This is actually very interesting. My neighbor had a 2600 and I remember wasting afternoons and evenings playing Joust, and a helicopter game called something like Chopper Lifter. If these games were written in less than 4K, and the (decent sized) cartridges only held that much... Just amazing.
I don't dare to guess at how long 4K kept me entertained, I think I'd be sorely embarassed. But it sure says something about what can be accomplished without bloat.
Shaun
An even worse offender...
on
Tiny Apps
·
· Score: 1
You'd be surprised at how many programs are released after being compiled in Visual Studio's "Debug" mode (the default for MFC projects). A large portion of the new releases that show up on download.com each week suffer from this problem. Their authors either don't know or don't care to set their build config for Release before uploading the "shipping" version.
Luckily they're real easy to spot. When you find the traceroute program that takes up 4MB, you've got a winner...
Disclaimer: The following is a guess, and only a guess.
I suspect that the 10,000 foot ceiling may be more of a marketing or perhaps legal restriction than a hardware one. Because the iPod is an electronic device which also contains a magnetic device (the hard drive), it's possible that it could cause a tiny bit of magnetic interference. The FAA and FCC claim that such interference - which is also generated by cellphones and some laptops etc. - can be bad for airplanes.
Gadgets with this side effect must be tested and approved by the FCC to determine the amount of interference they cause, and the FCC places restrictions on how/where you can use devices which emit a lot of garbage. They will also come down pretty heavily if you start emitting a lot of garbage without permission. For example, if you want to build a huge ham radio transmitter (or a Tesla coil..) in your back yard, you should hope that none of your neighbors like watching TV or listening to the radio.
My guess: Apple didn't want to (or was told not to) encourage the use of the iPod on airplanes. If you tell consumers it's not going to work above 10,000 feet, many will pack it in the suitcase or leave it at home, instead of trying to use it in-flight. People (especially non-geeks) are more willing to accept "the dang thing doesn't work if you take it too far up [insert bogus technical limitation]" than they are to accept "you are not allowed to take this on an airplane."
Of course it could just be that the drive they're using in the iPod likes pressure in order to operate properly, but I don't think I've heard of that before. No way to know for sure until someone gets an iPod manual, complete with FCC compliance statement, in their hands...
>Yeah, we all hate the ads, but can we give Slashdot a viable alternative?
How about forking a commercial version of Slashcode?
I'm dead serious; surely there are people who would be willing to register an enhanced or optimized version at a reasonable price. I've paid to license both WWWThreads and vBulletin, and those are just message boards. A full featured content management system like Slashcode ought to fetch a decent registration fee. Throw a professional installation into the package and I guarantee there will be buyers.
I love open source as much as the next guy, and I've written my share of giveaways. But "free as in beer" doesn't put food on the table. Beer either, for that matter. And it sure doesn't pay for the bandwidth and colo overhead incurred by a site with this much traffic. Being generous with your code is nice, and it gets your name out there in a positive light, but the Slashdot crew don't need the publicity anymore. They need to keep the bills paid.
Why is it that so many media companies are making themselves look like idiots? The MPAA has accomplished quite a bit on this front (though not as much as the RIAA).
Now the AFMA has joined the cause. I read everything at Andy Hasse's site - very interesting - and it's quite clear that AFMA was using strongarm tactics like the other ***A's. Andy Hasse had been using afm.com since 1996 but AFMA thought they were entitled to the domain "just because." What's worse, AFMA was already in bed with WIPO and was apparently hoping to use that stature for their gain. I'm glad they got slapped on the wrist.
Who's next? Why do these companies think they're entitled to the world, just because they make movies or records? Is there some god-given eminence that comes with such a business, that I'm not aware of? I'm sorry, ***A's, but the last movie I paid money to see at the theater was Rush Hour (the original). You can start up ten more various media Associations and it won't make a bit of difference in my book, until one of them demonstrates that they value the _consumer_ as much as they value their bottom line. If that day comes, that company is who'll get my money.
Ever since these associations have been showing their ignorance, I've avoided the theaters and I've been getting my movies on Showtime. I get the same product, in the comfort of my own home, included in a price I'm already paying (for cable), and my popcorn only costs $0.99; who cares if it takes awhile to get the movies.
I see no reason to support stupid companies and stupid organizations. MPAA and AFMA can go fuck themselves.
I do selective agent blocking using mod_rewrite directives in.htaccess files. The article claims that mod_rewrite is difficult to learn, but I disagree, and its major advantage is especially visible in shared/virtual hosting environments. If Apache was compiled with mod_rewrite support, anyone on the system can create their own set of agent filters and place them in an.htaccess file. You don't need access to httpd.conf!
Seems effective enough for me, and it ain't tough to learn when you can find an example. Of course this does rely on the idea that filesucking programs (or email harvesting bots) identify themselves, but I think naysayers would be surprised at how many of them do just that.
>In all of this I'm starting to wonder where AOL comes in
What continues to intrigue me is the fact that AOL (as AOL Time Warner) also owns Warner Records. For the time being, the left hand seems to be operating without regard to the right; but who knows how long this will keep up? The conflict of interest is way too obvious and way too intentional.
It's sort of like having the Moms Against Guns buy Smith & Wesson... You know there's got to be something shady in the works. I'm curious what Winamp will (d)evolve into over the coming years.
Thanks for the correction, I didn't mean to implicate the good guys. In fact I should have known better, as the local chain I spoke of (the one that doesn't issue cards, and brags about it) is now owned by Albertson's. It didn't click when I was writing the post.
Few things bother me more than the idea that I should have to use what amounts to an ID card to shop for groceries. Most of the grocery stores here use these cards, and if you don't present one, you end up paying higher prices. I say that's bullshit. It's nothing more than marketing tactics - so that your local grocer can sell product oriented customer lists to other companies - and (sigh) most people have no problem handing their information over.
Obvious privacy implications aside, I shouldn't have to identify myself in order to get a good price on a pound of hamburger or a can of shaving cream. Nor should the grocery chain know my shopping history; what I bought last week is none of their business. The way I see it, their job is to keep track of inventory, stock what sells, and don't stock what doesn't. They do not need to know my [name|address|phone|mother's maiden name|last 6 months' purchases] in order to do that.
We've been protesting Radio Shack's attempts to gather this information for years, why are we breaking down and giving it up to the grocery stores? Kroger and Albertson's (let alone the FBI) have no more business associating me with the purchase of my weekly consumptions than Radio Shack has associating me with the purchase of a particular transistor. But while Radio Shack will let you slide, the grocery store will charge you a higher price if you don't have a card dangling from your keychain, ready to submit your every demographic to their database.
So I do my grocery shopping at the locally owned chain, which doesn't even issue a card much less require one (and proudly advertises that fact in their commercials). I also do a lot of shopping at drug stores instead of grocery stores. I've found that Rite-Aid's prices are lower than any of the grocery chains on several products, including both cigarettes and beer! I save about $5/carton of Camels and $3/case of Bud by getting 'em at the drug store. Over the course of a year, that adds up, especially considering how much I smoke and drink...
Not to mention the fact that there's a community aspect at the drug stores that you just won't find at the grocery stores, since the employee turnaround at the drug stores isn't nearly as high. I know the people at Walgreens and Rite-Aid by name, and they know mine, because the same folks have been there for years. When the local Walgreens moved to a new building, the manager actually tipped me off about the opening time so that I could be the first customer at the new location, thus winning several cases of carbonated beverages and getting my photo posted for all eternity in the staff break room. But if I go to Kroger I rarely see the same cashier twice, and I sure don't get to know them.
Bottom line, vote with your dollars. Refuse to shop at the stores where you can only get the low price with an ID card. The savings is not worth sacrificing your privacy, apparently to the government as well as the corporate interest, especially if there's a reasonably affordable alternative. Keep your money and your business - both your private business and your financial business - in the hands of someone who will respect it.
Shaun
And don't forget crop circles
on
GPS Drawings
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Attention, mysterious crop-circle makers: next time you liquor up and head out to Billy Bob's farm for a fun night of, uh, cornstalking, don't forget your GPS! Would be interesting to see the GPS track left behind from a crop-circle creation.
One thing that kind of irked me about the site, "data alteration" is used in part to make most of the images. I think I'd rather see the raw unaltered images. What's the point of doing the whole GPS position tracking thing if you're just going to alter the data to make it look "right?" Seems equivalent to sketching a landscape, only to take a photo afterwards and toss the sketch into the trash.
>If I open up a text file created in OS 9, OS X will fire
>up the whole OS 9 environment just so it can run the OS 9
>version of SimpleText instead of the OS X version
>(which is usually already running).
This particular example was a pain even before OS X, thanks to SimpleText's predecessor TeachText. Both applications do essentially the same thing, but a file whose type was 'ttro' (TeachText read-only) would want to open in TeachText instead of SimpleText. Developers loved making their ReadMes as 'ttro' so that they could insert PICTs, and they continued doing so long after SimpleText became the default editor. I remember in System 7.x, Apple actually shipped both SimpleText *and* TeachText with the OS... Presumably so that you'd always be able to open ReadMes no matter which program a developer used to make them.
Are aliases still drag-and-drop aware under OS X? If so - and if you can break the habit of double-clicking - you can save some frustration. I keep an alias of BBEdit on my Mac's desktop (OS 8.6), and drag various txt/doc files onto the alias instead of double-clicking them. Works like a charm and they always open in BBEdit.
Too bad the old standby Quill was written as a desk accessory and isn't drag-and-drop aware...:)
Speaking personally, I've always hated group projects and collaborative efforts in education. All through high school I grimaced anytime a teacher gave a group assignment. In my experience, the group or team members were always a hindrance to my own progress. Schedule conflicts, the inevitable group member(s) who just wanted to fuck around instead of doing any work, etc.
I've found this to be especially true when it comes to programming. Like a lot of coders, I do it best when I'm in my "zone." For me, the zone is sitting in a room with some white noise (machines whirring), with a cold drink on the desk and a pack of cigarettes in reach. In this environment I'm comfortable, and I can relax and focus on doing what needs to be done. The problem is that everyone's zone is different. Some people work best with loud music going, some people have to have a very bright room, etc. Try to get 4 or 5 people with different comfort zones working together, and you're going to have productivity problems.
Given just about any task, I can get it done much faster if I'm working on it by myself, in my own comfort zone. I realize that at many places this isn't an option, but I'm far more productive working on my own. Fortunately I haven't been given any group assignments to do in college:)
>It is exactly the FTC's job to enforce legislation
>against deceptive trade practices. These `typo' sites are
>exactly that
Perhaps there are legal precedents (I guess now there certainly is one) but I don't agree that typo sites are deceptive trade practices. If I'm trying to go to Google and I wind up at Goggle.com - which by the way is exploiting the typo - there's no way I'm going to mistake that for the actual Google site. Likewise, if I'm trying to visit Anna K's site and I wind up at a page that pops up 20 adult ads, it's unlikely I'm going to think that my future wife is running a porno business:)
It's one thing to manufacture some soda, name it Caca-Cola, and try to pass it off as The Real Thing. Setting up a website and profiteering off of people who [can't spell|make typos] is different, though. You aren't advertising your "product," you aren't trying to deceive anyone, you're just profiteering off of accidents.
Maybe the reason I think the scenarios are different is that one's proactive and the other's passive... Regardless, I don't see why this is the government's business.
This morning I had a gnutella connection from a machine at who.int. I tried www.who.int and it works - turns out it's the World Health Organization.
What is.int and where did it come from? I presume it means "international" but I've never heard of.int before and the article doesn't mention it as one of the new TLDs. I tried www.nic.int, but it's restricted. Anyone know where more info can be found?
>(bearshare permanently monitors your internet
> usage with backgroud tasks).
No it doesn't, and that statement is pure FUD.
The third party programs included with BearShare are optional (all you have to do is un-check the checkboxes during installation) and they do not monitor your internet usage any more than Macromedia does. When you visit a web page with Flash content, the Flash plugin "knows" this and displays the movie. Similarly, when you visit a web page which is cooperating with one of BearShare's third party programs, the program "knows" this and displays an ad.
For the last fucking time, Onflow does not send your browser history to the NSA! Please stop spreading paranoia.
Anyone with complaints about Verizon should check out www.verizoneatspoop.com (verizonreallysucks.com goes to the same place). Their grievances section is full of stories like the ones appearing in this thread.
Ed Hall's site doesn't give away the locations, it's just an easy-to-navigate series of maps which lead you to entries on geocaching.com. The site starts out with a US map, you zoom into a state and see a bunch of "thumbtacks" representing cache locations. Click a thumbtack and you end up at geocaching.com's description of the cache.
I think geocaching.com is probably miffed they didn't come up with (or implement) the idea first. Worst case scenario is that Ed's site will have to make clear that when you click a thumbtack, you're leaving his site and heading to geocaching.com.
Slashdot Mirror
This is actually very interesting. My neighbor had a 2600 and I remember wasting afternoons and evenings playing Joust, and a helicopter game called something like Chopper Lifter. If these games were written in less than 4K, and the (decent sized) cartridges only held that much... Just amazing.
I don't dare to guess at how long 4K kept me entertained, I think I'd be sorely embarassed. But it sure says something about what can be accomplished without bloat.
Shaun
You'd be surprised at how many programs are released after being compiled in Visual Studio's "Debug" mode (the default for MFC projects). A large portion of the new releases that show up on download.com each week suffer from this problem. Their authors either don't know or don't care to set their build config for Release before uploading the "shipping" version.
Luckily they're real easy to spot. When you find the traceroute program that takes up 4MB, you've got a winner...
Shaun
Disclaimer: The following is a guess, and only a guess.
I suspect that the 10,000 foot ceiling may be more of a marketing or perhaps legal restriction than a hardware one. Because the iPod is an electronic device which also contains a magnetic device (the hard drive), it's possible that it could cause a tiny bit of magnetic interference. The FAA and FCC claim that such interference - which is also generated by cellphones and some laptops etc. - can be bad for airplanes.
Gadgets with this side effect must be tested and approved by the FCC to determine the amount of interference they cause, and the FCC places restrictions on how/where you can use devices which emit a lot of garbage. They will also come down pretty heavily if you start emitting a lot of garbage without permission. For example, if you want to build a huge ham radio transmitter (or a Tesla coil..) in your back yard, you should hope that none of your neighbors like watching TV or listening to the radio.
My guess: Apple didn't want to (or was told not to) encourage the use of the iPod on airplanes. If you tell consumers it's not going to work above 10,000 feet, many will pack it in the suitcase or leave it at home, instead of trying to use it in-flight. People (especially non-geeks) are more willing to accept "the dang thing doesn't work if you take it too far up [insert bogus technical limitation]" than they are to accept "you are not allowed to take this on an airplane."
Of course it could just be that the drive they're using in the iPod likes pressure in order to operate properly, but I don't think I've heard of that before. No way to know for sure until someone gets an iPod manual, complete with FCC compliance statement, in their hands...
Shaun
>Yeah, we all hate the ads, but can we give Slashdot a viable alternative?
How about forking a commercial version of Slashcode?
I'm dead serious; surely there are people who would be willing to register an enhanced or optimized version at a reasonable price. I've paid to license both WWWThreads and vBulletin, and those are just message boards. A full featured content management system like Slashcode ought to fetch a decent registration fee. Throw a professional installation into the package and I guarantee there will be buyers.
I love open source as much as the next guy, and I've written my share of giveaways. But "free as in beer" doesn't put food on the table. Beer either, for that matter. And it sure doesn't pay for the bandwidth and colo overhead incurred by a site with this much traffic. Being generous with your code is nice, and it gets your name out there in a positive light, but the Slashdot crew don't need the publicity anymore. They need to keep the bills paid.
Shaun
I click the X. It takes me to the miscellaneous options page. I click Save, and... The OSDN nav menu comes right back.
;)
Can't we make this option a little/b more persistent?
Shaun
Why is it that so many media companies are making themselves look like idiots? The MPAA has accomplished quite a bit on this front (though not as much as the RIAA).
Now the AFMA has joined the cause. I read everything at Andy Hasse's site - very interesting - and it's quite clear that AFMA was using strongarm tactics like the other ***A's. Andy Hasse had been using afm.com since 1996 but AFMA thought they were entitled to the domain "just because." What's worse, AFMA was already in bed with WIPO and was apparently hoping to use that stature for their gain. I'm glad they got slapped on the wrist.
Who's next? Why do these companies think they're entitled to the world, just because they make movies or records? Is there some god-given eminence that comes with such a business, that I'm not aware of? I'm sorry, ***A's, but the last movie I paid money to see at the theater was Rush Hour (the original). You can start up ten more various media Associations and it won't make a bit of difference in my book, until one of them demonstrates that they value the _consumer_ as much as they value their bottom line. If that day comes, that company is who'll get my money.
Ever since these associations have been showing their ignorance, I've avoided the theaters and I've been getting my movies on Showtime. I get the same product, in the comfort of my own home, included in a price I'm already paying (for cable), and my popcorn only costs $0.99; who cares if it takes awhile to get the movies.
I see no reason to support stupid companies and stupid organizations. MPAA and AFMA can go fuck themselves.
Shaun
>US05808610 09/15/1998 Method and system of docking panels
When I followed that link and viewed Macromedia's patent, it opened up Adobe Acrobat...
Shaun
I do selective agent blocking using mod_rewrite directives in .htaccess files. The article claims that mod_rewrite is difficult to learn, but I disagree, and its major advantage is especially visible in shared/virtual hosting environments. If Apache was compiled with mod_rewrite support, anyone on the system can create their own set of agent filters and place them in an .htaccess file. You don't need access to httpd.conf!
/nofilesucking.php [L]
The syntax is simple,
#Send filesucking programs to hell
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^FlashGet.* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Teleport.* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetAnts.* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebZIP.* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Offline Explorer.* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^GetRight.* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Go!Zilla.* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^wget.* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^JetCar.* [NC]
RewriteRule ^.*$
Seems effective enough for me, and it ain't tough to learn when you can find an example. Of course this does rely on the idea that filesucking programs (or email harvesting bots) identify themselves, but I think naysayers would be surprised at how many of them do just that.
Shaun
>So the article mentions that charities need to have a
>site license and need to be running at least Win98. Uh,
>sez who?
I think what it's trying to say is that charities need a site license if they're running Win98 or newer. So your 10 copies of '95 would be just fine.
Shaun
>Do you say one sheep, many sheeps ? (It's sheep)
;)
>One cactus, many cactuses (It's cacti)
One photo, or many photos?
One Lego, or many... Legos.
Lego "are" a great company, isn't that how you'd say it across the pond
Shaun
>Is there any other toy that comes even close?
A Windows box?
OK, so maybe it doesn't meet the "beauty" spec. But it sure as hell emphasizes details, planning, abstractions and memory!
Shaun
>In all of this I'm starting to wonder where AOL comes in
What continues to intrigue me is the fact that AOL (as AOL Time Warner) also owns Warner Records. For the time being, the left hand seems to be operating without regard to the right; but who knows how long this will keep up? The conflict of interest is way too obvious and way too intentional.
It's sort of like having the Moms Against Guns buy Smith & Wesson... You know there's got to be something shady in the works. I'm curious what Winamp will (d)evolve into over the coming years.
Shaun
Thanks for the correction, I didn't mean to implicate the good guys. In fact I should have known better, as the local chain I spoke of (the one that doesn't issue cards, and brags about it) is now owned by Albertson's. It didn't click when I was writing the post.
Shaun
Few things bother me more than the idea that I should have to use what amounts to an ID card to shop for groceries. Most of the grocery stores here use these cards, and if you don't present one, you end up paying higher prices. I say that's bullshit. It's nothing more than marketing tactics - so that your local grocer can sell product oriented customer lists to other companies - and (sigh) most people have no problem handing their information over.
Obvious privacy implications aside, I shouldn't have to identify myself in order to get a good price on a pound of hamburger or a can of shaving cream. Nor should the grocery chain know my shopping history; what I bought last week is none of their business. The way I see it, their job is to keep track of inventory, stock what sells, and don't stock what doesn't. They do not need to know my [name|address|phone|mother's maiden name|last 6 months' purchases] in order to do that.
We've been protesting Radio Shack's attempts to gather this information for years, why are we breaking down and giving it up to the grocery stores? Kroger and Albertson's (let alone the FBI) have no more business associating me with the purchase of my weekly consumptions than Radio Shack has associating me with the purchase of a particular transistor. But while Radio Shack will let you slide, the grocery store will charge you a higher price if you don't have a card dangling from your keychain, ready to submit your every demographic to their database.
So I do my grocery shopping at the locally owned chain, which doesn't even issue a card much less require one (and proudly advertises that fact in their commercials). I also do a lot of shopping at drug stores instead of grocery stores. I've found that Rite-Aid's prices are lower than any of the grocery chains on several products, including both cigarettes and beer! I save about $5/carton of Camels and $3/case of Bud by getting 'em at the drug store. Over the course of a year, that adds up, especially considering how much I smoke and drink...
Not to mention the fact that there's a community aspect at the drug stores that you just won't find at the grocery stores, since the employee turnaround at the drug stores isn't nearly as high. I know the people at Walgreens and Rite-Aid by name, and they know mine, because the same folks have been there for years. When the local Walgreens moved to a new building, the manager actually tipped me off about the opening time so that I could be the first customer at the new location, thus winning several cases of carbonated beverages and getting my photo posted for all eternity in the staff break room. But if I go to Kroger I rarely see the same cashier twice, and I sure don't get to know them.
Bottom line, vote with your dollars. Refuse to shop at the stores where you can only get the low price with an ID card. The savings is not worth sacrificing your privacy, apparently to the government as well as the corporate interest, especially if there's a reasonably affordable alternative. Keep your money and your business - both your private business and your financial business - in the hands of someone who will respect it.
Shaun
Attention, mysterious crop-circle makers: next time you liquor up and head out to Billy Bob's farm for a fun night of, uh, cornstalking, don't forget your GPS! Would be interesting to see the GPS track left behind from a crop-circle creation.
One thing that kind of irked me about the site, "data alteration" is used in part to make most of the images. I think I'd rather see the raw unaltered images. What's the point of doing the whole GPS position tracking thing if you're just going to alter the data to make it look "right?" Seems equivalent to sketching a landscape, only to take a photo afterwards and toss the sketch into the trash.
Shaun
>I'm sure pr0n filters have been enabled on those systems...
Heh, it seems like they are, at least for data headed into the bathroom. I typed in a few choice words and got 403'd!
Shaun
>If I open up a text file created in OS 9, OS X will fire
:)
>up the whole OS 9 environment just so it can run the OS 9
>version of SimpleText instead of the OS X version
>(which is usually already running).
This particular example was a pain even before OS X, thanks to SimpleText's predecessor TeachText. Both applications do essentially the same thing, but a file whose type was 'ttro' (TeachText read-only) would want to open in TeachText instead of SimpleText. Developers loved making their ReadMes as 'ttro' so that they could insert PICTs, and they continued doing so long after SimpleText became the default editor. I remember in System 7.x, Apple actually shipped both SimpleText *and* TeachText with the OS... Presumably so that you'd always be able to open ReadMes no matter which program a developer used to make them.
Are aliases still drag-and-drop aware under OS X? If so - and if you can break the habit of double-clicking - you can save some frustration. I keep an alias of BBEdit on my Mac's desktop (OS 8.6), and drag various txt/doc files onto the alias instead of double-clicking them. Works like a charm and they always open in BBEdit.
Too bad the old standby Quill was written as a desk accessory and isn't drag-and-drop aware...
Shaun
Speaking personally, I've always hated group projects and collaborative efforts in education. All through high school I grimaced anytime a teacher gave a group assignment. In my experience, the group or team members were always a hindrance to my own progress. Schedule conflicts, the inevitable group member(s) who just wanted to fuck around instead of doing any work, etc.
:)
I've found this to be especially true when it comes to programming. Like a lot of coders, I do it best when I'm in my "zone." For me, the zone is sitting in a room with some white noise (machines whirring), with a cold drink on the desk and a pack of cigarettes in reach. In this environment I'm comfortable, and I can relax and focus on doing what needs to be done. The problem is that everyone's zone is different. Some people work best with loud music going, some people have to have a very bright room, etc. Try to get 4 or 5 people with different comfort zones working together, and you're going to have productivity problems.
Given just about any task, I can get it done much faster if I'm working on it by myself, in my own comfort zone. I realize that at many places this isn't an option, but I'm far more productive working on my own. Fortunately I haven't been given any group assignments to do in college
Shaun
>It is exactly the FTC's job to enforce legislation
:)
>against deceptive trade practices. These `typo' sites are
>exactly that
Perhaps there are legal precedents (I guess now there certainly is one) but I don't agree that typo sites are deceptive trade practices. If I'm trying to go to Google and I wind up at Goggle.com - which by the way is exploiting the typo - there's no way I'm going to mistake that for the actual Google site. Likewise, if I'm trying to visit Anna K's site and I wind up at a page that pops up 20 adult ads, it's unlikely I'm going to think that my future wife is running a porno business
It's one thing to manufacture some soda, name it Caca-Cola, and try to pass it off as The Real Thing. Setting up a website and profiteering off of people who [can't spell|make typos] is different, though. You aren't advertising your "product," you aren't trying to deceive anyone, you're just profiteering off of accidents.
Maybe the reason I think the scenarios are different is that one's proactive and the other's passive... Regardless, I don't see why this is the government's business.
Shaun
If they're going after this guy, you can bet whitehouse.com is next!
Shaun
This morning I had a gnutella connection from a machine at who.int. I tried www.who.int and it works - turns out it's the World Health Organization.
.int and where did it come from? I presume it means "international" but I've never heard of .int before and the article doesn't mention it as one of the new TLDs. I tried www.nic.int, but it's restricted. Anyone know where more info can be found?
What is
Shaun
>(bearshare permanently monitors your internet
> usage with backgroud tasks).
No it doesn't, and that statement is pure FUD.
The third party programs included with BearShare are optional (all you have to do is un-check the checkboxes during installation) and they do not monitor your internet usage any more than Macromedia does. When you visit a web page with Flash content, the Flash plugin "knows" this and displays the movie. Similarly, when you visit a web page which is cooperating with one of BearShare's third party programs, the program "knows" this and displays an ad.
For the last fucking time, Onflow does not send your browser history to the NSA! Please stop spreading paranoia.
Shaun
You can find contact information for your senators here, and your representatives here.
Shaun
Anyone with complaints about Verizon should check out www.verizoneatspoop.com (verizonreallysucks.com goes to the same place). Their grievances section is full of stories like the ones appearing in this thread.
Shaun
Ed Hall's site doesn't give away the locations, it's just an easy-to-navigate series of maps which lead you to entries on geocaching.com. The site starts out with a US map, you zoom into a state and see a bunch of "thumbtacks" representing cache locations. Click a thumbtack and you end up at geocaching.com's description of the cache.
I think geocaching.com is probably miffed they didn't come up with (or implement) the idea first. Worst case scenario is that Ed's site will have to make clear that when you click a thumbtack, you're leaving his site and heading to geocaching.com.
Now I gotta get me a GPS!
Shaun