There's also a degree to which being promoted by schools causes things to go out of style. Will this evolve into a world where DDR and other such video games are only found in schools, not arcades?
This may vary from state to state; under California law, for example, work done at home on equipment not provided by your employer *is yours*, and cannot be claimed by that employer.
I'm not sure that new line --- or aol time warner, new line's parent --- had much choice in this case.
The movies cosst an estimated $300 million to produce, plus another $100 million or so to advertise, promote, and distribute the first film. That's an enormous amount of money New Line has put on the line --- and while you and I are certain that they'll make their money back, the studio execs are understandably nervous. So they look for ways to recoup some of the money they put up front, and to hedge their risk.
One of the ways they have done that is by requiring international distributors to buy the rights to all three films based on the first one alone. (I've heard unconfirmed rumours they are doing the same for movie theatres, as well). This brought in a fair amount of money. Another way they are hedging their risk is by selling tie-in rights (burger king, for example) for cheap commercial crap related to the film --- this gets other companies to underwrite part of the cost of producing the film, and makes them assume some of the financial risk of failure.
From what i can figure out, New Line has spread about 60-70% of the risk out among other entitities and is only, up front, risking ~130-150 million itself. Which is good for New Line; i'm not sure the AOL execs would have approved the project if they hadn't distributed the costs that broadly. But note: since the profits (if any) from the first film will be plowed into distribution and marketing costs on the second, unless FOTR is as big as Star Wars was, New Line probably won't turn a profit until after the release of the second film, even with this distribution of costs and risk. No wonder they're marketing the hell out of it.
The digital citizen would be smart, civil and rational, outgrowing labels like "liberal" or "conservative", engaged in civics, technology, business and government; transcending dogma and cant. Maybe he or she will pop up, but probably not in my life.
I think there's every bit of evidence that people who meet this description exist today. Mr. Lessig, as an example, would qualify.
I agree that the vision of a world where everyone is like this is unlikely to be met anytime soon. But the fact that every tree in the forest isn't the tree you're looking for does not mean the trees you are looking for do not exist.
I can see your argument, but surely if I am contemplating installing software on my machine, I have the right to know what, exactly, it blocks, right? In any event, when this case did come to court a few years ago, the complaining company bought the company that wrote the cracking software and killed the software.
I suspect you are right. But i'm also not convinced that coders, in and of themselves, would be sufficient to change it; yes, we need to be organized to try and stop some of these things, but unless we can figure out how to take our case to the community at large, we will fail --- because ultimately the only way to make my congressman listen to something other than the checks the RIAA, et al, are writing is to get a large segment of the community riled up about it. One of the things I liked the most about your book was the way it framed ideas in a way that makes them easier to make the case to those who, unlike programmers, don't have an immediately visible vested interest in the outcome of the debate.:)
Would reverse engineering software that blocks websites to determine what websites, exactly, are being blocked, qualify as a use that is socially acceptable?
Huh? You seem to be reading that differently than I am. it looks like At&t is saying, if you set up a server on your machine, and let people from outside the network ftp into it, and the machine is damaged, they as network provider are not responsible. That's a totally different issue from how many connections you can have connect through your node.
Yeah, but AT&T *built* the competing network in violation of *its* contractual obligations. All three companies saw the handwriting on the wall months ago and started building systems to replace @home, which was a good business decision on their part, but also a violation of their contracts with @home; expect the rump of the company to sue, and a nasty battle in the courts to ensue.
Uh, no, it *also* hurts the 1700 @home employees who are basically getting screwed in the whole deal --- at&t pulls out, the people who were hoping to go along with the physical assets get dumped. They're the true victims in the whole game.
He gave his information away, same as I do. From the post, you can get to his account information, which has the URL of his home page; from his home page, you can get any information you want. It isn't that hard --- and lee is an honest geek, and wouldn't want to hide from what he said anyway.
Sure. The free version of Kylix creates applications with links to libraries that are GPLd. The paid version of Kylix does not. In other words, the free version complies with the GPL *as it requires*; why is this a problem?
And in a democracy, the government is one of the best expressions of the will of Society; Society can, and often does, choose to dump its responsibilities on the government --- that's what it's there for.
Slashdot isn't dying, but there comes a time when people move on.
There's more to it than that. I used to believe it was possible to have rational conversations on slashdot, and learn something by talking to people with other experiences and ideas, and have them learn by talking to me; that together we would, by interacting, come out ahead.
I no longer believe that's possible; the culture of slashdot has evolved in different directions than that. I think there's a growing belief that that is true; and what scares me is that the people who flee slashdot because of that may overwhelm the refuges and cause the same sort of problems there that they have here. I hope i'm simply paranoid.
While I didnt' attend the conference, apparently someone from the IS departement did, and came away quite concerned about Delphi's future (in Windows)
This is unfortunate. I think what happened at the Conference --- I was there (speaking!) --- is that the emphasis got misplaced. We are not trying to turn ourselves into a Linux shop; we want to be a cross-platform shop, which means that Windows support is just as important as Linux support.
I am very concerned (read: my clients are very concerned) that Borland is bailing out of the Windows market
I spent most of the spring and summer working on features for a Windows product; we are not bailing out of the Windows market. However --- the goal is that the VCL which uses QT widgets will work on both platforms, and ship in both the Windows and Linux products, which has obvious implications for scheduling.
What I meant to imply was that it's difficult to believe that someone who pissed the nobility off enough that they held him at spearpoint and forced him to sign the magna carta could have been a good king. At the very least, he wasn't a good politician...
Slashdot Mirror
Eh? 'barropunto' is a literal translation of the words 'slash' and 'dot'.
There's also a degree to which being promoted by schools causes things to go out of style. Will this evolve into a world where DDR and other such video games are only found in schools, not arcades?
This may vary from state to state; under California law, for example, work done at home on equipment not provided by your employer *is yours*, and cannot be claimed by that employer.
The movies cosst an estimated $300 million to produce, plus another $100 million or so to advertise, promote, and distribute the first film. That's an enormous amount of money New Line has put on the line --- and while you and I are certain that they'll make their money back, the studio execs are understandably nervous. So they look for ways to recoup some of the money they put up front, and to hedge their risk.
One of the ways they have done that is by requiring international distributors to buy the rights to all three films based on the first one alone. (I've heard unconfirmed rumours they are doing the same for movie theatres, as well). This brought in a fair amount of money. Another way they are hedging their risk is by selling tie-in rights (burger king, for example) for cheap commercial crap related to the film --- this gets other companies to underwrite part of the cost of producing the film, and makes them assume some of the financial risk of failure.
From what i can figure out, New Line has spread about 60-70% of the risk out among other entitities and is only, up front, risking ~130-150 million itself. Which is good for New Line; i'm not sure the AOL execs would have approved the project if they hadn't distributed the costs that broadly. But note: since the profits (if any) from the first film will be plowed into distribution and marketing costs on the second, unless FOTR is as big as Star Wars was, New Line probably won't turn a profit until after the release of the second film, even with this distribution of costs and risk. No wonder they're marketing the hell out of it.
The digital citizen would be smart, civil and rational, outgrowing labels like "liberal" or "conservative", engaged in civics, technology, business and government; transcending dogma and cant. Maybe he or she will pop up, but probably not in my life.
I think there's every bit of evidence that people who meet this description exist today. Mr. Lessig, as an example, would qualify.
I agree that the vision of a world where everyone is like this is unlikely to be met anytime soon. But the fact that every tree in the forest isn't the tree you're looking for does not mean the trees you are looking for do not exist.
I can see your argument, but surely if I am contemplating installing software on my machine, I have the right to know what, exactly, it blocks, right? In any event, when this case did come to court a few years ago, the complaining company bought the company that wrote the cracking software and killed the software.
I suspect you are right. But i'm also not convinced that coders, in and of themselves, would be sufficient to change it; yes, we need to be organized to try and stop some of these things, but unless we can figure out how to take our case to the community at large, we will fail --- because ultimately the only way to make my congressman listen to something other than the checks the RIAA, et al, are writing is to get a large segment of the community riled up about it. One of the things I liked the most about your book was the way it framed ideas in a way that makes them easier to make the case to those who, unlike programmers, don't have an immediately visible vested interest in the outcome of the debate. :)
Would reverse engineering software that blocks websites to determine what websites, exactly, are being blocked, qualify as a use that is socially acceptable?
Huh? You seem to be reading that differently than I am. it looks like At&t is saying, if you set up a server on your machine, and let people from outside the network ftp into it, and the machine is damaged, they as network provider are not responsible. That's a totally different issue from how many connections you can have connect through your node.
Yeah, but AT&T *built* the competing network in violation of *its* contractual obligations. All three companies saw the handwriting on the wall months ago and started building systems to replace @home, which was a good business decision on their part, but also a violation of their contracts with @home; expect the rump of the company to sue, and a nasty battle in the courts to ensue.
Uh, no, it *also* hurts the 1700 @home employees who are basically getting screwed in the whole deal --- at&t pulls out, the people who were hoping to go along with the physical assets get dumped. They're the true victims in the whole game.
He gave his information away, same as I do. From the post, you can get to his account information, which has the URL of his home page; from his home page, you can get any information you want. It isn't that hard --- and lee is an honest geek, and wouldn't want to hide from what he said anyway.
Sure. The free version of Kylix creates applications with links to libraries that are GPLd. The paid version of Kylix does not. In other words, the free version complies with the GPL *as it requires*; why is this a problem?
Really? I wasn't aware of that. ---Robert West, Borland R&D
Other kylix apps don't need wine so why should this one?
Porting speed. Oh, sure, Kylix *could* be written using CLX. but that would take more time.
Are you calling them liars
Liars would be harsh. Misinformed, perhaps.
As I understand it, there are contractual subsidiaries in foreign countries who would get upset if it didn't go through them.
Translating everything takes time.
Society has a responsibility to help it's members
And in a democracy, the government is one of the best expressions of the will of Society; Society can, and often does, choose to dump its responsibilities on the government --- that's what it's there for.
I think what Brin wants is to more or less keep the status quo in the USA.
Unfortunately, that status quo brought on by the Democrats has been proven historically to be a major dead end
The *way things are in the US today* is a *dead end*, and this is *proven historically*?
I'd like to see the historical record you're using.
A judge's job is to interperet laws, not to overturn them.
Unless they're inconsistent with other laws or the constitution.
Slashdot isn't dying, but there comes a time when people move on.
There's more to it than that. I used to believe it was possible to have rational conversations on slashdot, and learn something by talking to people with other experiences and ideas, and have them learn by talking to me; that together we would, by interacting, come out ahead.
I no longer believe that's possible; the culture of slashdot has evolved in different directions than that. I think there's a growing belief that that is true; and what scares me is that the people who flee slashdot because of that may overwhelm the refuges and cause the same sort of problems there that they have here. I hope i'm simply paranoid.
You might be able to use the fact that a Borland R&D guy is saying this publically in a *linux* forum to your advantage. :)
While I didnt' attend the conference, apparently someone from the IS departement did, and came away quite concerned about Delphi's future (in Windows)
This is unfortunate. I think what happened at the Conference --- I was there (speaking!) --- is that the emphasis got misplaced. We are not trying to turn ourselves into a Linux shop; we want to be a cross-platform shop, which means that Windows support is just as important as Linux support.
I am very concerned (read: my clients are very concerned) that Borland is bailing out of the Windows market
I spent most of the spring and summer working on features for a Windows product; we are not bailing out of the Windows market. However --- the goal is that the VCL which uses QT widgets will work on both platforms, and ship in both the Windows and Linux products, which has obvious implications for scheduling.
Robert West
Delphi R&D
my, my, you've got a temper. :)
...
What I meant to imply was that it's difficult to believe that someone who pissed the nobility off enough that they held him at spearpoint and forced him to sign the magna carta could have been a good king. At the very least, he wasn't a good politician