(Just playing devils advocate here - I happen to think region encoding is discriminatory and racist, but more on that later)
Ok, one possible reason for region encoding is to prevent a release of a Hollywood movie to, say Japan, while the Hollywood studios ready an "approved" translation to Nihongo. That way, Mr. Japanese Consumer will not purchase the latest Hollywood flick as soon as it's released in North America and not be able to understand it, since it's only in English.
Now, as for region encoding being discriminatory and/or racist: Again, we'll use Japan as an example. A Japanese family moves to the U.S. in the mid-90's, before DVDs became main-stream. They buy a DVD player in the U.S. They get on Amazon Japan and purchase a Japanese DVD. DVD doesn't play on their U.S. player. They are prevented from viewing media in their native language unless they shell out the money to buy a second DVD player. Apparenly, no person living in region 1 (North America), in their right mind, would want to view material from other areas. Likewise, if I move to Japan, I can't play my DVDs there unless I bring my US player over.
Quote from the Wired article: [quote]Justice Department officials tried earlier this year to write a bill to expand the Patriot Act. A draft -- dubbed Patriot II -- was leaked and caused such an uproar that Justice officials backed down. The new provision inserts one of the most controversial aspects of Patriot II into the spending bill.[/quote]
Why is this process allowed? Why can an article that is completely unrelated to the bill be tacked on, and passed as a whole? "A spoon-ful of sugar helps the medicine go down", I suppose.
Methinks tactics like this should be outlawed, as it can create a conflict of interest: "I don't really like section Z of this bill, but if I don't pass the rest of this bill my constituents will be livid and throw me out of office..."
Your first point may (or may not) be valid, but your second point is unprovable.
All of Apple's API documentation is available for free on their website. There are numerous books and trade rags available for learning the MacOSX architecture. Give me a few weeks to learn the OS X API and *I* could write that program.
Only things the masses like or know about would get funding. That leavs a lot of people out in the cold. If we paint this in terms of music, only the mass-consumed features would get funding, and the independent, lesser-known things would not get enough funding to continue, regardless of quality. Once again, mass-consumer-appeal (boy-band-of-the-week, etc) would take precedent over real talent. Basically, I just don't see this solving any problems.
You have me misunderstood. I like anime. I just don't like most of the "popular" ones, like NGE, Akira, etc. Some of the ones I like are:
Love Hina Ranma 1/2 Princess Nine Record of Lodoss War (and the Legend of the Heroic Knight) Any and all of Miyazaki's films Jubei-chan Slayers Ah! My Goddess!
You get the idea. I guess I just like the comedy-type anime more than the depressing, dark anime (Akira, NGE) - There's enough depressing subjects in the world today that I don't want to seek one out and watch it for "entertainment".
You know something? You're absolutely right. I did not contribue to the discussion in any productive form. I was needlessly off topic.
What I meant to get across was that anime is not the only type of media where the ooccasionally bad-written show requires a huge leap to cross plot gaps. And conversely, not all anime is so poorly written.
[quote] Most people are severely close-minded about nearly everything new or unusual. You demonstrate this pretty well. [/quote]
Are you insinuating that I am close-minded? Examples, please. I tend to think of myself as open minded. Prove me wrong.
[quote] As with most anime, if you aren't a hardcore fan of the genre you're unlikely to mentally fill in enough the plot gaps to leave satisfied. [/quote]
I beg to differ. Badly written anime is just as craptastic as any other badly written medium. I like Japanese animation, but why does Anime have some mystical power here in Slashdot? Why is it regarded as the sacred cow? Why is such trash as Akira and NGE held in such high regard?
(yeah, mod me down for flame bait because I DARED to profane NGE and Akira, instead of answering my legitemate question.)
[quote]
By the way, this procedure (disabling the nagware in the router web-config) might have to be done if your router is behind a firewall. Reason: filter.belkin.com sends a response to the Router to set the flag.
[/quote]
So Belkin deliberately left a configuration on the router to be modifiable by someone without proper authorization (the owner of the router or the network admin)? Absolute genius. Destroy your company's reputation 100% in one easy step: the backdoor(s) will piss of the geeks, and the nagware-advertising will piss off Joe Sixpack.
[quote] Don't kid yourself: open source is nice, but it doesn't guarantee a fault-proof or secure voting system (suppose somebody installs wrong or malicious software on one of the machines?). [/quote]
True, but with an open system, anyone can see what is going on. If the process is completely open, there is a greater likelyhood that any funny-business will be seen and dealt with before it is too late (*ahem* Florida).
[quote] The difference with roaming profiles is in the "World Wide Web" thingy. Roaming profiles roam to and from an SMB server, like Windows NT or SAMBA. [/quote]
The patent says that the "World Wide Web" can be accessed by either (a) "the Internet", or (b) the local area network.
First of all, define "World Wide Web". A world-wide network of computers, right? There are several international companies that have WANs so spread out that they might qualify as a world-wide network. Second: the patent just says that there is a server of some kind accessible on the "world wide web" somewhere. Just tunnel through the Internet to a SMB server out there somewhere, and you've just done what this patent says.
The present invention addresses the need for an improved method and system for replacing, implementing and managing computer-related assets. The present invention provides a method of asset management in which a technician accesses the World Wide Web through a user's computer. The information resident on the computer, including information regarding the computer and the user's preferences, is downloaded to a remote storage medium through the World Wide Web. Once the information is downloaded, all information may be removed from the user's computer. Subsequently, the technician accesses another computer such as, for example, a new computer that has been assigned to the same user. The technician accesses the World Wide Web through the new computer and downloads the information previously stored on the remote storage medium. This information can then be used to install the user's prior applications, settings and preferences on the new computer."
[end quote]
Two words: Roaming Profiles. I know some people in Redmond who are going to be pissed.
Why is Microsoft evil for not specifically coding support for other OSes in VPC? I can understand the outrage if Microsoft specifically coded routines in VPC that would specifically target non-MS OSes and prevent them from running. But from what we know, this is not happening (yet). All they did was cut back on some features while improving others. As long as Microsoft is not actively and purposefully putting road blocks in VPC to prevent execution of non-Microsoft OSes, then what have they done that is illegal? Microsoft should not be allowed to purposefully interfere with competitor's products, but they should not be forced to purposefully support said products.
Having a completely open system and having secret ballots are not mutually-exclusive. It is possible to have a transparent system without tying any data to a particular individual.
I would rather spend the money and get an import. The US distributors just screw up the release, for whatever reason.
Example: When Final Fantasy 9 was the hot thing, TokyoPop (that evil bastard of hell) got a hold of the rights to publish the soundtrack in the US. They released a single disc with 33 tracks on it. The original Japanese soundtrack is 4 disc-long, each disc containing over 20 tracks. Yeah, lemme think about that one - 1 disc versus 4 discs. I'll get the import version, thanks.
If a US distributor would keep the discs and packaging the same, and just translate the booklet, then I'll buy the domestic release.
An open system, where everyone can see exactly what is going on, is extremely important in any venue where people are fighting for power. In politics and elections, everyone's trying to screw over the other person and grab as much power as possble. Electronic voting must not be a black box - it must be a clear, glass box where anyone who is interested can see exactly what is going on.
Miyazaki stated his inspiration for the story was to create a film that businessmen could relax to while on a flight - a film that wouldn't require too much thought to follow. It's a simple, enjoyable tale. Nausicaa is another fantastic film. Though, if you have the chance, read the manga as well - there's a lot more in there than the film can deal with. In the manga edition I have, there are 6 books. The film only covers the first book.
From the press release: " VeriSign's core infrastructure services continue to be organized around the company's two core services areas:
Internet Services Group....
* Naming and Directory Services - DNS database management and resolution services for approximately 30 million digital identities, including the authoritative directory for all.com,.net,.cc, and.tv domain names. The unit also provides Digital Brand Management Services and DNS Assurance services for large enterprises with complex domain name and IP addressing portfolios...."
So, will SiteFinder also cover.cc and.tv in the near future?
Gotta love Verisign's attitude about this whole thing:
--- "Larson suggested that "you guys don't think consumers are relevant" and that committee members were unduly focused on the travails of network operators affected by the Site Finder changes.
"We're going to have to stop this discussion and turn to a different venue," Larson said." ---
Of course users are important. But the opinions of those in the trenches making things work is more important. Think of it this way:
What if a car maker declared to its customers and put up signs along the roadway stating that people could drive on whatever side of the road they want. Of course users (drivers) would like this, because they can cut corners and zip around traffic more easily. The Department of Transportation would be throwing fits, demanding that those signs be removed, citing safety concerns, etc. "But the drivers all think this is a great idea!"
Customers will certainly enjoy SiteFinder - until the nature of the beast starts breaking standard functionality. Then they'll yell at us - the nerds who make it all work - that the Internet is broken.
"The United States is unique in its approach to the allocation of patent rights. In the United States, patent rights are granted to the 'first to invent' rather than the universally accepted approach of the 'first to file.'"
"...what constitutes prior use or public knowledge -- 'prior art' - differs considerably [in the US] from standards commonly adopted elsewhere. Although subject matter described in a printed publication or patent will constitute prior art, whether or not it is published or patented in the United States, the same is not true of subject matter in public use or known to the public. In these latter cases, only use or knowledge within the United States or its territories constitutes prior art. Many countries determine the applicability of prior art without geographic limitations."
Not quite. The patent is full of: "...in which the network document includes an HTML format..."
XHTML is an HTML format. If the patent said "in which the network document includes *the* HTML format", then you might be right. But the patent is not specific enough. Any document that contains any kind of HyperText Markup Language format is covered by this patent.
Claim 6: "The method of claim 5 in which the topical groupings of customization options relate to one or more of: news, sports, financial matters, entertainment, science and technology, life, and weather. "
The above claim is one of the only entries that tries to narrow down the patent from being for any client/server/databased user prefrerence system.
But, it's not much of a saving grace. It states that the groupings deal with *one or more* of news, sports, money, entertainment, science & tech, life and weather. So, if any system keeps track of any of those settings, it is treading on Microsoft's patent. Well, if any site takes out all of those categories, to not violate the patent, what other categories can be made? I sure can't think of any.
[quote , emphasis by me]
It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States to make any call (other than a call made for emergency purposes or made with the prior express consent of the called party) using any automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice to any telephone number assigned to a paging service, cellular telephone service, specialized mobile radio service, or other radio common carrier service, or any service for which the called party is charged for the call; [/quote]
Telemarketers moving their call centers over the border (say, Canada) would not be held by this law. The person making the call is out of the country, so no problem. Of course it could be argued that the "person" of the company (corporations have in past been considered as 'individuals') is in the US, while only the call center is not, so the "person" (company) would still be liable.
Slashdot Mirror
(Just playing devils advocate here - I happen to think region encoding is discriminatory and racist, but more on that later)
Ok, one possible reason for region encoding is to prevent a release of a Hollywood movie to, say Japan, while the Hollywood studios ready an "approved" translation to Nihongo. That way, Mr. Japanese Consumer will not purchase the latest Hollywood flick as soon as it's released in North America and not be able to understand it, since it's only in English.
Now, as for region encoding being discriminatory and/or racist:
Again, we'll use Japan as an example. A Japanese family moves to the U.S. in the mid-90's, before DVDs became main-stream. They buy a DVD player in the U.S. They get on Amazon Japan and purchase a Japanese DVD. DVD doesn't play on their U.S. player. They are prevented from viewing media in their native language unless they shell out the money to buy a second DVD player. Apparenly, no person living in region 1 (North America), in their right mind, would want to view material from other areas. Likewise, if I move to Japan, I can't play my DVDs there unless I bring my US player over.
Quote from the Wired article:
[quote]Justice Department officials tried earlier this year to write a bill to expand the Patriot Act. A draft -- dubbed Patriot II -- was leaked and caused such an uproar that Justice officials backed down. The new provision inserts one of the most controversial aspects of Patriot II into the spending bill.[/quote]
Why is this process allowed? Why can an article that is completely unrelated to the bill be tacked on, and passed as a whole? "A spoon-ful of sugar helps the medicine go down", I suppose.
Methinks tactics like this should be outlawed, as it can create a conflict of interest: "I don't really like section Z of this bill, but if I don't pass the rest of this bill my constituents will be livid and throw me out of office..."
Your first point may (or may not) be valid, but your second point is unprovable.
All of Apple's API documentation is available for free on their website. There are numerous books and trade rags available for learning the MacOSX architecture. Give me a few weeks to learn the OS X API and *I* could write that program.
Only things the masses like or know about would get funding. That leavs a lot of people out in the cold. If we paint this in terms of music, only the mass-consumed features would get funding, and the independent, lesser-known things would not get enough funding to continue, regardless of quality. Once again, mass-consumer-appeal (boy-band-of-the-week, etc) would take precedent over real talent.
Basically, I just don't see this solving any problems.
You have me misunderstood. I like anime. I just don't like most of the "popular" ones, like NGE, Akira, etc. Some of the ones I like are:
Love Hina
Ranma 1/2
Princess Nine
Record of Lodoss War (and the Legend of the Heroic Knight)
Any and all of Miyazaki's films
Jubei-chan
Slayers
Ah! My Goddess!
You get the idea. I guess I just like the comedy-type anime more than the depressing, dark anime (Akira, NGE) - There's enough depressing subjects in the world today that I don't want to seek one out and watch it for "entertainment".
You know something? You're absolutely right. I did not contribue to the discussion in any productive form. I was needlessly off topic.
What I meant to get across was that anime is not the only type of media where the ooccasionally bad-written show requires a huge leap to cross plot gaps. And conversely, not all anime is so poorly written.
[quote]
Most people are severely close-minded about nearly everything new or unusual. You demonstrate this pretty well.
[/quote]
Are you insinuating that I am close-minded? Examples, please. I tend to think of myself as open minded. Prove me wrong.
[quote]
As with most anime, if you aren't a hardcore fan of the genre you're unlikely to mentally fill in enough the plot gaps to leave satisfied.
[/quote]
I beg to differ. Badly written anime is just as craptastic as any other badly written medium. I like Japanese animation, but why does Anime have some mystical power here in Slashdot? Why is it regarded as the sacred cow? Why is such trash as Akira and NGE held in such high regard?
(yeah, mod me down for flame bait because I DARED to profane NGE and Akira, instead of answering my legitemate question.)
I found this quote from Eric Deming in response to the original newsgroup posting quite interesting...
[quote]
By the way, this procedure (disabling the nagware in the router web-config) might have to be done if your router is behind a firewall. Reason: filter.belkin.com sends a response to the Router to set the flag. [/quote]
So Belkin deliberately left a configuration on the router to be modifiable by someone without proper authorization (the owner of the router or the network admin)? Absolute genius. Destroy your company's reputation 100% in one easy step: the backdoor(s) will piss of the geeks, and the nagware-advertising will piss off Joe Sixpack.
Not only has the came come out before the movie, but the BOOK was released DECADES before the film, giving away the ending!!
(that's a joke, y'all)
[quote]
Don't kid yourself: open source is nice, but it doesn't guarantee a fault-proof or secure voting system (suppose somebody installs wrong or malicious software on one of the machines?).
[/quote]
True, but with an open system, anyone can see what is going on. If the process is completely open, there is a greater likelyhood that any funny-business will be seen and dealt with before it is too late (*ahem* Florida).
[quote]
The difference with roaming profiles is in the "World Wide Web" thingy. Roaming profiles roam to and from an SMB server, like Windows NT or SAMBA.
[/quote]
The patent says that the "World Wide Web" can be accessed by either (a) "the Internet", or (b) the local area network.
First of all, define "World Wide Web". A world-wide network of computers, right? There are several international companies that have WANs so spread out that they might qualify as a world-wide network.
Second: the patent just says that there is a server of some kind accessible on the "world wide web" somewhere. Just tunnel through the Internet to a SMB server out there somewhere, and you've just done what this patent says.
[text from the patent]
"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
The present invention addresses the need for an improved method and system for replacing, implementing and managing computer-related assets. The present invention provides a method of asset management in which a technician accesses the World Wide Web through a user's computer. The information resident on the computer, including information regarding the computer and the user's preferences, is downloaded to a remote storage medium through the World Wide Web. Once the information is downloaded, all information may be removed from the user's computer. Subsequently, the technician accesses another computer such as, for example, a new computer that has been assigned to the same user. The technician accesses the World Wide Web through the new computer and downloads the information previously stored on the remote storage medium. This information can then be used to install the user's prior applications, settings and preferences on the new computer."
[end quote]
Two words: Roaming Profiles. I know some people in Redmond who are going to be pissed.
Why is Microsoft evil for not specifically coding support for other OSes in VPC? I can understand the outrage if Microsoft specifically coded routines in VPC that would specifically target non-MS OSes and prevent them from running. But from what we know, this is not happening (yet). All they did was cut back on some features while improving others. As long as Microsoft is not actively and purposefully putting road blocks in VPC to prevent execution of non-Microsoft OSes, then what have they done that is illegal?
Microsoft should not be allowed to purposefully interfere with competitor's products, but they should not be forced to purposefully support said products.
This would be funnier if it wasn't true...
Having a completely open system and having secret ballots are not mutually-exclusive. It is possible to have a transparent system without tying any data to a particular individual.
I would rather spend the money and get an import. The US distributors just screw up the release, for whatever reason.
Example: When Final Fantasy 9 was the hot thing, TokyoPop (that evil bastard of hell) got a hold of the rights to publish the soundtrack in the US. They released a single disc with 33 tracks on it. The original Japanese soundtrack is 4 disc-long, each disc containing over 20 tracks. Yeah, lemme think about that one - 1 disc versus 4 discs. I'll get the import version, thanks.
If a US distributor would keep the discs and packaging the same, and just translate the booklet, then I'll buy the domestic release.
An open system, where everyone can see exactly what is going on, is extremely important in any venue where people are fighting for power. In politics and elections, everyone's trying to screw over the other person and grab as much power as possble. Electronic voting must not be a black box - it must be a clear, glass box where anyone who is interested can see exactly what is going on.
Miyazaki stated his inspiration for the story was to create a film that businessmen could relax to while on a flight - a film that wouldn't require too much thought to follow. It's a simple, enjoyable tale.
Nausicaa is another fantastic film. Though, if you have the chance, read the manga as well - there's a lot more in there than the film can deal with. In the manga edition I have, there are 6 books. The film only covers the first book.
From the press release:
....
.com, .net, .cc, and .tv domain names. The unit also provides Digital Brand Management Services and DNS Assurance services for large enterprises with complex domain name and IP addressing portfolios. ..."
.cc and .tv in the near future?
"
VeriSign's core infrastructure services continue to be organized around the company's two core services areas:
Internet Services Group
* Naming and Directory Services - DNS database management and resolution services for approximately 30 million digital identities, including the authoritative directory for all
So, will SiteFinder also cover
Gotta love Verisign's attitude about this whole thing:
---
"Larson suggested that "you guys don't think consumers are relevant" and that committee members were unduly focused on the travails of network operators affected by the Site Finder changes.
"We're going to have to stop this discussion and turn to a different venue," Larson said."
---
Of course users are important. But the opinions of those in the trenches making things work is more important. Think of it this way:
What if a car maker declared to its customers and put up signs along the roadway stating that people could drive on whatever side of the road they want. Of course users (drivers) would like this, because they can cut corners and zip around traffic more easily. The Department of Transportation would be throwing fits, demanding that those signs be removed, citing safety concerns, etc. "But the drivers all think this is a great idea!"
Customers will certainly enjoy SiteFinder - until the nature of the beast starts breaking standard functionality. Then they'll yell at us - the nerds who make it all work - that the Internet is broken.
You've got it backwards.
According to the US Department of State
"The United States is unique in its approach to the allocation of patent rights. In the United States, patent rights are granted to the 'first to invent' rather than the universally accepted approach of the 'first to file.'"
"...what constitutes prior use or public knowledge -- 'prior art' - differs considerably [in the US] from standards commonly adopted elsewhere. Although subject matter described in a printed publication or patent will constitute prior art, whether or not it is published or patented in the United States, the same is not true of subject matter in public use or known to the public. In these latter cases, only use or knowledge within the United States or its territories constitutes prior art. Many countries determine the applicability of prior art without geographic limitations."
Not quite. The patent is full of:
"...in which the network document includes an HTML format..."
XHTML is an HTML format. If the patent said "in which the network document includes *the* HTML format", then you might be right. But the patent is not specific enough. Any document that contains any kind of HyperText Markup Language format is covered by this patent.
Claim 6: "The method of claim 5 in which the topical groupings of customization options relate to one or more of: news, sports, financial matters, entertainment, science and technology, life, and weather. "
The above claim is one of the only entries that tries to narrow down the patent from being for any client/server/databased user prefrerence system.
But, it's not much of a saving grace. It states that the groupings deal with *one or more* of news, sports, money, entertainment, science & tech, life and weather. So, if any system keeps track of any of those settings, it is treading on Microsoft's patent. Well, if any site takes out all of those categories, to not violate the patent, what other categories can be made? I sure can't think of any.
first
[quote , emphasis by me]
It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States to make any call (other than a call made for emergency purposes or made with the prior express consent of the called party) using any automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice to any telephone number assigned to a paging service, cellular telephone service, specialized mobile radio service, or other radio common carrier service, or any service for which the called party is charged for the call; [/quote]
Telemarketers moving their call centers over the border (say, Canada) would not be held by this law. The person making the call is out of the country, so no problem. Of course it could be argued that the "person" of the company (corporations have in past been considered as 'individuals') is in the US, while only the call center is not, so the "person" (company) would still be liable.