What makes a jury award such a small amount of compensation that a Judge has to overule it later down the line(I'll assume this was a rhetorical cuestion of sorts)
In two words: stupid juries. Ok, maybe I'm being unfair, but the trial-by-peers system in the U.S. and other places is starting to deteriorate. As the evidence used in cases such as this gets more technical over the time, a jury of normal people will base their decisions less and less in the evidence shown to them, and more and more in public image and lawyers' speeches.
In my opinion, a trial-by-experts should be used instead, with the experts chosen at random from a big database or something.
Of course, if they _are_ designed for Mars' atmospheric pressure...
"This is the new Chrysler Deimos, with top of the line, new NASA-approved self-inflating airbags. Be the first to own a Deimos! The car of the new millenium!"
And with a faster, quieter voice: "Restrictions apply. Car must mantain an inner atmospheric pressure equal or lower that one standard Martian atmoshpere. Breathing apparatus for the driver and passengers not included. Your mileage may vary".
That's one titanium fuel tank for each satellite. Look out below!
Nothing like spending trillions of dollars sending these babies up, to end up playing space-debris dodge-ball!
Too bad they can't aim them precisely... it would be fun to play something like "hit the atoll" using these satellites. Like a world-wide darts game! Pay one million dollars to play, and if you can hit the atoll in the center, you win 10 million dollars.
What you need to do is create a mass to move the rest of the universe, without disturbing your own inertial reference frame
Here's a simpler solution (created by some italian guy I cant recall right now... Talliaferro? Something of the sorts):
a) Create a compression of space-time in front of the ship. An artificial black hole, if you wish.
b) (This is the tricky part... or should I say, trickier?)Create an expansion of space-time behind the ship. Im not sure exactly how to pull this one off.
c) The combination of compression and expansion of the space-time continuum (sp?) creates something like a space-time "wave", which the ship would be riding. Like space-time surfing, or something.
The ship experiences no movement _at all_, since it's in the same relative position in the space which surrounds it. Therefore, no inertia. And since there's no theoretical limit on the speed of the space-time expansion/compression, you _could_ move this wave of space-time at a faster than light speed, from the POV of an outside observer.
Of course, all of this space-time distorsions could possibly break havoc with the rest of the universe (or at least the places you space-surf by) but hey, getting there is half the fun, right?
I'm going to have nightmares of a midget being torn from a cylindrical, beeping robot, screaming about one pound heatsinks and producing robot offspring... ...while cranking up Seti@Home units with their exclusive german CPUs.
Throw a going-away party for all of your friends, and tell them there's going to be a "book club" table of sorts. Put all of the books you wouldn't miss there, and let everybody know that they're free for the taking. Also, if anybody else has some books they think you would like to read, and that they would be willing to part from, they can exchange them for one of yours.
That way, at least you'll probably get some new books to read, while hopefully reducing the number of books you'll have to stash away.
I'm planning on doing something like that on my next birthday. I'm amazed none of my geek friends had thought of that before (probably because they don't have half as many books as I do!).
Now I just want to know who their favorite character is.
The selfish mindset, the devious plans they use, the love of profit above everything else... why, they have to be Ferengis!
Rule of Acquisition # 345: when someone finds a way to profit legally from something you do, it's easier to change the laws than to change your business. OK, so I just made that up. Still, it sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it?
Actually, from what I've read, the time it would take for the black holes to completely consume everything was longer than the time it would take for the Universe to stop expanding and fall back into itself (the so-called Big Crunch).
So, there's no need to fear being eaten alive by black holes billions of years in the future. Just watch out for all of the galaxies coming straight at you from every corner of the Universe. One word of advice: duck!
Mind you, this is only my opinion. Your mileage may vary.
- Basic computer programming skills. Even though there's lots of people who despise such "baby" languages such as plain C and Visual Basic, these can be used as a starting point in order to learn new languages. If you get the basic _logic_ behind these plain vanilla languages, you'll make it OK with more advanced ones.
- As several people have commented, try to get into Math classes. In my school, sadly, they're dumping the advanced Math classes I had to take (such as Numerical Methods, Differential Equations, and Statistics) in order to make space for Windows Networking, HTML (4 whole months just to learn how to make a decent web page?) and ASP Programming.
- Try to get into a few classes which have absolutely nothing in common with CS, but which you think you'd like to learn. Ecology, Religion, Arts and Crafts. You'll get to meet some people outside the CS circles, have an at least slightly better social life, and maybe even get to impress some people of the opposite sex with your intelligence (let's be honest, it's every computer geek's dream to be noticed like that!).
- Try taking a few sports classes or extra-curricular activities. It'll help you relax when you're all stressed out during the tough assignments, you'll be healthier, and maybe even look better. See above point re: being noticed by people of the opposite sex.
- Logic and Philosophy clases are a plus. I know several people who studied CS, and which have troubles grasping the fact that if A precedes B, and B precedes C, then logically C CANNOT HAPPEN before A.
- Speaking and Writing courses! They may sound silly at first, but believe me, once you're out there, the fact that you can code incredibly well can be obscured by the fact thay you can't explain to the user just how to operate the final application you've built. Besides, good speaking skills and a good disposition will usually get you on the good side of the user, saving you hours of discussions and arguments.
Well, that's just a few pointers I'd like to share with you all. Good luck on your classes!
One thing to note: the win in the VGS case is on patent grounds, the two copyright claims in the suit are still undecided. It was copyright law, namely the DMCA, which the decision on the DeCSS case is based.
Actually, from the article:Sony brought suit to suspend sale of the product claiming copyright infringement and tarnishment of the PlayStation name and other marks. After the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal rejected Sony's claims, Sony subsequently alleged that Connectix infringed eleven of its patents, seems like Sony lost 7 of their 9 copyright infringement suits, and afterwards they withdrew their patent infringement suits. That's not the same as they losing their case.
So, to clarify things a bit, I think this was the way things went (feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken!):
- Sony launched 9 copyright infringement suits.
- Court of Appeal rejected 7 claims.
- Sony then started 11 patent infringement suits.
- Just before the Court of Appeal decided wether to dismiss Sony's case, Sony voluntarily dismissed their case.
Let's hope Sony got wise and saw the monetary logic on getting more consumers to play their games (in their PCs), and while they would not make mroe money selling PlayStations, they'd probably recover by the increase in PlayStation games.
*Sigh* And all I've got is just a lousy Nintendo...but hey, I've got Unreal Tournament in my PC.
Don't know about you guys but it would just seem sooooo wrong to type http://diagonalpunto.org (That's slashdot in spanish) Ack! I'm not sure I can comment on my own comment (would that get a +1: Multiple Personality moderation, or a -1: Mental Disorder?), but I thought it sounded funny to have a spanish version of slashdot.
Then, down there on the latest comments, Mzilikazi wrote about the spanish version, barrapunto.org.
Memo to self: read all the comments before posting anything on Slashdot.
Having said that, I'll go visit the place now. Hopefully it wont be slashdotted by the time I get there (now wouldnt that be ironic?).
Cuando a un mensaje como este no le quiten puntos de moderacion solo por estar en espanol, sabremos que el ingles no es el idioma oficial de las nuevas tecnologias. Mientras tanto, es casi necesario saber ingles para poder estar al dia con el desarrollo tecnologico...
...y, mas importante aun, juntar puntos de karma.
But I think there's a difference between the official language of new technologies, and the official language of Slashdot News.
It's not as if they'll print a story in Mandarin if someone over in China develops a new technology, or anything.
By the way, my impression of the new leader of Mexico is that he is really cool. Mexico is a resource-rich country which has only remained poor so long because of government corruption. I got a feeling that they will be a very rich country in a couple decades, so taking Spanish classes may be a good idea for most Americans anyway.
Amen to that! As you said, we've got lots of resources, but way too much money have gone to corrupt people in power. We're all hoping that'll change, slowly at first but with enough oomph to get us out of the 3rd world classification.
Regarding the learning of spanish in the US... well, english a required course here in Mexico, and from what I've heard it was mainly because most of the $$$ came from the US, so we had to had a common language in order to do business.
But lately, now that mostly everyone I know around here speaks english (at least enough to get understood), there's been a bigger interest in learning new languages, such as french, german and japanese. The reason's the same: more money's flowing in from non-english speaking countries than before.
It's basic economics, simply. If you want to broaden your markets, it's easier to do if you speak their language.
Well, according to what I was told at school, it was a mexican, Gonzalez Camarena, who developed what became the first color TV... so, from now on, all male TV presenters should speak spanish while wearing kilts:)
"All these worlds are yours -- except Europa.
Attempt no landings there. Since the MPAA owns the distribution rights of 2010, it's illegal to attempt landings, fly-bys or even telescopical observation of Europa. Oh, and while we're at it, the European Community is now the owner of the copyrighted word Europa, so you better start calling that frozen ball of ice by some other name.
- Judge Kaplan, on the case of Universal City Studios Inc, et al, vs. the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, et al.
Wow, I recall those cartoons from waaaaay back... Thundercats. So-and-so, but I always disliked the idea of having the same bad guys come over and beat up your home again and Again and AGAIN and AGAIN. I mean, I'd been pissed off after the 4th or 5th attack. What was the point of letting them live every time they got captured?
Silverhawks. As everybody else said, it was just Thundercats in space. Interesting fact: Hey kids, did you know you could breathe _air_ in space? Dont listen to your science teacher!
Tigersharks. Ugh. That was plainly Thundercats under water. 'nuff said.
GI Joe. Well, I guess you had to be an American to love this show. It was so-and-so, it had several interesting stories and characters, like the Pirate one... but come on! Soldiers who could jump out of a tank before a laser blasted it to pieces? More weapons shot in 5 minutes than the ones in Desert Storm?
Transformers. Now this was a cool cartoon. More so after they invented the Dinobots. And, unlike the rest of the shows mentioned, this one managed to evolve into Beast Wars, which kicks ass.
Candy Candy.Bleagh! Don't get me started.
Massinger Z. Now this show was so strange, you didn't know if you liked it or not until you had seen it for a couple of weeks. Things to remember: the female robot (Aphrodite, was it?) with the launchable rocket boobies. Or the Boss robot, made out of junk (literally). All in all, an interesting show.
Ok, enough ranting. It's time for my medication, now...
...following the links from the story, I saw some interesting thoughts in the lawsuit between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints vs. some other people, which can be found here. Halfway through all the legalese, I came up with these sparkling gems of wisdom:
Do those who browse the websites infringe plaintiff's copyright? Blah, blah, blah, copyright stuff, and then:
See MAI Systems Corp. v. Peak Computer, Inc., 991 F.2d 511, 518 (9th Cir. 1993) (holding that when material is transferred to a computer's RAM, copying has occurred; in the absence of ownership of the copyright or express permission by license, such an act constitutes copyright infringement) Whoah. So if open Slashdot, and someone posted some DeCSS code, automagically I'm a copyright infringer? But then...
Marobie-FL., Inc. v. National Ass'n Fire Equip. Distrib., 983 F.Supp. 1167, 1179 (N.D.Ill. 1997) (noting that liability for copyright infringement is with the persons who cause the display or distribution of the infringing material onto their computer) Oooooh. This must mean that if I open up, let's say, the Louvre's webpage, and I open up a page with the Mona Lisa, and since I do not own the Mona Lisa and as far as I know I dont have express permission by license, then I'm a copyright infringer?
Finally, it is in the public's interest to protect the copyright laws and the interests of copyright holders. And you wonder why people don't like big corporations and their lawyers...
Slashdot Mirror
What makes a jury award such a small amount of compensation that a Judge has to overule it later down the line(I'll assume this was a rhetorical cuestion of sorts)
In two words: stupid juries. Ok, maybe I'm being unfair, but the trial-by-peers system in the U.S. and other places is starting to deteriorate. As the evidence used in cases such as this gets more technical over the time, a jury of normal people will base their decisions less and less in the evidence shown to them, and more and more in public image and lawyers' speeches.
In my opinion, a trial-by-experts should be used instead, with the experts chosen at random from a big database or something.
Such as better air bags or something?
Of course, if they _are_ designed for Mars' atmospheric pressure...
"This is the new Chrysler Deimos, with top of the line, new NASA-approved self-inflating airbags. Be the first to own a Deimos! The car of the new millenium!"
And with a faster, quieter voice: "Restrictions apply. Car must mantain an inner atmospheric pressure equal or lower that one standard Martian atmoshpere. Breathing apparatus for the driver and passengers not included. Your mileage may vary".
I'd like to nominate the guy who thought up the idea of a DeCSS code song. He should get at least an honorary award...
That's one titanium fuel tank for each satellite. Look out below!
Nothing like spending trillions of dollars sending these babies up, to end up playing space-debris dodge-ball!
Too bad they can't aim them precisely... it would be fun to play something like "hit the atoll" using these satellites. Like a world-wide darts game! Pay one million dollars to play, and if you can hit the atoll in the center, you win 10 million dollars.
What you need to do is create a mass to move the rest of the universe, without disturbing your own inertial reference frame
Here's a simpler solution (created by some italian guy I cant recall right now... Talliaferro? Something of the sorts):
a) Create a compression of space-time in front of the ship. An artificial black hole, if you wish.
b) (This is the tricky part... or should I say, trickier?)Create an expansion of space-time behind the ship. Im not sure exactly how to pull this one off.
c) The combination of compression and expansion of the space-time continuum (sp?) creates something like a space-time "wave", which the ship would be riding. Like space-time surfing, or something.
The ship experiences no movement _at all_, since it's in the same relative position in the space which surrounds it. Therefore, no inertia. And since there's no theoretical limit on the speed of the space-time expansion/compression, you _could_ move this wave of space-time at a faster than light speed, from the POV of an outside observer.
Of course, all of this space-time distorsions could possibly break havoc with the rest of the universe (or at least the places you space-surf by) but hey, getting there is half the fun, right?
I'm going to have nightmares of a midget being torn from a cylindrical, beeping robot, screaming about one pound heatsinks and producing robot offspring...
...while cranking up Seti@Home units with their exclusive german CPUs.
Throw a going-away party for all of your friends, and tell them there's going to be a "book club" table of sorts. Put all of the books you wouldn't miss there, and let everybody know that they're free for the taking. Also, if anybody else has some books they think you would like to read, and that they would be willing to part from, they can exchange them for one of yours.
That way, at least you'll probably get some new books to read, while hopefully reducing the number of books you'll have to stash away.
I'm planning on doing something like that on my next birthday. I'm amazed none of my geek friends had thought of that before (probably because they don't have half as many books as I do!).
Actually, I prefer the guy that hides behind the doors and goes "WOOOOSH..." everytime he opens and closes them.
Man, its 400 years into the future and Labor Unions still are in control!
Now I just want to know who their favorite character is.
The selfish mindset, the devious plans they use, the love of profit above everything else... why, they have to be Ferengis!
Rule of Acquisition # 345: when someone finds a way to profit legally from something you do, it's easier to change the laws than to change your business.
OK, so I just made that up. Still, it sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it?
I can only say...
El gato voladoooooor!
El gato voladoooooor!
Don't even ask where that came from...
Actually, from what I've read, the time it would take for the black holes to completely consume everything was longer than the time it would take for the Universe to stop expanding and fall back into itself (the so-called Big Crunch).
So, there's no need to fear being eaten alive by black holes billions of years in the future. Just watch out for all of the galaxies coming straight at you from every corner of the Universe. One word of advice: duck!
Mind you, this is only my opinion. Your mileage may vary.
- Basic computer programming skills. Even though there's lots of people who despise such "baby" languages such as plain C and Visual Basic, these can be used as a starting point in order to learn new languages. If you get the basic _logic_ behind these plain vanilla languages, you'll make it OK with more advanced ones.
- As several people have commented, try to get into Math classes. In my school, sadly, they're dumping the advanced Math classes I had to take (such as Numerical Methods, Differential Equations, and Statistics) in order to make space for Windows Networking, HTML (4 whole months just to learn how to make a decent web page?) and ASP Programming.
- Try to get into a few classes which have absolutely nothing in common with CS, but which you think you'd like to learn. Ecology, Religion, Arts and Crafts. You'll get to meet some people outside the CS circles, have an at least slightly better social life, and maybe even get to impress some people of the opposite sex with your intelligence (let's be honest, it's every computer geek's dream to be noticed like that!).
- Try taking a few sports classes or extra-curricular activities. It'll help you relax when you're all stressed out during the tough assignments, you'll be healthier, and maybe even look better. See above point re: being noticed by people of the opposite sex.
- Logic and Philosophy clases are a plus. I know several people who studied CS, and which have troubles grasping the fact that if A precedes B, and B precedes C, then logically C CANNOT HAPPEN before A.
- Speaking and Writing courses! They may sound silly at first, but believe me, once you're out there, the fact that you can code incredibly well can be obscured by the fact thay you can't explain to the user just how to operate the final application you've built.
Besides, good speaking skills and a good disposition will usually get you on the good side of the user, saving you hours of discussions and arguments.
Well, that's just a few pointers I'd like to share with you all. Good luck on your classes!
One thing to note: the win in the VGS case is on patent grounds, the two copyright claims in the suit are still undecided. It was copyright law, namely the DMCA, which the decision on the DeCSS case is based.
Actually, from the article:Sony brought suit to suspend sale of the product claiming copyright infringement and tarnishment of the PlayStation name and other marks. After the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal rejected Sony's claims, Sony subsequently alleged that Connectix infringed eleven of its patents, seems like Sony lost 7 of their 9 copyright infringement suits, and afterwards they withdrew their patent infringement suits. That's not the same as they losing their case.
So, to clarify things a bit, I think this was the way things went (feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken!):
- Sony launched 9 copyright infringement suits.
- Court of Appeal rejected 7 claims.
- Sony then started 11 patent infringement suits.
- Just before the Court of Appeal decided wether to dismiss Sony's case, Sony voluntarily dismissed their case.
Let's hope Sony got wise and saw the monetary logic on getting more consumers to play their games (in their PCs), and while they would not make mroe money selling PlayStations, they'd probably recover by the increase in PlayStation games.
*Sigh* And all I've got is just a lousy Nintendo...but hey, I've got Unreal Tournament in my PC.
Anyone care to put a link to any site / slashdot article / whatever with more information? Who started suing who, over what?
Don't know about you guys but it would just seem sooooo wrong to type http://diagonalpunto.org (That's slashdot in spanish)
Ack! I'm not sure I can comment on my own comment (would that get a +1: Multiple Personality moderation, or a -1: Mental Disorder?), but I thought it sounded funny to have a spanish version of slashdot.
Then, down there on the latest comments, Mzilikazi wrote about the spanish version, barrapunto.org.
Memo to self: read all the comments before posting anything on Slashdot.
Having said that, I'll go visit the place now. Hopefully it wont be slashdotted by the time I get there (now wouldnt that be ironic?).
Cuando a un mensaje como este no le quiten puntos de moderacion solo por estar en espanol, sabremos que el ingles no es el idioma oficial de las nuevas tecnologias. Mientras tanto, es casi necesario saber ingles para poder estar al dia con el desarrollo tecnologico...
...y, mas importante aun, juntar puntos de karma.
But I think there's a difference between the official language of new technologies, and the official language of Slashdot News.
It's not as if they'll print a story in Mandarin if someone over in China develops a new technology, or anything.
Still, kudos on the comment, dude.
Don't know about you guys but it would just seem sooooo wrong to type http://diagonalpunto.org (That's slashdot in spanish)
Hey! Now that's a great idea! Run slashdot by babelfish, put the results up in a server, add a few spanish-speaking sponsors, and voilá!
Of course, we'd have to see if the translation's in Castellano, Mexicano, Argentino, Chileno or any other kind of spanish.
By the way, my impression of the new leader of Mexico is that he is really cool. Mexico is a resource-rich country which has only remained poor so long because of government corruption. I got a feeling that they will be a very rich country in a couple decades, so taking Spanish classes may be a good idea for most Americans anyway.
Amen to that! As you said, we've got lots of resources, but way too much money have gone to corrupt people in power. We're all hoping that'll change, slowly at first but with enough oomph to get us out of the 3rd world classification.
Regarding the learning of spanish in the US... well, english a required course here in Mexico, and from what I've heard it was mainly because most of the $$$ came from the US, so we had to had a common language in order to do business.
But lately, now that mostly everyone I know around here speaks english (at least enough to get understood), there's been a bigger interest in learning new languages, such as french, german and japanese. The reason's the same: more money's flowing in from non-english speaking countries than before.
It's basic economics, simply. If you want to broaden your markets, it's easier to do if you speak their language.
Well, according to what I was told at school, it was a mexican, Gonzalez Camarena, who developed what became the first color TV... so, from now on, all male TV presenters should speak spanish while wearing kilts :)
"All these worlds are yours -- except Europa. Attempt no landings there. Since the MPAA owns the distribution rights of 2010, it's illegal to attempt landings, fly-bys or even telescopical observation of Europa. Oh, and while we're at it, the European Community is now the owner of the copyrighted word Europa, so you better start calling that frozen ball of ice by some other name.
- Judge Kaplan, on the case of Universal City Studios Inc, et al, vs. the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, et al.
Wow, I recall those cartoons from waaaaay back...
Thundercats. So-and-so, but I always disliked the idea of having the same bad guys come over and beat up your home again and Again and AGAIN and AGAIN. I mean, I'd been pissed off after the 4th or 5th attack. What was the point of letting them live every time they got captured?
Silverhawks. As everybody else said, it was just Thundercats in space. Interesting fact: Hey kids, did you know you could breathe _air_ in space? Dont listen to your science teacher!
Tigersharks. Ugh. That was plainly Thundercats under water. 'nuff said.
GI Joe. Well, I guess you had to be an American to love this show. It was so-and-so, it had several interesting stories and characters, like the Pirate one... but come on! Soldiers who could jump out of a tank before a laser blasted it to pieces? More weapons shot in 5 minutes than the ones in Desert Storm?
Transformers. Now this was a cool cartoon. More so after they invented the Dinobots. And, unlike the rest of the shows mentioned, this one managed to evolve into Beast Wars, which kicks ass.
Candy Candy.Bleagh! Don't get me started.
Massinger Z. Now this show was so strange, you didn't know if you liked it or not until you had seen it for a couple of weeks. Things to remember: the female robot (Aphrodite, was it?) with the launchable rocket boobies. Or the Boss robot, made out of junk (literally). All in all, an interesting show.
Ok, enough ranting. It's time for my medication, now...
I _didnt_ get to see that episode, but legend has it that Zoltar had kind of a crush on the leader of the G-Force.
makes me wonder, what is that?
I can see it's just an ad,
for a space-born Laundr-o-mat.
Ok, so my poem sucks. Give me a break, it's 2 AM and English's not even my first language.
...following the links from the story, I saw some interesting thoughts in the lawsuit between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints vs. some other people, which can be found here. Halfway through all the legalese, I came up with these sparkling gems of wisdom:
Do those who browse the websites infringe plaintiff's copyright?
Blah, blah, blah, copyright stuff, and then:
See MAI Systems Corp. v. Peak Computer, Inc., 991 F.2d 511, 518 (9th Cir. 1993) (holding that when material is transferred to a computer's RAM, copying has occurred; in the absence of ownership of the copyright or express permission by license, such an act constitutes copyright infringement)
Whoah. So if open Slashdot, and someone posted some DeCSS code, automagically I'm a copyright infringer? But then...
Marobie-FL., Inc. v. National Ass'n Fire Equip. Distrib., 983 F.Supp. 1167, 1179 (N.D.Ill. 1997) (noting that liability for copyright infringement is with the persons who cause the display or distribution of the infringing material onto their computer)
Oooooh. This must mean that if I open up, let's say, the Louvre's webpage, and I open up a page with the Mona Lisa, and since I do not own the Mona Lisa and as far as I know I dont have express permission by license, then I'm a copyright infringer?
Finally, it is in the public's interest to protect the copyright laws and the interests of copyright holders.
And you wonder why people don't like big corporations and their lawyers...
Damn, sometimes I just think that America litigation is there just to provide laughs.
It is! It's just that it's there to provide laughs for people elsewhere, not in America.