is giving them a whopping 24k connection. Anyone with a modicum of knowledge understands that this system will run horribly, but those who buy these systems believe they are experiencing the wonders of technology. How many Wal-Mart ECS laptops with 128 MB RAM w/ integrated graphics were sold running XP Home? There will always be a market for cheap, regardless of the "minimum" or "recommended" hardware requirements.
This would not be an issue of the scope that it is if M$ had built the OS well in the first place. The anit-malware industry would not exist at the level it does were it not for this. If Vista truly eliminates the vast array of Windows fundamental problems, the anit-malware and security vendors will likely provide much better products that would be more cost effective and far less intrusive to the user. There was a time, for example, when 'Norton' utilities and anti-virus were well respected products, but the mess allowed by M$ poor design and decision making created an environment where the average Joe Consumer is compelled to buy suites of 'Internet Security' products that are resource hogs and UI nightmares. M$ history of patching then patching the patches has done little to ultimately make things better for the average consumer, and keeps anit-malware vendors distracted from innovating better tools.
"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."
FTA "... and there are no books out on Open XML Formats development yet". then from the ad at the bottom of the page:"(and remember to Buy Your Books at Biff's)"
Kinda sums up the article.
It appears to me that the folks who are upset about this so called indecency have issues. I saw the program, and as so often is the case in "Without a Trace" when the subject is a young person or child, the "message" is along the lines of 'Do you know where your children are, or what your children are doing?' I can only assume that these folks are really upset because they they don't know what thier children are doing, and this program showed them up.
Paid "press release" infomercials like this are business as usual for Microsoft. Nothing new in the MS business model except some names, terminology, and so-called "new" technologies. The sense I get from my customers, co-workers, and overall tone of discussions, bolgs and forums, etc. is an incredible lack of excitement in anything Microsoft related. The article left me with a feeling that MS is scrambling to catch up while trying to strike a spark of enthusiasm in a world that is growing more and more skeptical on a daily basis.