Do you ever get the impression that SCO is turning into a kind of software tabloid company? They keep making ridiculous claims/statements, and they keep making news. The more ridiculous, the more people discuss SCO.
(I wonder what they have on page three... I bet they have spreads on page three -- well, maybe spreadsheets...)
Although seriously, maybe that's the whole idea. Maybe they're trying to increase brand awareness by making news so often? Dumb idea, if you ask me, but I've been around enough marketing types to know that it's the kind of thing they would suggest.
Ha! Good points! I didn't know that about Excel and Word -- but I know what you're talking about with the character-mode application. I remember using WordPerfect way back when....
But they were still developed by Microsoft, so the irony is not lost. They were Mac apps, but they weren't Mac products.
Apple has paid $50 Million in settlements. That's avoiding 'wasting millions on a lawsuit'?
Also, the original post mentioned that the only gains Apple is seeing from iTunes in an increased sale in iPods. The Beatles have received around $25 Million each settlement. Is an increased sale in iPods really worth another $25 Million settlement?
So? Don't many Mac users use Word, Excel, etc.? Don't they use Internet Explorer? That's what really annoyed me about Steve Jobs' "it's the best Windows application ever" statement. It sounded so proud of there being a Apple product running on a Microsoft product, but forgot all of the Microsoft products running on Apple products.
And then the Beatles would sue them for all they're worth.
Don't forget that Apple agreed to limit themselves to just computers when the Beatles sued them for trademark violation. (the Beatles' record label is called Apple Corps Ltd.). The Beatles are already suing them again for the iPod and iTunes, but if they did start signing on artists there really wouldn't be a way out of it. They would be in big legal trouble.
Oh great so now there will be an advertisement on the bottom of every blog post? Like all those advertisements I get on the bottom of emails from Hotmail people.
Just like Microsoft to turn something virtually free, with such an open community spirit, into something branded-up-the-whazoo to generate revenue for them....
This is absurd! Software piracy is an issue because, while designing a piece of software is a definite challenge, copying the software is just about the easiest thing you can do on a computer.
Tools, on the other hand, are physical and immutable. You can't just take one over to the copymat and make another one. In fact, making a tool that can duplicate itself involves an enormous amount of extra work to engineer than a normal tool. Can you imagine a hammer that can clone itself? One stone age man stopped chipping new stone axes with the butts of their existing axes, the age of reproducable tools was virtually over.
So if a company that makes normal, piracy-free, physical objects has gone through the lengths and challenges of making an object that can reproduce itself....well that was just dumb now, wasn't it? That's really asking for it.
Of course, if the company had exactly $10M of debts and $10M of assets, the CEO would kick in a penny and avoid bankruptcy...
Don't bet on it. A couple of years ago I worked at the energy company Aquila. One month before the company fired 500 people to try and save $40 Million, they distributed $30 Million in 'additional bonuses' to the top 5 executives. Five people. And 'additional bonuses' as in, above their 'normal' (extremely generous) bonuses, which is above their 'normal' (extremely generous) salaries. But did they redirect any of that money to keep their employees? No, of course not. Did they simply have no clue 30 days in advance that they would have to fire 500 people? No, of course not.
The moral of the story: never underestimate executives. They're always stupider and greedier than you might think.
Hopefully the new science channel will take the place of one of the many horrible music video channels (Such as MTV Jams) and give people something constructive to watch.
That would be great news, but the pessimist in me knows that most people consider the firing of neurons to be too exhausting. Scratch that, that would be the realist in me....
Does nobody else get the Science Channel? (it used to the Discovery Science channel but they renamed it) It's part of a whole group of more specific science channels on our digital cable plan, like Discovery Health, Discovery Wings, etc. My wife watches the Health channel all the time, but I love the Science Channel.
It has (IMO) some really excellent programming, and doesn't do that crap like Mysteries of the Egyptian Mummies and talk about how the constellations in the Eyptian sky happen to align just right with Edgar Cayce's predictions, or whatever that shite was. When the Science Channel does a show on Mummies, they follow a real team of scientists, give real stories about real digs and only present nice solid facts/theories.
It's my favorite of the hundreds of channels we get with our digital plan. If you can, watch it. But apparently nobody else gets this channel, because the poster and everybody else (in my threshold at least!) seems to be oooing and aahing over the idea....
You mean all those emails I get about there being a new Microsoft Critical Update weren't lying? I've just been deleting them....
Seriously though, I wish Microsoft would put out as many patches as those stupid emails I get say. After a few months at that rate they might have a stable OS for a change.
This sounds like it might also cover using cookies to store username/password login information -- the kind where you check a box to login automatically.
This seems like a thinly veiled effort to patent the use of cookies period, or at least what most people use them for.
Under U.S. law, it would be illegal to provide money or other material support to the designated Web sites
So if the site has ad banners on it, and I visit the site -- if they have a pay-per-view plan on their ad banners, then my visit just generated $0.0005 for the website. Would I be breaking the law?
Could someone put a shrinkwrap license that says "we will record your keystrokes and use this info to log into your bank accounts" and get away with installing programs on your computer without your approval?
That's how evil shareware/freeware companies get away with installing adware and spyware on your computer, so I assume so....
I have spent the last year developing DCM, or Digital Capitalization Management, a preventative measure to keep unauthorized customers from using ASCII 0x41 - 0x5A.
By exposing the use of the Shift Key, Halderman has undermined the DCM security! When news of the Shift Key was released, my stock* fell by infinite percent to our all-time low** of $0.00!
It is wrong to use one's knowledge and the cover of academia to facilitate the use of capital letters.
* 0 shares publically traded under the symbol LUSR ** I meant average
"I'm sorry, but this number was forwarded to my cell phone. I'll listen to what you have to say, but I need a name and address where I can forward the roaming charges."
Dec. 19, 1972 - USA decides they have had enough of the moon
Feb. 1, 2003 - Columbia disaster immediately prompts the question of replacing manned missions entirely with computerized vehicles
Oct. 15, 2003 - China increases their frantic pace to join the Space Age by putting a man in space
Ok, we've "been there, done that" for 40-odd years. Now suddenly it's not enough for China that they join the Space Age, but they are doing it at a pace that
1) seems absurd when compared to the decreasing interest by existing space-going countries, and 2) makes them look like they are racing against the clock.
It really makes you wonder, do they know something we don't?
Give the movie goer a REASON to see the movie in a theatre, make us CHOOSE the theatre instead of our living room/computer monitor/etc
Exactly! Theaters should do something like the Ultra High Definition Video mentioned last month. Apparently it was convincing enough to induce motion sickness! Now imagine that kind of quality on a big screen, and you're talking one heck of a theater-going experience.
The studios' problem is that home technology is increasing at a much faster rate than the theater technology. If only the MPAA would try to keep ahead of the technology, instead of trying to enforce people to watch their current technology, they would find more success and piss off fewer people.
Telemarketer: Blah blah blah. Me: Is this a business call? Telmarkter: Of course! Me: I'm sorry but this number is for personal calls only.
My in-laws do it the other way around. As soon as they get the telemarketer they just say "I'm sorry, this is a business line" and the telemarketer usually goes away. They know that businesses can't/shouldn't make impulse purchases for their products, or donations, or sign up for a credit card, or whatever -- and leave them alone.
One of my hobbies is woodworking, including using a lathe. So I turn my own pens. It's kind of anti-tech, but you know what they say, if you want something done right....
That sounds like a good idea, until you realize that one of their questions might involve a verbal contract. Example:
TELEMARKETER: So, sir, can I send you the free one month trail of You're A Sucker magazine, with no obligation for 30 days, and after that a cost of only $89.99 a year? RECORDING: Uh-huh. TELEMARKETER: That's wonderful! Can I confirm that your address is %%ADDRESSS%%? RECORDING: Uh-huh. TELEMARKETER: Thank you. Now would you like to receive a 10% discount by paying for your first year right now over the phone? RECORDING: (silence) TELEMARKETER: Or would you like to receive a bill for the full $89.99 after 30 days? RECORDING: Uh-huh.
Maybe a better option would be a "Hmmm...." every so often. Maybe even better would, with the help of some friends/babies, go something like:
"Hello?....Hi....Hey listen the baby is screaming right now, can you hold on for a second?....Ok now what were you saying?....No, wait, I forgot, who are you calling for again?....Oh there is somebody at the door, can you hold on for another second?...."
and repeat ad nauseum (and remember that the telemarketers would probably have a much stronger stomach for that stuff that you realize...)
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Do you ever get the impression that SCO is turning into a kind of software tabloid company? They keep making ridiculous claims/statements, and they keep making news. The more ridiculous, the more people discuss SCO.
(I wonder what they have on page three... I bet they have spreads on page three -- well, maybe spreadsheets...)
Although seriously, maybe that's the whole idea. Maybe they're trying to increase brand awareness by making news so often? Dumb idea, if you ask me, but I've been around enough marketing types to know that it's the kind of thing they would suggest.
Ha! Good points! I didn't know that about Excel and Word -- but I know what you're talking about with the character-mode application. I remember using WordPerfect way back when....
But they were still developed by Microsoft, so the irony is not lost. They were Mac apps, but they weren't Mac products.
Apple has paid $50 Million in settlements. That's avoiding 'wasting millions on a lawsuit'?
Also, the original post mentioned that the only gains Apple is seeing from iTunes in an increased sale in iPods. The Beatles have received around $25 Million each settlement. Is an increased sale in iPods really worth another $25 Million settlement?
Now they have Windows users using a Mac program!
So? Don't many Mac users use Word, Excel, etc.? Don't they use Internet Explorer? That's what really annoyed me about Steve Jobs' "it's the best Windows application ever" statement. It sounded so proud of there being a Apple product running on a Microsoft product, but forgot all of the Microsoft products running on Apple products.
Start signing artists themselves
And then the Beatles would sue them for all they're worth.
Don't forget that Apple agreed to limit themselves to just computers when the Beatles sued them for trademark violation. (the Beatles' record label is called Apple Corps Ltd.). The Beatles are already suing them again for the iPod and iTunes, but if they did start signing on artists there really wouldn't be a way out of it. They would be in big legal trouble.
Oh great so now there will be an advertisement on the bottom of every blog post? Like all those advertisements I get on the bottom of emails from Hotmail people.
Just like Microsoft to turn something virtually free, with such an open community spirit, into something branded-up-the-whazoo to generate revenue for them....
If the trademark stuff gets too hectic
If?
Can I have directions to your hole, I'd like to live there too.
This is absurd! Software piracy is an issue because, while designing a piece of software is a definite challenge, copying the software is just about the easiest thing you can do on a computer.
Tools, on the other hand, are physical and immutable. You can't just take one over to the copymat and make another one. In fact, making a tool that can duplicate itself involves an enormous amount of extra work to engineer than a normal tool. Can you imagine a hammer that can clone itself? One stone age man stopped chipping new stone axes with the butts of their existing axes, the age of reproducable tools was virtually over.
So if a company that makes normal, piracy-free, physical objects has gone through the lengths and challenges of making an object that can reproduce itself....well that was just dumb now, wasn't it? That's really asking for it.
Of course, if the company had exactly $10M of debts and $10M of assets, the CEO would kick in a penny and avoid bankruptcy...
Don't bet on it. A couple of years ago I worked at the energy company Aquila. One month before the company fired 500 people to try and save $40 Million, they distributed $30 Million in 'additional bonuses' to the top 5 executives. Five people. And 'additional bonuses' as in, above their 'normal' (extremely generous) bonuses, which is above their 'normal' (extremely generous) salaries. But did they redirect any of that money to keep their employees? No, of course not. Did they simply have no clue 30 days in advance that they would have to fire 500 people? No, of course not.
The moral of the story: never underestimate executives. They're always stupider and greedier than you might think.
I think more important, and more accurate than:
1. Does the software install itself without the user's knowledge or consent?
would be:
1. Does the software install itself or perform unpublished or otherwise hidden features, without the user's knowledge or consent?
Many spyware applications pose as legitimate software, yet it's the unannounced 'features' that make it spyware.
Hopefully the new science channel will take the place of one of the many horrible music video channels (Such as MTV Jams) and give people something constructive to watch.
That would be great news, but the pessimist in me knows that most people consider the firing of neurons to be too exhausting. Scratch that, that would be the realist in me....
Does nobody else get the Science Channel? (it used to the Discovery Science channel but they renamed it) It's part of a whole group of more specific science channels on our digital cable plan, like Discovery Health, Discovery Wings, etc. My wife watches the Health channel all the time, but I love the Science Channel.
It has (IMO) some really excellent programming, and doesn't do that crap like Mysteries of the Egyptian Mummies and talk about how the constellations in the Eyptian sky happen to align just right with Edgar Cayce's predictions, or whatever that shite was. When the Science Channel does a show on Mummies, they follow a real team of scientists, give real stories about real digs and only present nice solid facts/theories.
It's my favorite of the hundreds of channels we get with our digital plan. If you can, watch it. But apparently nobody else gets this channel, because the poster and everybody else (in my threshold at least!) seems to be oooing and aahing over the idea....
You mean all those emails I get about there being a new Microsoft Critical Update weren't lying? I've just been deleting them....
Seriously though, I wish Microsoft would put out as many patches as those stupid emails I get say. After a few months at that rate they might have a stable OS for a change.
This sounds like it might also cover using cookies to store username/password login information -- the kind where you check a box to login automatically.
This seems like a thinly veiled effort to patent the use of cookies period, or at least what most people use them for.
Quoted from the article:
Under U.S. law, it would be illegal to provide money or other material support to the designated Web sites
So if the site has ad banners on it, and I visit the site -- if they have a pay-per-view plan on their ad banners, then my visit just generated $0.0005 for the website. Would I be breaking the law?
"I don't want to be the guy that creates any kind of chilling effect on research," Jacobs said.
Jacobs continued by adding, "I'll settle for just creating chilling effects on the concepts of fair use and privacy."
Could someone put a shrinkwrap license that says "we will record your keystrokes and use this info to log into your bank accounts" and get away with installing programs on your computer without your approval?
That's how evil shareware/freeware companies get away with installing adware and spyware on your computer, so I assume so....
I have spent the last year developing DCM, or Digital Capitalization Management, a preventative measure to keep unauthorized customers from using ASCII 0x41 - 0x5A.
By exposing the use of the Shift Key, Halderman has undermined the DCM security! When news of the Shift Key was released, my stock* fell by infinite percent to our all-time low** of $0.00!
It is wrong to use one's knowledge and the cover of academia to facilitate the use of capital letters.
* 0 shares publically traded under the symbol LUSR
** I meant average
at which point SunnComm would sue all of the ISPs involved for their role in delivering the messages....
How noble! :)
Actually here's one I came up with the other day:
"I'm sorry, but this number was forwarded to my cell phone. I'll listen to what you have to say, but I need a name and address where I can forward the roaming charges."
that should do it...
Ok, we've "been there, done that" for 40-odd years. Now suddenly it's not enough for China that they join the Space Age, but they are doing it at a pace that
1) seems absurd when compared to the decreasing interest by existing space-going countries, and
2) makes them look like they are racing against the clock.
It really makes you wonder, do they know something we don't?
Give the movie goer a REASON to see the movie in a theatre, make us CHOOSE the theatre instead of our living room/computer monitor/etc
Exactly! Theaters should do something like the Ultra High Definition Video mentioned last month. Apparently it was convincing enough to induce motion sickness! Now imagine that kind of quality on a big screen, and you're talking one heck of a theater-going experience.
The studios' problem is that home technology is increasing at a much faster rate than the theater technology. If only the MPAA would try to keep ahead of the technology, instead of trying to enforce people to watch their current technology, they would find more success and piss off fewer people.
Another fun one:
Telemarketer: Blah blah blah.
Me: Is this a business call?
Telmarkter: Of course!
Me: I'm sorry but this number is for personal calls only.
My in-laws do it the other way around. As soon as they get the telemarketer they just say "I'm sorry, this is a business line" and the telemarketer usually goes away. They know that businesses can't/shouldn't make impulse purchases for their products, or donations, or sign up for a credit card, or whatever -- and leave them alone.
Actually, my favorite pens are my own :)
One of my hobbies is woodworking, including using a lathe. So I turn my own pens. It's kind of anti-tech, but you know what they say, if you want something done right....
That sounds like a good idea, until you realize that one of their questions might involve a verbal contract. Example:
TELEMARKETER: So, sir, can I send you the free one month trail of You're A Sucker magazine, with no obligation for 30 days, and after that a cost of only $89.99 a year?
RECORDING: Uh-huh.
TELEMARKETER: That's wonderful! Can I confirm that your address is %%ADDRESSS%%?
RECORDING: Uh-huh.
TELEMARKETER: Thank you. Now would you like to receive a 10% discount by paying for your first year right now over the phone?
RECORDING: (silence)
TELEMARKETER: Or would you like to receive a bill for the full $89.99 after 30 days?
RECORDING: Uh-huh.
Maybe a better option would be a "Hmmm...." every so often. Maybe even better would, with the help of some friends/babies, go something like:
"Hello?....Hi....Hey listen the baby is screaming right now, can you hold on for a second?....Ok now what were you saying?....No, wait, I forgot, who are you calling for again?....Oh there is somebody at the door, can you hold on for another second?...."
and repeat ad nauseum (and remember that the telemarketers would probably have a much stronger stomach for that stuff that you realize...)