the ironic thing is that copyright law was originally intended to promote innovation
Close, but no cigar.
Patent law was originally intended to promote progress in the sciences, which in modern terms translates to technological innovation.
Copyright law was originally intended to promote progress in the arts, which in modern terms translates to good entertainment.
Copyright law's got nothing to do with innovation, never has. Why it got applied to binary numbers meant to express a simple technological function with no human-readable content whatever, I'll never understand...
(Before the twentieth century, every copyrightable item could be processed by an unaided normal human. We have moved well beyond that: why we stick with the antiquated notion of copyright, I'm not sure.)
AppleScript is incredibly easy. If you can learn Perl in a week, you can learn AppleScript in... well, five minutes.:)
These are your basic references, in order:
Apple's site. Place to start for novices; I find myself going back there sometimes now, but I usually hit the more advanced stuff really quick.
AppleScript Sourcebook.The site for AppleScript references; it has a lot of information itself, but its real strength is in the links: nobody has so many great links.
OSAXen. OSAXen are compiled extensions to AppleScript, similar in some ways to Perl modules. This is the best source of them.
AppleScript isn't as powerful as Perl in some ways, but it's vastly easier to use & it integrates into the GUI much, much better.
You need a program called the Script Editor. It might not be on your HD yet, but it will be on your MacOS install disks.
I'll even give you some sample code. Here ya go, this is what AS looks like; you can even cut and paste this into Script Editor, it should work. I give you this one because it's one of the few I have that doesn't use any OSAXen; it's all done through the scriptable Finder, so all you need is OS 9.
to ProcessFile(fileRef)
tell application "Finder"
set currentName to the name of fileRef
set extension to the last text item of currentName
if extension is "html" or extension is "htm" then
set creator type of fileRef to "DmWr"
set file type of fileRef to "TEXT"
else if extension is "smil" then
set creator type of fileRef to "TVOD"
set file type of fileRef to ".SMI"
else if extension is "gif" then
set creator type of fileRef to "ogle"
set file type of fileRef to "GIFf"
else if extension is "jpg" then
set creator type of fileRef to "ogle"
set file type of fileRef to "JPEG"
else if extension is "c" or extension is "h" or extension is "cpp" then
set creator type of fileRef to "MPS "
set file type of fileRef to "TEXT"
end if
end tell
end ProcessFile
to ProcessFolder(folderRef)
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "."
tell application "Finder"
if (count of items of folderRef) is greater than 0 then
set fileNo to count of files of folderRef
set speechString to "Processing " & (fileNo) & " file"
if fileNo is not equal to 1 then
set speechString to speechString & "s"
end if
set folderNo to count of folders of folderRef
if folderNo is not equal to 0 then
set speechString to speechString & " and " & (folderNo) & " folder"
if folderNo is not equal to 1 then
set speechString to speechString & "s"
end if
end if
set speechString to speechString & " in folder " & name of folderRef
say speechString
set x to 1
repeat while x is less than or equal to the (count of folders of folderRef)
my ProcessFolder(folder x of folderRef)
say "Returning to " & name of folderRef
set x to x + 1
end repeat
set x to 1
repeat while x is less than or equal to the (count of files of folderRef)
set currentFile to file x of folderRef
my ProcessFile(currentFile)
set x to x + 1
end repeat
else
say "Skipping empty folder " & name of folderRef
end if
end tell
end ProcessFolder
set x to 1
set currentSelection to selection of application "Finder"
if (count of items of currentSelection) is 0 then
say "I have nothing to clean up."
else
repeat while x is less than or equal to the (count of items of currentSelection)
set currentItem to item x of currentSelection
if folder of (info for currentItem) then
ProcessFolder(currentItem)
else
ProcessFile(currentItem)
end if
set x to x + 1
end repeat
say "Cleanup file types done."
end if
What the previous batch of code does is ask Finder for its currently selected items, and then, for each of them, if it's a folder, it recursively processes every item in the folder, and checks its unix-style file extension. If the file extension matches one item in a list, then it changes the file's creator and document type codes. Specifically, it hands over all html files to DreamWeaver, C source to Macintosh Programmer's Workshop, and SMIL, GIF, and JPEG files to QuickTime. It executes rather slowly, but I don't need to run it very often. I compiled it to an applet, and have it in my Speakable Items folder.
It's a little buggy. It doesn't seem to work right when the currently selected items are files (well, it doesn't do anything at all). I don't know why, I haven't cared enough to fix it.:)
Most of my AppleScript links either to MacAST or to the QuickTime Player. Unfortunately, AppleScript has to be implemented at the application end, unlike Perl which can interface through pipes to most anything text-based. However, this makes it more powerful in some ways: AppleScript works exclusively by sending events, so it can do things that normally would require the user to click buttons, hard to do in Perl (although I think there's an AppleEvents module in MacPerl, which would be more flexible than AppleScript; all my Perl work I do on my *nix box so I don't know:)
Both AirPort and Location Manager have AppleScript support. Write an AppleScript. Hell, compile it & save it in your Speakable Items folder, and switch by talking, forget the mouse...;)
I'm already running 9.2.1. OS X however is not free, and needs more than 64MB. OK, I'm planning on buying new memory. Grad student budgets: food is first.:)
Having it all go through iTunes is also a good UI choice (a no brainer for Apple of corse), you don't need to deal with another little lame MP3 manager (my most despised part of my Rio).
I sync my Rio 500 using iTunes...
Actually, that brings up my sole complaint regarding this device. It requires iTunes 2, which AFAIK only runs on OS X. Those of us with OS 9 systems would like to play with Firewire toys as well...
Well, it's kinda possible. It's normally called "renting" though:)
Assuming you have a patent license on the hardware, you could slap an EULA on that. That's no good when the patent expires though, which is a lot sooner than copyright expires. You could prolly put an EULA on the console's operating system, I guess. Ick.
However, I consider that to be really only a server/gateway router issue. Any Mac servers with multiple network segments these days I would expect to be running OS X, which has the same routing as other BSDs do. And I'd never waste a Mac on a gateway router.
Re:Since when did MS ever set any standards?
on
Microsoft's Future
·
· Score: 2
Apple has indeed produced a two-button mouse; IIRC that's what they started with, as it's what the Parc machines used. They've never marketed one though, mainly because usability studies have shown that people find them confusing.
Certainly, in training people in Windows, that's the most common downfall. Click. No, the other button.
I not only remember the hockey puck, I actually use one. as in, right now.:) It's not that bad! Perhaps it's my big hands, though. "Ergonomic" mice always feel like they're going to fall out of my hands, and the hockey puck doesn't.
As for optical sensors... yes. However, Apple is an industry leader in mouse design for cleanliness. Their non-optical mice just don't get dirty the way, say, cheap Logitech mice do. I'm not sure why...
In one case, Location Manager does require a reboot- when you associate Extensions Manager profiles with different locations; but not otherwise, you can swap all your TCP/IP settings, date/time and other crap without bothering.
Pizza companies often trademark their phone numbers. If you've called a number like 310-3030 (an Atlantic Canada pizza joint IIRC), then you've used a trademark.
You can trademark anything so long as it's distinctive. With phone numbers, you have to do a good bit of work marketing them to make them distinctive, but it can be done, and has been done. Theoretically, you could even register an IP address: now that would bring up some interesting issues...
The technews server is now back up. However, the WIPO decisions are available in fulltext here (Aspen Grove) and here (Maggi), for those bright enough to do their own analysis.
How do you define property? Quite simply, it's the right, given to you by law and society, not nature, to control something. It's my house because I can decide who can enter in and who cannot. It's my car because I can decide that, if you drive it, you're commiting a crime. I control those things.
That's one definition of property.
Another definition is this: My property is the set of physical items whose physical location I control. It's my apartment because I control who and what is allowed inside it. It's my computer because I control where it is.
This definition does not include so-called intellectual or industrial property, which is very much an anomaly in terms of property law. There are lots of aspects of property that just don't apply to copyright.
For example, in two hundred years, my forks will still be property, assuming that they're still around. They might be my property (or my estate's:), or they might be somebody else's. However, my copyright in this post will have expired (along with me:)...
The pain in the arse is when you have a whole load of machines (which may as it happens be running different flavours of Linux), and you spent a fair while ensuring that they all work ncely. [sic] Along comes a patch, and you have to start working out which machines tou [sic] can take off-line to test the patch, which machines are most vulnerable (when you have a fair few users with shell accounts...)
You have to figure out which machines have untrusted users. Fortunately, this particular case is a local-only exploit; so if you're a sysadmin of a large system, then it's time to take it down.
However, this is also where having a good firewall can save you much heartache. The firewall itself is by definition a system with untrusted users (unless you can guarantee you've never been broken into), so needs to be patched. If you have unprotected systems, all of them need to be patched.
Keep all your systems behind a well-designed firewall, and these decisions become much, much easier.
Admin may not know how to upgrade a kernel? How the hell did a person who cannot download the updated.rpm or.dep file and type in a simple package management command get to be an admin of anything other than an Atari 2600 or a Vic-20?
By taking the MCSE exams.
Sad, but true. The concern is that the Gartner migrants may re-migrate back.
That said, the MCSEs of the world should be forced to get real jobs, you know, at Burger Thing or someplace they can put their talents to good use.:)
huh. where are the universities? look around, see plenty of stuff going on.
at my institution (I'm a grad student, not in CS), there are strange wars around campus over operating system choice. the campus is sponsored by Sun and so we have these javaboxen all over the place. however, there are a pile of machines owned by various faculties that are all running iis, and yes, they were all hit by code red. one of my (non-CS) profs has a linux server in his office. so by no means is it a MFC house: rather it would be best characterized as a war zone. the only CS prof I know seems to be doing all his work in java. also, I know of plenty of other places where perl is running everything.
but then, I'm in library science, and here in LIS open source is considered a very good thing, because we always need to tweak stuff for our environments. (example: my library, written in perl and GPL'ed).
Windows 3.x sucked hard for its time. Where were you then?
Its competition was Desqview, MultiFinder, the Amiga OS... all vastly more usable.
It won because M$ signed contracts with a large number of application providers to produce products exclusively for Windows 3.x. So, people bought Windows to run apps on then, just as they do now.
By an important measure, often forgotten by fly-by-night "investors": physical assets.
IBM owns tons of factories, land, etc. This doesn't make it into market cap, but it is important to majority investors, who care about getting value for their money.
Remember, most of the megacorps (M$ included) don't have the majority of their shares being commonly traded. If you want to pull a takeover, you have to persuade the large shareholders to hand over. Market cap just isn't that important, unless you're a guppy.
That's why ordinary investors like takeover attempts so much: they drive the share price up to somewhere near what it's actually worth.
Well, I looked at that website, and I saw a ton of templates for designing web-ready graphics, and nothing for web site design except that it had an integration feature so that you could bring it into Dreamweaver/etc. fairly easily.
Looks like a neat program, but I Don't Think So.
Remember, the thing defined in the patent does _all_ of those things, in an integrated way.
Why can't/. read patent claims? This patent (somewhat cleaner presentation of the text than the top link) has a whole bunch of claims, and it actually has a detailed descriptive listing as to what the program's supposed to do.
I reproduce the list here.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One object of the invention is to overcome these and other deficiencies and drawbacks of existing web site creation tools, systems and methods.
Another object of the invention is to provide a tool for creating a Web site that minimizes or eliminates the need for a Web site creator to know or use HTML or other programming languages to create a Web site.
Another object of the invention is to provide a tool for facilitating the creation of Web sites and pages based on stored templates that enable personalization and customization of the Web site and pages without the need for a user to change or write any software code.
Another object of the invention is to provide a tool for facilitating the creation of Web sites and pages by taking a web site creator through a series of views, each having one or more options/features, to enable the site creator to select from a plurality of options/features available for the web site layout, content and functionality.
Another object of the invention is to provide a tool for creating a Web site where the tool comprises a library of stored templates (including fields) associated with different options/features for a Web site, the tool prompts a user of the tool to select desired options/features from a list of possible options/features. Based upon the option/features selected, the tool determines which of the stored templates (and fields) are to be used and the user is prompted to supply data to populate those fields. The tool uses the templates and user supplied data to create the web pages that make up a Web site. The Web site may then be posted on a network, such as the Internet.
Another object of the invention is to provide a tool for facilitating the creation of a Web site and pages based on stored templates having predetermined fields, wherein the tool comprises a dynamic look-up capability to automatically populate one or more fields with data.
Another object of the invention is to provide a tool for facilitating the creation of Web pages with templates for predefined Web pages that enables personalization and customization of the Web pages without the need for the user to change or write any software code, and facilitates the inclusion or modification of graphical and other multimedia objects.
Another object of the invention is to provide a tool for facilitating the creation of a Web site based on stored templates having predetermined fields wherein one or more fields can be selectively marked as a required field, and where if data for a required field is not provided by the user, a predefined message may be presented to a user identifying what information is missing and a cursor may be positioned at the missing field.
Another object of the invention is to provide a tool for facilitating the creation of content for a Web site with an automated content approval feature whereby authorized content creators (specified during creation of the Web site) can create proposed content for the Web site. Upon creation, the proposed content may be automatically, electronically routed to one or more content approvers specified during creation of the web site for authorization before posting the content on the Web site. The approved web page may be automatically posted as appropriate.
Another object of the invention is to provide a tool that facilitates the modification of Web pages in a finished Web site including one or more of the above objects, without requiring a content creator to change or write any software code.
Another object of the invention is to provide a tool for facilitating the creation of a Web site based on stored templates whereby once the site is created, a content creator can selectively modify individual pages or groups of pages without using HTML or other software programming code.
These and other objects are accomplished by various embodiments of the invention. According to one embodiment of the invention, a software tool is provided for use with a computer system for simplifying the creation of Web sites. The tool comprises a plurality of prestored HTML templates, each having various fields. The templates preferably correspond to different types of Web pages and other features commonly found on or available to Web sites. Each feature may have various options. To create a web site, a Web site creator (the person using the tool to create a web site) is prompted by the tool through a series of views stored in the tool to select the features and options desired for the Web site. Based on these selections, the tool prompts the web site creator to supply data to populate fields of the templates determined by the tool to correspond to the selected features and options. Based on the identified templates and supplied data, the tool generates the customized Web site without the web site creator writing any HTML or other programming code.
The features and options may include, for example, site areas, specific security features, enablement of distributed authorship with the ability to specify approved content authors and content approvers, the specification workflow/approval procedures, enablement of automatic workflow routing, and a graphical design center with a plurality of predetermined user selectable features.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the software tool provides a series of menus or views to guide the user through the creation of a web site, where the views comprise screens to enable the site creator to select the various features and options for the Web site and forms for entering text that is used to populate fields of stored templates.
IOW, it's more than just single-page templates. This system is multi-user, it supports a web page approval structure, and it supports web SITE templates.
That is, the templates will generate a whole bunch of pages.
Broadband does not mean fast, although it usually is. It means running more than one kind of signal over the same wire. Therefore, a T1/T3 is not broadband, while DSL and cablemodems are: the same wire gives you both your TCP/IP access and phone/tv.
Cable-based telcos are also popping up. my mother gets her phone service from her cable company; no telco wires enter her house. that is also broadband.
Personally, I prefer to see clearly. That's one the reasons why I'd rather not gaze into the crystal ball.
Ball-gazers are responsible for many of the dot-bombs. They've been responsible for many problems in society: e.g. "The War to End All Wars" which didn't.
Why not just live in the now? It's a lot easier to see what's happening now, and deal with it. Sure, the future is interesting, and if I want to think about it, I'll read some Kim Stanley Robinson or something and wonder a bit. But really: we have to deal with the present. There's enough happening at any given moment to give anyone pause for thought.
Sure, think about the consequences of your actions, because the future will become the present. But don't go around saying things like "DSL is Dead!" when I'm using it right now.:) Perhaps some American DSL companies are in trouble, but that's not an indicator of the future, but rather the present. What happens next depends on what everybody does, and predicting that's a fool's game.
Perhaps DSL will die. ISDN has almost no usage anymore, it can happen. I hope that RS-232 will go away. But there's no grand destiny here. What will happen, will happen; what we need pundits for are to help us cope with it when it does happen, because individuals are largely powerless to control these things.
Actually, it depends on your jurisdiction. The original poster was describing a self-help remedy.
You wouldn't be prosecuted for theft, BTW. You can't steal things you own. This is true in any common-law jurisdiction.
Normally, you wouldn't be prosecuted for break and enter either. Break and enter is usually a predicate offense: you are prosecuted with committing a B&E if you do it with the intent to commit a felony (or an indictable offense, or whatever the term is). Since you weren't breaking in to commit a felony (taking possession of your property is legal), then you would normally not be prosecuted.
You might be prosecuted for trespass, though. This would vary by jurisdiction, a lot. Also, you might be sued if you negligently damaged the property of the thief, for example by breaking the door down. You'd have a pretty good partial defense to that though in most jurisdictions, and would probably not be liable for the full extent of the damages.
That said, the police are generally more effective than self-help remedies. But they're not always illegal.
Slashdot Mirror
Close, but no cigar.
Patent law was originally intended to promote progress in the sciences, which in modern terms translates to technological innovation.
Copyright law was originally intended to promote progress in the arts, which in modern terms translates to good entertainment.
Copyright law's got nothing to do with innovation, never has. Why it got applied to binary numbers meant to express a simple technological function with no human-readable content whatever, I'll never understand...
(Before the twentieth century, every copyrightable item could be processed by an unaided normal human. We have moved well beyond that: why we stick with the antiquated notion of copyright, I'm not sure.)
AppleScript is incredibly easy. If you can learn Perl in a week, you can learn AppleScript in... well, five minutes. :)
These are your basic references, in order:
AppleScript isn't as powerful as Perl in some ways, but it's vastly easier to use & it integrates into the GUI much, much better.
You need a program called the Script Editor. It might not be on your HD yet, but it will be on your MacOS install disks.
I'll even give you some sample code. Here ya go, this is what AS looks like; you can even cut and paste this into Script Editor, it should work. I give you this one because it's one of the few I have that doesn't use any OSAXen; it's all done through the scriptable Finder, so all you need is OS 9.
to ProcessFile(fileRef)tell application "Finder"
set currentName to the name of fileRef
set extension to the last text item of currentName
if extension is "html" or extension is "htm" then
set creator type of fileRef to "DmWr"
set file type of fileRef to "TEXT"
else if extension is "smil" then
set creator type of fileRef to "TVOD"
set file type of fileRef to ".SMI"
else if extension is "gif" then
set creator type of fileRef to "ogle"
set file type of fileRef to "GIFf"
else if extension is "jpg" then
set creator type of fileRef to "ogle"
set file type of fileRef to "JPEG"
else if extension is "c" or extension is "h" or extension is "cpp" then
set creator type of fileRef to "MPS "
set file type of fileRef to "TEXT"
end if
end tell
end ProcessFile
to ProcessFolder(folderRef)
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "."
tell application "Finder"
if (count of items of folderRef) is greater than 0 then
set fileNo to count of files of folderRef
set speechString to "Processing " & (fileNo) & " file"
if fileNo is not equal to 1 then
set speechString to speechString & "s"
end if
set folderNo to count of folders of folderRef
if folderNo is not equal to 0 then
set speechString to speechString & " and " & (folderNo) & " folder"
if folderNo is not equal to 1 then
set speechString to speechString & "s"
end if
end if
set speechString to speechString & " in folder " & name of folderRef
say speechString
set x to 1
repeat while x is less than or equal to the (count of folders of folderRef)
my ProcessFolder(folder x of folderRef)
say "Returning to " & name of folderRef
set x to x + 1
end repeat
set x to 1
repeat while x is less than or equal to the (count of files of folderRef)
set currentFile to file x of folderRef
my ProcessFile(currentFile)
set x to x + 1
end repeat
else
say "Skipping empty folder " & name of folderRef
end if
end tell
end ProcessFolder
set x to 1
set currentSelection to selection of application "Finder"
if (count of items of currentSelection) is 0 then
say "I have nothing to clean up."
else
repeat while x is less than or equal to the (count of items of currentSelection)
set currentItem to item x of currentSelection
if folder of (info for currentItem) then
ProcessFolder(currentItem)
else
ProcessFile(currentItem)
end if
set x to x + 1
end repeat
say "Cleanup file types done."
end if
What the previous batch of code does is ask Finder for its currently selected items, and then, for each of them, if it's a folder, it recursively processes every item in the folder, and checks its unix-style file extension. If the file extension matches one item in a list, then it changes the file's creator and document type codes. Specifically, it hands over all html files to DreamWeaver, C source to Macintosh Programmer's Workshop, and SMIL, GIF, and JPEG files to QuickTime. It executes rather slowly, but I don't need to run it very often. I compiled it to an applet, and have it in my Speakable Items folder.
It's a little buggy. It doesn't seem to work right when the currently selected items are files (well, it doesn't do anything at all). I don't know why, I haven't cared enough to fix it. :)
Most of my AppleScript links either to MacAST or to the QuickTime Player. Unfortunately, AppleScript has to be implemented at the application end, unlike Perl which can interface through pipes to most anything text-based. However, this makes it more powerful in some ways: AppleScript works exclusively by sending events, so it can do things that normally would require the user to click buttons, hard to do in Perl (although I think there's an AppleEvents module in MacPerl, which would be more flexible than AppleScript; all my Perl work I do on my *nix box so I don't know :)
Both AirPort and Location Manager have AppleScript support. Write an AppleScript. Hell, compile it & save it in your Speakable Items folder, and switch by talking, forget the mouse... ;)
I'm already running 9.2.1. OS X however is not free, and needs more than 64MB. OK, I'm planning on buying new memory. Grad student budgets: food is first. :)
I sync my Rio 500 using iTunes...
Actually, that brings up my sole complaint regarding this device. It requires iTunes 2, which AFAIK only runs on OS X. Those of us with OS 9 systems would like to play with Firewire toys as well...
Well, it's kinda possible. It's normally called "renting" though :)
Assuming you have a patent license on the hardware, you could slap an EULA on that. That's no good when the patent expires though, which is a lot sooner than copyright expires. You could prolly put an EULA on the console's operating system, I guess. Ick.
Two NICs? Nope.
However, I consider that to be really only a server/gateway router issue. Any Mac servers with multiple network segments these days I would expect to be running OS X, which has the same routing as other BSDs do. And I'd never waste a Mac on a gateway router.
Apple has indeed produced a two-button mouse; IIRC that's what they started with, as it's what the Parc machines used. They've never marketed one though, mainly because usability studies have shown that people find them confusing.
Certainly, in training people in Windows, that's the most common downfall. Click. No, the other button.
I not only remember the hockey puck, I actually use one. as in, right now. :) It's not that bad! Perhaps it's my big hands, though. "Ergonomic" mice always feel like they're going to fall out of my hands, and the hockey puck doesn't.
As for optical sensors... yes. However, Apple is an industry leader in mouse design for cleanliness. Their non-optical mice just don't get dirty the way, say, cheap Logitech mice do. I'm not sure why...
In one case, Location Manager does require a reboot- when you associate Extensions Manager profiles with different locations; but not otherwise, you can swap all your TCP/IP settings, date/time and other crap without bothering.
You are wrong.
Pizza companies often trademark their phone numbers. If you've called a number like 310-3030 (an Atlantic Canada pizza joint IIRC), then you've used a trademark.
You can trademark anything so long as it's distinctive. With phone numbers, you have to do a good bit of work marketing them to make them distinctive, but it can be done, and has been done. Theoretically, you could even register an IP address: now that would bring up some interesting issues...
The technews server is now back up. However, the WIPO decisions are available in fulltext here (Aspen Grove) and here (Maggi), for those bright enough to do their own analysis.
Perhaps it's just a /. editor making a joke.
Certainly not a sign of the apocalypse, or if it is, we're all doomed :)
That's one definition of property.
Another definition is this: My property is the set of physical items whose physical location I control. It's my apartment because I control who and what is allowed inside it. It's my computer because I control where it is.
This definition does not include so-called intellectual or industrial property, which is very much an anomaly in terms of property law. There are lots of aspects of property that just don't apply to copyright.
For example, in two hundred years, my forks will still be property, assuming that they're still around. They might be my property (or my estate's :), or they might be somebody else's. However, my copyright in this post will have expired (along with me :)...
You have to figure out which machines have untrusted users. Fortunately, this particular case is a local-only exploit; so if you're a sysadmin of a large system, then it's time to take it down.
However, this is also where having a good firewall can save you much heartache. The firewall itself is by definition a system with untrusted users (unless you can guarantee you've never been broken into), so needs to be patched. If you have unprotected systems, all of them need to be patched.
Keep all your systems behind a well-designed firewall, and these decisions become much, much easier.
By taking the MCSE exams.
Sad, but true. The concern is that the Gartner migrants may re-migrate back.
That said, the MCSEs of the world should be forced to get real jobs, you know, at Burger Thing or someplace they can put their talents to good use. :)
huh. where are the universities? look around, see plenty of stuff going on.
at my institution (I'm a grad student, not in CS), there are strange wars around campus over operating system choice. the campus is sponsored by Sun and so we have these javaboxen all over the place. however, there are a pile of machines owned by various faculties that are all running iis, and yes, they were all hit by code red. one of my (non-CS) profs has a linux server in his office. so by no means is it a MFC house: rather it would be best characterized as a war zone. the only CS prof I know seems to be doing all his work in java. also, I know of plenty of other places where perl is running everything.
but then, I'm in library science, and here in LIS open source is considered a very good thing, because we always need to tweak stuff for our environments. (example: my library, written in perl and GPL'ed).
Windows 3.x sucked hard for its time. Where were you then?
Its competition was Desqview, MultiFinder, the Amiga OS... all vastly more usable.
It won because M$ signed contracts with a large number of application providers to produce products exclusively for Windows 3.x. So, people bought Windows to run apps on then, just as they do now.
By an important measure, often forgotten by fly-by-night "investors": physical assets.
IBM owns tons of factories, land, etc. This doesn't make it into market cap, but it is important to majority investors, who care about getting value for their money.
Remember, most of the megacorps (M$ included) don't have the majority of their shares being commonly traded. If you want to pull a takeover, you have to persuade the large shareholders to hand over. Market cap just isn't that important, unless you're a guppy.
That's why ordinary investors like takeover attempts so much: they drive the share price up to somewhere near what it's actually worth.
Well, I looked at that website, and I saw a ton of templates for designing web-ready graphics, and nothing for web site design except that it had an integration feature so that you could bring it into Dreamweaver/etc. fairly easily.
Looks like a neat program, but I Don't Think So.
Remember, the thing defined in the patent does _all_ of those things, in an integrated way.
Sigh.
Why can't /. read patent claims? This patent (somewhat cleaner presentation of the text than the top link) has a whole bunch of claims, and it actually has a detailed descriptive listing as to what the program's supposed to do.
I reproduce the list here.
IOW, it's more than just single-page templates. This system is multi-user, it supports a web page approval structure, and it supports web SITE templates.
That is, the templates will generate a whole bunch of pages.
You are funny.
IBM is much, much bigger than Microsoft. Perhaps you would like to suggest that Sony is in danger of a takeover from M$ next. :)
Broadband does not mean fast, although it usually is. It means running more than one kind of signal over the same wire. Therefore, a T1/T3 is not broadband, while DSL and cablemodems are: the same wire gives you both your TCP/IP access and phone/tv.
Cable-based telcos are also popping up. my mother gets her phone service from her cable company; no telco wires enter her house. that is also broadband.
As they say, hindsight is 20/20.
Personally, I prefer to see clearly. That's one the reasons why I'd rather not gaze into the crystal ball.
Ball-gazers are responsible for many of the dot-bombs. They've been responsible for many problems in society: e.g. "The War to End All Wars" which didn't.
Why not just live in the now? It's a lot easier to see what's happening now, and deal with it. Sure, the future is interesting, and if I want to think about it, I'll read some Kim Stanley Robinson or something and wonder a bit. But really: we have to deal with the present. There's enough happening at any given moment to give anyone pause for thought.
Sure, think about the consequences of your actions, because the future will become the present. But don't go around saying things like "DSL is Dead!" when I'm using it right now. :) Perhaps some American DSL companies are in trouble, but that's not an indicator of the future, but rather the present. What happens next depends on what everybody does, and predicting that's a fool's game.
Perhaps DSL will die. ISDN has almost no usage anymore, it can happen. I hope that RS-232 will go away. But there's no grand destiny here. What will happen, will happen; what we need pundits for are to help us cope with it when it does happen, because individuals are largely powerless to control these things.
Or you could even go here to see the cache without the search terms highlighted. :)
Actually, it depends on your jurisdiction. The original poster was describing a self-help remedy.
You wouldn't be prosecuted for theft, BTW. You can't steal things you own. This is true in any common-law jurisdiction.
Normally, you wouldn't be prosecuted for break and enter either. Break and enter is usually a predicate offense: you are prosecuted with committing a B&E if you do it with the intent to commit a felony (or an indictable offense, or whatever the term is). Since you weren't breaking in to commit a felony (taking possession of your property is legal), then you would normally not be prosecuted.
You might be prosecuted for trespass, though. This would vary by jurisdiction, a lot. Also, you might be sued if you negligently damaged the property of the thief, for example by breaking the door down. You'd have a pretty good partial defense to that though in most jurisdictions, and would probably not be liable for the full extent of the damages.
That said, the police are generally more effective than self-help remedies. But they're not always illegal.