So what kind of new concepts should it have introduced? The movie is based on, as someone pointed out, a 50-year-old set of books. What would you have called "real creativity"?
It won't really matter because the emperor has already passed laws banning anyone to use their eyes to determine the absence of said clothes. Therefore, anyone who laughs at the emperor's nudity must have used their eyes to see it, and thus will be incarcerated.
Actually, I thought the Endymion books would translate much more easily to movie form. They're more straight narrative, focus on only 2 or 3 main characters who's interactive is clear, and have a clear-cut, more-or-less happy ending. The problem is, I'm not sure they would be as powerful without the introductions in the first two books, and I'm not sure how the hell you would get the first two books into movie form.
Here's a better question. Does it matter if they do?
We've seen dozens of dumb patents come through lately, many of which could apparently be thrown out on the basis of prior art. The question is, have they? I certainly can't think of any off the top of my head. How many months/years does it take to prove prior art and get some of these nuts-o patents rescinded? And during that time, can the patent holder still collect on it? Does the holder have to return money made from the patent in the event that prior art is found, or are people who licensed the patent screwed out of that cash?
Ok, I must be missing something. Yeah, the Debian installer is in textmode. Other than that, what makes it so scary? Once you create or otherwise obtain the boot and root disks, the install practically holds you by the hand and lets you know every step of the way exactly what it is doing, and recommends the next logical step to proceed. I switched from Slackware to Debian recently and didn't have a single mis-step along the way. In fact, I'd have to say that, between the two, I like Debian's installer better. So what exactly is it about the Deb installer that everyone seems to hate?
You are right on the money here, and if I had mod points today I'd mod you up. If more people actually understood the structure of the system (even simple things like directories), then there would be far fewer problems in a Win32->Linux migration. Unfortunately, I've seen too many people that read every step to save a file in Word off of a sticky-note attached to their monitor. God help them if a step doesn't give them the expected response; they're stuck until, as you say, a tech comes and straightens them out. Then it's back to the sticky-notes.
What we really need here is a little training. Anyone(!) can learn to use a file system to keep their stuff organized and find it on their own. The vast majority of people can pick it up in under an hour of patient, hands-on instruction. But very few companies actually provide that sort of most basic training, and so their techs have to spend time getting these people back onto their little sticky-notes.
Switching to Linux will present almost no problems at all, if, and ONLY IF a little basic training is provided first. But I don't believe it will take much more than that.
Here's an interesting one (Disclaimer: It's been a while since I've read either of these books, so some of the specifics may not be 100% accurate). In Arthur C. Clarke's "Rendevous with Rama" he creates a fictional program called SpaceGUARD, the purpose being to keep an eye out for earth-impacting asteroids. Some time after the release of the book, NASA and others borrowed the name for a real network of telescopes and such being used for the same purpose, along with a report entitled "The SpaceGuard Survey".
And, to complete the circle... In his (much) more recent novel, "The Hammer of God", the real SpaceGUARD plays a role in discovering Kali, the earth-impacting comet-remnant. The amusing bit is that he refers to SpaceGUARD as "having taken its name from an obscure 20th century novel".. namely, his own!
Actually we should send Linux victories to the person who wrote this memo. I'd wager this memo was intentionally "leaked" to have a demoralizing effect on the Linux community. We can only be so courteous in return.
Then you know what? They'll have to find an answer to their problem... and it is their problem. The technologies are advancing.. with or without the record companies. No amount of litigation, short of the death penalty, is going to stop P2P file-sharing. The record companies will have to find another way to ensure money reaches artists... and if they don't, someone else will, and groups like the RIAA will go the way of the dodo. Bet on it.
It's not that it's ok, and despite popular opinion, whether or not it's ok isn't the point here. The point is that instead of trying to find the source of the problem, the music companies are trying to demonize P2P as a whole and litigate it out of existance, along with a few other things. The question they should be asking themselves is not "how can we shut down all peer-to-peer systems to curb copyright violation?". The question they should be asking is "why are people setting up these elaborate networks to share music in the first place?"
The answer is not to destroy existing systems and spend all your time and money chopping off heads of the hydra. The old adage "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" springs to mind here. It's becoming increasingly clear that P2P file sharing is here to stay, and no amount of litigation and FUD-spreading is going to stop it. The music companies need to solve the problem by adapting themselves to the new way that things are going to work. Offer people a better system than the existing over-priced retail one.
How? I don't know. But I bet if you turned all the resources that the music industry is spending on trying to squash the future of music towards finding an answer to the problem, you'd come up with one.
This one's not that scary, but it is odd, completely true, and scared the bejeezus out of me...
Late one night I was working on some project, I forget now even what it was. It was quiet in my house, the kind of quiet you get when all the mp3s you queued up run out and you're so intent on what you're doing that you hardly notice. I was alone in my house... Suddenly, someone spoke in my computer room, in barely intelligable english, "... does it. God damn people show NO RESPECT! No respect at ALL! What do I have to...". And that was it, except for the sound of a car driving down the street outside. After the initial total freak-out wore off, I realized the sound had come from my speakers. My cheap speakers with their long, unshielded cables. The only thing I can figure is that someone was ranting on a CB or something and the speaker cable acted as an antenna as they drove by. This happened a couple of times more, and startled the hell out of me each time. Finally, I bought some better speakers (with shielded cable) and the evil voices left me forever...
Can anyone who knows more about radio and such than I do verify what I think happened?
Most likely MS will create a "standard" where you can't use any other form of authentication along with Passport. They'll justify this by claiming that Passport authentication is an "international, cross-platform standard" and that it is "by far the most secure and widely-used" form of online ID so they are hardly being anticompetetive.
What's more, no one will care. The vast majority of the population probably won't even know there WERE alternatives.
You're thinking of the statute of limitations (I believe). However, under the new anti-terrorism bills, the statute is null and void regarding at least some terrorist activities. And computer crime is now regarded as terrorist activity.
As long as the author doesn't visit the US. Then they'll arrest him, just like Sklyarov. And under the new laws, he'll probably be marked as an international terrorist, so they can detain him without any cause at all with the blessing of the courts.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, two of them were sitting behind me in the theater. When the credits came on...
Cretin #1: "Well, that sucked. You know, for sitting through a 3-hour movie I expect some kind of ENDING"
Cretin #2: "Don't worry, they're probably just setting it up for some kind of sequel."
So what kind of new concepts should it have introduced? The movie is based on, as someone pointed out, a 50-year-old set of books. What would you have called "real creativity"?
It won't really matter because the emperor has already passed laws banning anyone to use their eyes to determine the absence of said clothes. Therefore, anyone who laughs at the emperor's nudity must have used their eyes to see it, and thus will be incarcerated.
Expect Microsoft/MPAA/RIAA Government 1.0 to not give you a choice in the matter.
Actually, I thought the Endymion books would translate much more easily to movie form. They're more straight narrative, focus on only 2 or 3 main characters who's interactive is clear, and have a clear-cut, more-or-less happy ending. The problem is, I'm not sure they would be as powerful without the introductions in the first two books, and I'm not sure how the hell you would get the first two books into movie form.
"Hi Ted, have you met my daughters? This Mary, Shoshkele, and Sara. You ok, Ted? That's quite a cough you have there..."
That poor girl. And I thought Grizelda was bad.
Here's a better question. Does it matter if they do?
We've seen dozens of dumb patents come through lately, many of which could apparently be thrown out on the basis of prior art. The question is, have they? I certainly can't think of any off the top of my head. How many months/years does it take to prove prior art and get some of these nuts-o patents rescinded? And during that time, can the patent holder still collect on it? Does the holder have to return money made from the patent in the event that prior art is found, or are people who licensed the patent screwed out of that cash?
Ok, I must be missing something. Yeah, the Debian installer is in textmode. Other than that, what makes it so scary? Once you create or otherwise obtain the boot and root disks, the install practically holds you by the hand and lets you know every step of the way exactly what it is doing, and recommends the next logical step to proceed. I switched from Slackware to Debian recently and didn't have a single mis-step along the way. In fact, I'd have to say that, between the two, I like Debian's installer better. So what exactly is it about the Deb installer that everyone seems to hate?
You are right on the money here, and if I had mod points today I'd mod you up. If more people actually understood the structure of the system (even simple things like directories), then there would be far fewer problems in a Win32->Linux migration. Unfortunately, I've seen too many people that read every step to save a file in Word off of a sticky-note attached to their monitor. God help them if a step doesn't give them the expected response; they're stuck until, as you say, a tech comes and straightens them out. Then it's back to the sticky-notes.
What we really need here is a little training. Anyone(!) can learn to use a file system to keep their stuff organized and find it on their own. The vast majority of people can pick it up in under an hour of patient, hands-on instruction. But very few companies actually provide that sort of most basic training, and so their techs have to spend time getting these people back onto their little sticky-notes. Switching to Linux will present almost no problems at all, if, and ONLY IF a little basic training is provided first. But I don't believe it will take much more than that.
Here's an interesting one (Disclaimer: It's been a while since I've read either of these books, so some of the specifics may not be 100% accurate). In Arthur C. Clarke's "Rendevous with Rama" he creates a fictional program called SpaceGUARD, the purpose being to keep an eye out for earth-impacting asteroids. Some time after the release of the book, NASA and others borrowed the name for a real network of telescopes and such being used for the same purpose, along with a report entitled "The SpaceGuard Survey".
And, to complete the circle... In his (much) more recent novel, "The Hammer of God", the real SpaceGUARD plays a role in discovering Kali, the earth-impacting comet-remnant. The amusing bit is that he refers to SpaceGUARD as "having taken its name from an obscure 20th century novel".. namely, his own!
It won't matter that much, really. I'm sure in 5-10 years they'll be able to read it directly out of your brain anyway.
Yeah... and nude pictures of any woman under the age of 30 who shaves everything. And 95% of all hentai.
This isn't a troll, it's the truth.
Actually we should send Linux victories to the person who wrote this memo. I'd wager this memo was intentionally "leaked" to have a demoralizing effect on the Linux community. We can only be so courteous in return.
Then you know what? They'll have to find an answer to their problem... and it is their problem. The technologies are advancing.. with or without the record companies. No amount of litigation, short of the death penalty, is going to stop P2P file-sharing. The record companies will have to find another way to ensure money reaches artists... and if they don't, someone else will, and groups like the RIAA will go the way of the dodo. Bet on it.
It's not that it's ok, and despite popular opinion, whether or not it's ok isn't the point here. The point is that instead of trying to find the source of the problem, the music companies are trying to demonize P2P as a whole and litigate it out of existance, along with a few other things. The question they should be asking themselves is not "how can we shut down all peer-to-peer systems to curb copyright violation?". The question they should be asking is "why are people setting up these elaborate networks to share music in the first place?"
The answer is not to destroy existing systems and spend all your time and money chopping off heads of the hydra. The old adage "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" springs to mind here. It's becoming increasingly clear that P2P file sharing is here to stay, and no amount of litigation and FUD-spreading is going to stop it. The music companies need to solve the problem by adapting themselves to the new way that things are going to work. Offer people a better system than the existing over-priced retail one.
How? I don't know. But I bet if you turned all the resources that the music industry is spending on trying to squash the future of music towards finding an answer to the problem, you'd come up with one.
Let's talk about sexy stuffs.
If you keep using language like that, I will have parity error.
Pico's included in the bundle if you install pine.
This one's not that scary, but it is odd, completely true, and scared the bejeezus out of me...
Late one night I was working on some project, I forget now even what it was. It was quiet in my house, the kind of quiet you get when all the mp3s you queued up run out and you're so intent on what you're doing that you hardly notice. I was alone in my house... Suddenly, someone spoke in my computer room, in barely intelligable english, "... does it. God damn people show NO RESPECT! No respect at ALL! What do I have to...". And that was it, except for the sound of a car driving down the street outside. After the initial total freak-out wore off, I realized the sound had come from my speakers. My cheap speakers with their long, unshielded cables. The only thing I can figure is that someone was ranting on a CB or something and the speaker cable acted as an antenna as they drove by. This happened a couple of times more, and startled the hell out of me each time. Finally, I bought some better speakers (with shielded cable) and the evil voices left me forever...
Can anyone who knows more about radio and such than I do verify what I think happened?
Hell, on Win machines html files are already identified as "Microsoft HTML" files and have been since IE4 came out...
Most likely MS will create a "standard" where you can't use any other form of authentication along with Passport. They'll justify this by claiming that Passport authentication is an "international, cross-platform standard" and that it is "by far the most secure and widely-used" form of online ID so they are hardly being anticompetetive.
What's more, no one will care. The vast majority of the population probably won't even know there WERE alternatives.
You're thinking of the statute of limitations (I believe). However, under the new anti-terrorism bills, the statute is null and void regarding at least some terrorist activities. And computer crime is now regarded as terrorist activity.
As long as the author doesn't visit the US. Then they'll arrest him, just like Sklyarov. And under the new laws, he'll probably be marked as an international terrorist, so they can detain him without any cause at all with the blessing of the courts.
*ROFL*
I can't hit anything on openoffice.org (already slashdotted?). Anyone have the list of mirror download locations?