So I'm sitting in the pub, after work yesterday, and I hear not one, not two, not three, but four cell phones going off and peole so discourteous as to sit at the bar and blather away "Yeah, I'm still a fsckhead, oh, and tell Amy and Bob that I'm a fsckhead, too, ok?" like everyone in the place wants to hear their personal life.
What's that you say? I'm overreacting? "Get a grip?"
Ok, let's see how we like it when people aren't just holding these things to the side of their heads and blabbing, but holding it out front of themselves like a make-up compact and blathering away and/or showing everyone all the great video, too.
Sometimes the future isn't all it's cracked up to be.
"Hi, I'd like an e-bomb, just a small one, do you have something that could knock out electronics within a 15ft radius?"
What I'm waiting to see is how this interacts with Apple's new music service which supposedly debuts next month.
Nice catalog of music to choose from.
Well, IIRC, the current owner of the Apple Records trademark (Beatles, among others) and litigated with Apple Computer over the trademark. It would be irony if UMG owns the trademark.
I bought my first x86 PC about 3 years ago, a Sony Vaio laptop (currently vacationing in Oz w/friends for a year, they like it), which was Ok at first, then just too damn slow. Over the past 8 months I've gathered parts and finally built my first x86 desktop (prior systems were Suns and an Amiga.)
I was impressed enough with the look and reliability of the LCD monitor built into my laptop (CPU and bus speed just too slow for my needs) and elected to go LCD for the desktop. I was set on an NEC 1700 or some sort, but after reading a few reviews I switched to a Samsung SyncMaster 172t. I like it, although it's very very bright and that could be toned down a bit (current graphics card driver can do that for me, yay!) Since I spend a lot of time using the hardware I bought, I probably won't upgrade for a couple years (depending, of course, on the Hammer rollout, but even that may queue up after a few other priorities, like a new vehicle or new bicycle) I can run DV-I or Analog, so I'm pretty sure I've got compatibility covered. I figured I'd spend the money once on a new monitor, so choose your form factor as well as your supplier. This comes with a bracket to attach to the wall, too, which I might do later.
Interesting to say the least but a few of the effects looked a little plastic. It should be a good 2 hour ride though. I'm still wondering which shot "will be so expensive that no one will every copy it."
Probably the car bit they staged in the bay area (it was some time ago and made the news, what with spies trying to fly over and film it from choppers, etc.) The rest, well, incredibly realistic CGI is getting the be the norm. They just ran the trailer on Access Hollywood and I can't say it sold me on the film. More likely it confirmed my expectation that it's all eye candy and special effects. Story? I'm sure it has one, but it's always so hard to top the first experience, nothing is new again in sequels. Oh, and since there's already the 3rd film pretty much in the can, you know certain things can't happen.
As always, it's sched'd for Friday, May 23rd, It'll be packed anyway. I could stand in line and say 'Moo', like everyone else (what? you think this is exclusively a geek film?) or go see some other flick the hoards aren't flooding.
As I read it, the "dupe" was an unofficial speculation. This sounds as though Sun has made an official statement that
the speculation was correct.
Sure, but it's such big news that it'll probably get duped again. BTW, have you heard about this?
A while back I wondered my humble needs were worthy of a Hammer. I did my first MPEG processing over the weekend. I'm definitely worthy, where the hell is it? Gimme!!!
Could this be the give-away that unlocks Windows, in general? Recall, Microsoft prospered because IBM allowed Bill Gates to sell DOS in their licensing agreement. An error I'm sure IBM will never forget. Microsoft is banking on many things, same as IBM was back then, and perhaps assuming WinCE isn't that important in their grand scheme. Maybe it isn't, maybe it will be. Once the horses have left the corral it takes some effort to bring them back. Of course, Microsoft's solution, lurking in the wings could be to change it radically, causing a fork. Timing could be everything.
Dude, they only "renamed" the cartridge from C1823D to 23. I believe the intent was to make things easier to remember...
Dude, I just found that out off their website. When all you see is row upon row of these things with 2 digit numbers hanging on the wall in boxes, you have no idea what it's going to be. #23 for color and #45 for black. The temp store monkeys aren't indoctrinated in the clever maccinations of HP and their arcane cartridge relabeling scheme, so the consumer is left to wander the earth aimlessly in doubt, until they get an answer. Rule #1, I've learned from my days dealing with Customer Service people as clients, don't change shit you don't have to, it paralyzes everyone if they don't know it's coming. Imagine how few boxes of Cheerios General Mills would sell if they suddenly changed the box color from Yellow to Black.
Now to decide if I want to buy the thing this month, or save up enough money to buy it next month.:-)
If the printer is jamming a lot, clean the rollers thoroughly with isopropyl (note here, NEVER use anything else, and ESPECIALLY NOT PETRO PRODUCTS!)
Over the years I've done a lot of cleaning of rubber parts. Belts, rollers, pressure rollers, etc. and the advice my father (a ChemE) gave was never use alcohol for cleaning rubber. Typically if you can remove the part, wash it with warm water and dish soap, towel it dry with a decent paper towel (not one which leaves a lot of paper bits on it) to exend the life. Isopropyl alcohol, like the petrol solvents, will remove the elasticizer from types of rubber. I've used water and sometimes small amounts of soap, with Q-tips to clean tape decks over the years with no problem.
IIRC, from my days working on a DEC TU16, there were cleaning compounds DEC recommended and large warnings about what was allowed to come into contact with rubber parts, including seals. Just a little dust-free cloth was all I was supposed to use on them.
And the laser printers are old laserjet II,III,4-etc and most work. even with 600,000 copies on it. I just tested and processed a laserjet 5 with 635,931 copies and it still prints like a champ.
This be true. We've got several HP Laserjets at work, even an old III still plugging along and with the terrible neglect they still keep going. Although they do tend to suffer physical damage just as well as the Deskjunks do, when users cram the paper tray in with a kick, etc. They tend to cost a bit more and if you want color they cost quite a lot more. The downside, for me, is I don't print very often and have been concerned about shelf-life of toner, that and the black toner dust getting in everything.
I've got a 132 column alps p2000g that I picked up for $15 (GREAT price!)
A steal if ever there was one. I shelled ~$600 for mine when it was new, about 14 years ago, IIRC. It's the 24pin with color. I didn't use color much, but it could zip off draft like a prince, and I've always found fan-fold the best way to review and annotate code. I've still got some listings from ~20 years ago, some of my favorite old programs which I cut my teeth on.:-)
The point of this: each time you replace your ink, you are actually getting a brand new pen as well, so the quality is exactly the same as when you bought the unit (unless they are misaligned, or need to be cleaned). This changes with newer printers which use lasers to self-align.....
I'm quite familiar with how they work. The issues I have are more along the remaining mechanics responsible for paperfeed, alignment, sensors (got paper?) etc.
Images used to look beautiful, now they regularly have bars, even with a new premium HP cart., due to the paper feed being less precise. I've wasted a number of envelopes, too, as it seems to be getting cranky about how it wants to handle them, i.e. how far does it advance the form before it decides it actually has been moving a form rather than trying to load it.
And slow doesn't begin to describe it. The way it appears to recalibrate every time I start a new print job appears to indicate they knew it would run into problems eventually and try to correct itself.
Then there are the messy jams. And I haven't even run mailing labels through it.:-) Anyone who has ever had to disect, clean and reassemble a printer a user has reversed mailing labels through, I appologise for recalling that memory and making you cringe.
This was ~$300 printer when I bought it. An equivilent printer off the shelf is about $124 now. Total cost of a set of carts, from a discount seller, $55-$60, YMMV.
Amazingly my HP Deskjunk 895Cse still works. It misbehaves regularly and print quality is looking less impressive
every time I run off copy. It's 3 years old and I've undoubtably spent as much for ink cartridges as I did to buy it
originally. Yes, they do print very nice and pretty when they're new. Best not to expect that for long though, like a
chinese made egg beater in my kitchen drawer the plastic cogs loosen up until it starts making strange noises and jamming.
Oh, and a big thanks to HP for renumbering the ink cartridges, that was a huge help, now I go to the store and say, "well, it was a C1823D, no I can't remember what model the printer is, I only kept track of the cartridge."
Naturally there's now guide handy at the store either, so I'll probably have to look it up on-line and put the new number in my PDA while I'm thinking about it.
The real question would be, what's a decent quality printer these days?
Stashed in my closet is an Alps ALQ-224e, one mighty printer. You don't find them made like that anymore.
It's got to weigh 30 lbs, but it could whip off draft copy fast, and best of all on fan-fold paper. Ever
try to debug with your code scattered across several sheets of laser printer paper? Ugh! I'll probably keep this beast as long as it runs.
I've still got two ribbons for it and they're still for sale (apparently these things were more popular outside the US, as in Europe) and ribbons
are still for sale for it.
Greater control, or hedging a bit from offshore interests having more influence than the PRC is comfortable granting?
Consider that they still commonly refer to China's humiliation at the hands of colonial powers, back in the mid-1800's. Give 'em time or flog them with WTO. If Google wins, it should be on a superior product for the customer. It's already acknowledged as such, frequenly on/., perhaps that success will carry over, or maybe they'll come up with something better, don't sell them short.
Hey I never got much of a chance to read up on this but with the advertised range what is the security like? Dont
tell me its like that pushover excuse for protection known as WEP on 802.11b. My big concern is that with all this
range it will be hard to pinpoint where the guy with a card and a laptop is tryign [sic] to get your stuff. Or steal
connection from an ISP? Anyone got any thoughts or know the security specifics?
Right on the heels of this article, I'm more worried about War Cooking... gangs of nerdish thugs driving around cities, looking for open access to my microwave.
07:10 AM Cook for 10 minutes 07:20 AM Done 07:22 AM Cook for 15 minutes 07:37 AM Done 07:48 AM Cook for 5 minutes 07:53 AM Done 08:04 AM Cook for 3 minutes 08:07 AM Done 08:14 AM Cook for 25 minutes Smoke alarm goes off, firemen arrive, haul smoking carcass of microwave out into street.
I sure hope the software to control it is *VERY* secure, so I don't have random microwaves causing mischief
around my house.
I'd be more worried about some unethical varlet cracking into my meal preparation system and turning my Lobster Thermidor a Crevette with a mornay sauce served in a Provencale manner with
shallots and aubergines garnished with truffle pate, brandy and with a fried egg on top and
spam into a small, black, krinkled thing that looks like a strip of bacon just returned from the core of the sun.
$2000? Hmm.. Microwave costs, what $100 for an OK, model. Couple peltier coolers @ $5 each from the local parts place. Stuff some insullation in the microwave... The network stuff can probably be engineered from off the shelf parts from Fry's for a couple hundred and a few hours fooling around with code and or config. So why is this $2000?
It would be cool to see/. endorse a little friendly competition among readers to knock one of these together for the lowest cost, meeting minimum specifications, i.e. keeps food chilled or frozen, able to be called with minimal fuss. Cooks food.
In my calmer moments, I've contemplated tracking down Alan Ralsky and shooting him.
After that first, smug interview in the Detroit News (or was it Freep?) I can sympathize. What self-centeredness makes such a cretin, and yet to gloat?
Re:What does it RUN then?
on
Legacy-Free PCs
·
· Score: 2, Informative
This is the unfortunate question. The idealist rolls out the next, best thing and the users looks at it and asks, "Does it run x?", where x is any of the legacy operating systems or software they are proficient and comfortable with. Way, way back there was this computer called Amiga, which was truly a work of art. Tragically it was in the hands of an executive and marketing group which was apparently from some other planet (remember the Superbowl ad?) The 2000 was the model which should have come out first and then it had this half-assed attempt to bridge systems, a PC card which bridged to an ISA bus. Expensive, indecisive, doomed. If Commodore had been lead by people with a real vision (the engineers sure had vision) it could be a system holding down a significant number of desktops.
This is the risk you run by running a business out of your home, privacy for him and his family are due, but not for
his business that offends many people.
If he runs a questionable business from his home, he can't expect to have any kind of protection. The spam
business sure dosen't deserve any. He should of known better.
Agreement, somewhat. In fits of anger and frustration I've felt like, if the spammer was my neighbor I'd go over and give him a knuckle sandwich. Not the best way for me to handle the situation, but by the same token, he should respect my right to privacy and my wishes not to have ads sent to me via forged addresses.
That the spammer conducts a questionable business is general and yet an understatement. If it's a business they conduct until they make enough money to pay their rent, or some other short-term expense then it could hardly be classified as a business, more a simple enterprise. Probably your 'questionable' view is derived from the very dubious products most of these people are selling. Phony pharmacuticals, useless money making schemes, or actual criminal intent to gather personal/financial information.
Here's the thing. Their privacy can only be so well guarded, since you need to contact them, or the person who used their services, to make any transaction. Therefore they need to expose a phone number or a web site. The more clever ones use offshore sites and stolen cell phones. (Ever notice fraud related spam peaks Friday-Sunday, when it's most difficult to contact an ISP/law enforcement? I've been through this a couple times, I know.)
Stupid spammers give out their home phone numbers or a website, which can easily be tracked with a who is lookup. I have one targeted, and he will receive a lot of junk mail, soon. Thanks to his spamming me. I don't feel any remorse about such a practice of harrassment, other than the amount of wastepaper it generates. With most spam it's been a one-way street, they harrass you, you can't even communicate back to them, despite laws on the books or coming soon.
If I could, I would:
DoS attack spammers websites.
Sue those I can track down, for my time and resources in dealing with their garbage.
Find out who Bulkers Warehouse is and shut them down. They spammed, several times, from offshore forging my email address.
remember that these guys have tremendously deep pockets.
They can afford to pour money down a profitless hole for years, knowing that eventually they'll figure out how to
market the product. Notice I said "market the product."
Microsoft's Achilles heel is that they don't seem to realize this sort of thing won't work forever. They have rapidly been approaching saturation in profitalble markets (those they hold near monopoly in) and the hey-day is nearly over. As some financial analysts have put it, Microsoft is a mature company, it has an established base and now needs to focus on holding it. Yet, Linux erodes their server base and their entertainment division hemorrages cash. Yes, deep pockets, but whatever their culture, the stockholders will at some point begin to question all these expensive forays into marquee, yet unprofitable, ventures.
Efforts of the BSA are geared toward recovering lost profits as margin shrinks. If I bought W'95 and it does what I want and I could give a rat's patoot about what Microsoft supports, they don't make money off me. Successive rollouts of Windows and Office to a market which is increasingly indifferent about bells and whistles is a losing proposition. It may seem premature, but Microsoft is ripe of acquisition and paring down. So long as Mr. Gates has significant ownership that can be staved off, but I see it in the distance. Microsoft is not immune from inertia.
I'm wondering how this will fly compared to George Lucas' vision. Will Episode 3 not play on WM9 screens because Microsoft stole his idea? (if this appears arcane, it's a reference to Lucas' views on DVD and his early lack of interest in relseasing EPs 4-6 on DVD, at least, from what I've read.)
Agreed on first point, MSFT should just do it and shut up. MSDN and other MSFT sites are loaded with broken links, so they should consider starting with cleaning up their own back yard. If the quality of their documentation is any example of what they'll offer, then Google has already won.
I find it laughable, in the extreme, that MSFT sees Google as competition. Hell, they seem to view everything as competition, yet only those things where they hold near monopolies are they successful, and the products vary from pretty good to aggrevating (I've worked with their 'productivity tools' enough over the years to exclude them from anything I'd place on my home computer. Life is too short to spend grousing about how such simple tasks can be such a pain to accomplish, at least for free, at work I get paid to put up with it.
For those opportunists out there, try to guess what they'll name their brilliant new search engine and register the URL first.;-)
It's About Glue
on
BSA IDC FUD
·
· Score: 4, Funny
If piracy is high, their IT sector must be low
If an IT sector is low it must be a developing country
If it's a developing country then piracy will be high
thus...
If piracy is high, we impose trade sanctions
If trade sanctions are imposed, a developing country's economy will suffer
If people can't make enough money to buy software because their economy suffers they will not pirate software because they have learned their lesson.
"Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue."
I tend to view it this way... how bad will it be when an enemy has the same weapon. The enemy could be from enemy soldier to terrorist to sociopathic killer. For every advance in weapon technology, there should follow the concern of it falling into the wrong hands. Unfortunately, reasoning seems to follow: We get them first and more of them and better of them than anybody else and we'll be able to control the situation. Um.. right.
Slashdot Mirror
What's that you say? I'm overreacting? "Get a grip?"
Ok, let's see how we like it when people aren't just holding these things to the side of their heads and blabbing, but holding it out front of themselves like a make-up compact and blathering away and/or showing everyone all the great video, too.
Sometimes the future isn't all it's cracked up to be.
"Hi, I'd like an e-bomb, just a small one, do you have something that could knock out electronics within a 15ft radius?"
Just so long as it doesn't require only NVidia chipsets. I thought we left enough of that crap behind us.
Well, IIRC, the current owner of the Apple Records trademark (Beatles, among others) and litigated with Apple Computer over the trademark. It would be irony if UMG owns the trademark.
EA and Nvidia best consumate this in word and not so much in act.
I was impressed enough with the look and reliability of the LCD monitor built into my laptop (CPU and bus speed just too slow for my needs) and elected to go LCD for the desktop. I was set on an NEC 1700 or some sort, but after reading a few reviews I switched to a Samsung SyncMaster 172t. I like it, although it's very very bright and that could be toned down a bit (current graphics card driver can do that for me, yay!) Since I spend a lot of time using the hardware I bought, I probably won't upgrade for a couple years (depending, of course, on the Hammer rollout, but even that may queue up after a few other priorities, like a new vehicle or new bicycle) I can run DV-I or Analog, so I'm pretty sure I've got compatibility covered. I figured I'd spend the money once on a new monitor, so choose your form factor as well as your supplier. This comes with a bracket to attach to the wall, too, which I might do later.
Probably the car bit they staged in the bay area (it was some time ago and made the news, what with spies trying to fly over and film it from choppers, etc.) The rest, well, incredibly realistic CGI is getting the be the norm. They just ran the trailer on Access Hollywood and I can't say it sold me on the film. More likely it confirmed my expectation that it's all eye candy and special effects. Story? I'm sure it has one, but it's always so hard to top the first experience, nothing is new again in sequels. Oh, and since there's already the 3rd film pretty much in the can, you know certain things can't happen.
As always, it's sched'd for Friday, May 23rd, It'll be packed anyway. I could stand in line and say 'Moo', like everyone else (what? you think this is exclusively a geek film?) or go see some other flick the hoards aren't flooding.
Sure, but it's such big news that it'll probably get duped again. BTW, have you heard about this?
A while back I wondered my humble needs were worthy of a Hammer. I did my first MPEG processing over the weekend. I'm definitely worthy, where the hell is it? Gimme!!!
Could this be the give-away that unlocks Windows, in general? Recall, Microsoft prospered because IBM allowed Bill Gates to sell DOS in their licensing agreement. An error I'm sure IBM will never forget. Microsoft is banking on many things, same as IBM was back then, and perhaps assuming WinCE isn't that important in their grand scheme. Maybe it isn't, maybe it will be. Once the horses have left the corral it takes some effort to bring them back. Of course, Microsoft's solution, lurking in the wings could be to change it radically, causing a fork. Timing could be everything.
Dude, I just found that out off their website. When all you see is row upon row of these things with 2 digit numbers hanging on the wall in boxes, you have no idea what it's going to be. #23 for color and #45 for black. The temp store monkeys aren't indoctrinated in the clever maccinations of HP and their arcane cartridge relabeling scheme, so the consumer is left to wander the earth aimlessly in doubt, until they get an answer. Rule #1, I've learned from my days dealing with Customer Service people as clients, don't change shit you don't have to, it paralyzes everyone if they don't know it's coming. Imagine how few boxes of Cheerios General Mills would sell if they suddenly changed the box color from Yellow to Black.
Now to decide if I want to buy the thing this month, or save up enough money to buy it next month. :-)
Over the years I've done a lot of cleaning of rubber parts. Belts, rollers, pressure rollers, etc. and the advice my father (a ChemE) gave was never use alcohol for cleaning rubber. Typically if you can remove the part, wash it with warm water and dish soap, towel it dry with a decent paper towel (not one which leaves a lot of paper bits on it) to exend the life. Isopropyl alcohol, like the petrol solvents, will remove the elasticizer from types of rubber. I've used water and sometimes small amounts of soap, with Q-tips to clean tape decks over the years with no problem.
IIRC, from my days working on a DEC TU16, there were cleaning compounds DEC recommended and large warnings about what was allowed to come into contact with rubber parts, including seals. Just a little dust-free cloth was all I was supposed to use on them.
This be true. We've got several HP Laserjets at work, even an old III still plugging along and with the terrible neglect they still keep going. Although they do tend to suffer physical damage just as well as the Deskjunks do, when users cram the paper tray in with a kick, etc. They tend to cost a bit more and if you want color they cost quite a lot more. The downside, for me, is I don't print very often and have been concerned about shelf-life of toner, that and the black toner dust getting in everything.
A steal if ever there was one. I shelled ~$600 for mine when it was new, about 14 years ago, IIRC. It's the 24pin with color. I didn't use color much, but it could zip off draft like a prince, and I've always found fan-fold the best way to review and annotate code. I've still got some listings from ~20 years ago, some of my favorite old programs which I cut my teeth on. :-)
I'm quite familiar with how they work. The issues I have are more along the remaining mechanics responsible for paperfeed, alignment, sensors (got paper?) etc.
Images used to look beautiful, now they regularly have bars, even with a new premium HP cart., due to the paper feed being less precise. I've wasted a number of envelopes, too, as it seems to be getting cranky about how it wants to handle them, i.e. how far does it advance the form before it decides it actually has been moving a form rather than trying to load it.
And slow doesn't begin to describe it. The way it appears to recalibrate every time I start a new print job appears to indicate they knew it would run into problems eventually and try to correct itself.
Then there are the messy jams. And I haven't even run mailing labels through it. :-) Anyone who has ever had to disect, clean and reassemble a printer a user has reversed mailing labels through, I appologise for recalling that memory and making you cringe.
This was ~$300 printer when I bought it. An equivilent printer off the shelf is about $124 now. Total cost of a set of carts, from a discount seller, $55-$60, YMMV.
The real question would be, what's a decent quality printer these days?
Stashed in my closet is an Alps ALQ-224e, one mighty printer. You don't find them made like that anymore. It's got to weigh 30 lbs, but it could whip off draft copy fast, and best of all on fan-fold paper. Ever try to debug with your code scattered across several sheets of laser printer paper? Ugh! I'll probably keep this beast as long as it runs. I've still got two ribbons for it and they're still for sale (apparently these things were more popular outside the US, as in Europe) and ribbons are still for sale for it.
Consider that they still commonly refer to China's humiliation at the hands of colonial powers, back in the mid-1800's. Give 'em time or flog them with WTO. If Google wins, it should be on a superior product for the customer. It's already acknowledged as such, frequenly on /., perhaps that success will carry over, or maybe they'll come up with something better, don't sell them short.
Right on the heels of this article, I'm more worried about War Cooking... gangs of nerdish thugs driving around cities, looking for open access to my microwave.
07:10 AM Cook for 10 minutes
07:20 AM Done
07:22 AM Cook for 15 minutes
07:37 AM Done
07:48 AM Cook for 5 minutes
07:53 AM Done
08:04 AM Cook for 3 minutes
08:07 AM Done
08:14 AM Cook for 25 minutes
Smoke alarm goes off, firemen arrive, haul smoking carcass of microwave out into street.
I'd be more worried about some unethical varlet cracking into my meal preparation system and turning my Lobster Thermidor a Crevette with a mornay sauce served in a Provencale manner with shallots and aubergines garnished with truffle pate, brandy and with a fried egg on top and spam into a small, black, krinkled thing that looks like a strip of bacon just returned from the core of the sun.
"Well, what've you got?"
It would be cool to see /. endorse a little friendly competition among readers to knock one of these together for the lowest cost, meeting minimum specifications, i.e. keeps food chilled or frozen, able to be called with minimal fuss. Cooks food.
Thoughts?
After that first, smug interview in the Detroit News (or was it Freep?) I can sympathize. What self-centeredness makes such a cretin, and yet to gloat?
This is the unfortunate question. The idealist rolls out the next, best thing and the users looks at it and asks, "Does it run x?", where x is any of the legacy operating systems or software they are proficient and comfortable with. Way, way back there was this computer called Amiga, which was truly a work of art. Tragically it was in the hands of an executive and marketing group which was apparently from some other planet (remember the Superbowl ad?) The 2000 was the model which should have come out first and then it had this half-assed attempt to bridge systems, a PC card which bridged to an ISA bus. Expensive, indecisive, doomed. If Commodore had been lead by people with a real vision (the engineers sure had vision) it could be a system holding down a significant number of desktops.
If he runs a questionable business from his home, he can't expect to have any kind of protection. The spam business sure dosen't deserve any. He should of known better.
Agreement, somewhat. In fits of anger and frustration I've felt like, if the spammer was my neighbor I'd go over and give him a knuckle sandwich. Not the best way for me to handle the situation, but by the same token, he should respect my right to privacy and my wishes not to have ads sent to me via forged addresses.
That the spammer conducts a questionable business is general and yet an understatement. If it's a business they conduct until they make enough money to pay their rent, or some other short-term expense then it could hardly be classified as a business, more a simple enterprise. Probably your 'questionable' view is derived from the very dubious products most of these people are selling. Phony pharmacuticals, useless money making schemes, or actual criminal intent to gather personal/financial information.
Here's the thing. Their privacy can only be so well guarded, since you need to contact them, or the person who used their services, to make any transaction. Therefore they need to expose a phone number or a web site. The more clever ones use offshore sites and stolen cell phones. (Ever notice fraud related spam peaks Friday-Sunday, when it's most difficult to contact an ISP/law enforcement? I've been through this a couple times, I know.)
Stupid spammers give out their home phone numbers or a website, which can easily be tracked with a who is lookup. I have one targeted, and he will receive a lot of junk mail, soon. Thanks to his spamming me. I don't feel any remorse about such a practice of harrassment, other than the amount of wastepaper it generates. With most spam it's been a one-way street, they harrass you, you can't even communicate back to them, despite laws on the books or coming soon.
If I could, I would:
DoS attack spammers websites.
Sue those I can track down, for my time and resources in dealing with their garbage.
Find out who Bulkers Warehouse is and shut them down. They spammed, several times, from offshore forging my email address.
Microsoft's Achilles heel is that they don't seem to realize this sort of thing won't work forever. They have rapidly been approaching saturation in profitalble markets (those they hold near monopoly in) and the hey-day is nearly over. As some financial analysts have put it, Microsoft is a mature company, it has an established base and now needs to focus on holding it. Yet, Linux erodes their server base and their entertainment division hemorrages cash. Yes, deep pockets, but whatever their culture, the stockholders will at some point begin to question all these expensive forays into marquee, yet unprofitable, ventures.
Efforts of the BSA are geared toward recovering lost profits as margin shrinks. If I bought W'95 and it does what I want and I could give a rat's patoot about what Microsoft supports, they don't make money off me. Successive rollouts of Windows and Office to a market which is increasingly indifferent about bells and whistles is a losing proposition. It may seem premature, but Microsoft is ripe of acquisition and paring down. So long as Mr. Gates has significant ownership that can be staved off, but I see it in the distance. Microsoft is not immune from inertia.
I'm wondering how this will fly compared to George Lucas' vision. Will Episode 3 not play on WM9 screens because Microsoft stole his idea? (if this appears arcane, it's a reference to Lucas' views on DVD and his early lack of interest in relseasing EPs 4-6 on DVD, at least, from what I've read.)
I find it laughable, in the extreme, that MSFT sees Google as competition. Hell, they seem to view everything as competition, yet only those things where they hold near monopolies are they successful, and the products vary from pretty good to aggrevating (I've worked with their 'productivity tools' enough over the years to exclude them from anything I'd place on my home computer. Life is too short to spend grousing about how such simple tasks can be such a pain to accomplish, at least for free, at work I get paid to put up with it.
For those opportunists out there, try to guess what they'll name their brilliant new search engine and register the URL first. ;-)
If piracy is high, their IT sector must be low
If an IT sector is low it must be a developing country
If it's a developing country then piracy will be high
thus...
If piracy is high, we impose trade sanctions
If trade sanctions are imposed, a developing country's economy will suffer
If people can't make enough money to buy software because their economy suffers they will not pirate software because they have learned their lesson.
"Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue."
I tend to view it this way... how bad will it be when an enemy has the same weapon. The enemy could be from enemy soldier to terrorist to sociopathic killer. For every advance in weapon technology, there should follow the concern of it falling into the wrong hands. Unfortunately, reasoning seems to follow: We get them first and more of them and better of them than anybody else and we'll be able to control the situation. Um.. right.