Well, housing association property values are routinely linked so if one person's yard/house looks like sh!t, then it does lower the property values of the nearby houses. Hence, the restrictions on what you can and cannot do.
However, in the case of the fiber connection, unless you're setting up a viewscreen in the front yard so everyone can see what web sites you're surfing, none of your neighbors should ever know what you're doing, so it can't lower property values, and therefore should not be included in a list of "prohibited activities".
Kierthos
Re:Photos of M$ booth...
on
LWCE Wrapup
·
· Score: 1
Flawed argument. If I go into a Radio Shack like one of the the ones here in Columbia, which seems to have no sense of organization, and ask for a specific part, and the guy behind the counter doesn't even know what I'm talking about, how likely am I to return for business?
Likewise, at a Linux Expo, one would expect that any company that is expending the time, effort, and money to have a booth there would supply personnel with a minimum knowledge sufficient to answer questions that could be asked. If they were being asked minutiae or Linux trivia questions, I could understand the blank stares. However.....
Well, for one thing, monsters in 3rd edition AD&D are scalable now. It is entirely possible to build that (as an example) 14th level orc chieftain without having to pull rules out of your ass. Likewise, you can make a 20th level Kobold Assassin (which actually would be fairly powerful). It's a much more flexible system, as it allows a lot of the different types of monsters to have different abilities and features, rather then just having your 20th level party run into dragon after dragon. (Yes, I play. Isn't it obvious?)
We now return you to your regularly scheduled geek-fest.
How the Hell(tm) should I know? I'm not arguing the merits of having a BSOD. I'm arguing that with the current lackadasical approach that the Patent Office seems to be taking, it's entirely likely that someone could patent a BSOD and get away with it, especially if phrased properly.
Because, let's face it, as much as many of us want the Patent Office revamped, it's unlikely to happen until and unless a big business is upset by one of the patents that are foolishly allowed.
No, they get paid to properly review and either approve or deny patents. It's not their job to give blanket approval to every patent that comes across their desks. This is just the latest example of the Patent Office falling down on the job as regards computer technology and software, as well as prior art.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Neither is plain ignorance.
Right, I'm sitting here in desolate South Carolina actually considering the future possibility of removing my own eyes to have cybernetic implants put in and you think I never thought about contacts?
Hey, once we have reliable, full-colour cyber-eyes that can get 20/20 vision or better, you can bet I'm going to start looking at getting a pair to replace my own slowly degenerating eyes. (The only thing keeping me from wearing Coke-bottle glasses is that the technology for lenses seems to be outpacing the degeneration of my eyes. If it wasn't for 'space age' plastics, my glasses would easily weigh twice what they do now.)
Well, considering that the Russians are going to be sending up yet another space tourist soon, it technically shouldn't be a problem for them to get a flight to the ISS should the shuttle transports break down. (Alas, they are bringing the talentless hack back down with them....)
Hey, I said ideally. Sometimes requirements of the components make it less then ideal to replace/repair certain parts. I'm reminded of some machines used in the nuclear power industry which are a stone bitch to repair or replace, namely because of the space constraints, material requirements, etc.
Sometimes, things have to be built "the hard way".
I must return the 2,197 CDs and disks you have sent me over the years, even during the time when I was in a mentally fragile state and was actually a paying AOL customer. I would like to thank you for all the test media, and I will be sure to give you credit in my latest paper "Modern computer storage media, and their survivability chances in the microwave on HIGH", which should be appearing in computer journals in the next few months.
I also further apologize for the dried bean and beaf burrito incrustations on some of the aforementioned microwaved CDs. However, radiation testing storage media is a hungry job.
Kierthos
Re:Actually as an employee of Omnicare...
on
Shrinkwrapped Books
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
You don't even need to trash it. You can keep it for free, and the company can't bill you legally. Postal regulations.
Probably, yes. However, it is likely that the doctor would be prohibited from mentioning the ingredients of the pharmaceuticals, or various bits of proprietary information, rather then not being allowed to say "You should try OmniCare brand medication to cure those ugly facial lesions."
It kind of defeats the purpose of mailing the catalog if the person who would recommend the products is not even allowed to mention the products. (Of course, we are talking about something that lawyers were obviously allowed near, so common sense is already thrown out the window.)
And you do realize that federal law trumps state law in most, if not all cases, yes? The Post Office, bloated, inefficient organization is it, has it right. If someone sends something to you unsolicited, it's yours, gratis, free, no charge.
The only possible way out for anyone vending this kind of thing is if they sent it to you by mistake, but in the story's case of the doctor getting the pharmacy tome, that's clearly not the case.
I know what you mean. We have a Scam-Alert at work that notifies us of vendors who may be pulling this kind of thing. You know, get an unsuspecting worker on the phone, get them to agree to some dodgy shipment of goods worth maybe $30 with a bill for $150, and then claim a restocking fee of $75 if we want to send it back.
Of course, damn near everyone I know at work also gets spam e-mail to buy toner supplies for our business, no matter what position we hold. I started getting them two months after being hired. (Yeah, like the most recent hire automatically has purchasing control. *plonk*)
Okay, let me see. Assume that I am a doctor. OmniCare sends me one of these hefty tomes. I see the sticker on the front mentioning the shrinkwrap license, unwrap the book, read the license, shrug and toss the book in a dumpster on my way to lunch.
1) How can OmniCare prove it was me who opened it? (They can't.)
2) How can they prove it even arrived unless they send it certified mail? (They really can't.)
3) How can they prove that I unwrapped the book? (Again, they can't.)
Seems to me that they (OmniCare) is going to extreme lengths in order to try and ensure that the doctors who receive these books keep them. Big deal. I could always use another doorstop.
Check me if I'm wrong on this, but has NASA sacrificed any human lives to get the ISS going so far? Just from my checking, no, they haven't.
Yes, there have been deaths in the space program. Just as there have been deaths in any human endeavor to get to whatever the newest frontier is. People died getting from Europe to the Americas. People died trying to get to the to the West Coast of what is now the United States. And people have died in the 'quest' to get to space. It doesn't make it any less tragic, but it doesn't make it any less important either.
*nod* Some of this machinery is so complex that you cannot detect certain types of material failure until and unless you take it apart. Now, above and beyond the fact that you're not just going to take this stuff apart on a whim ("Hey, Frank, I'm bored. Let's go deconstruct a million dollar piece of equipment."), but rather stick to a maintainence schedule, there is the question of just how often this stuff does get checked, as in just what is the maintainence schedule?
Now, ideally, these parts will not be too terribly difficult to replace, but considering the immense price-tag on one of the shuttles, I don't see this being an easy process in terms of all the tests that will need to be done in order to satisfy the legitimate safety requirements (as well as all the wierd shit that the engineers know need to be done but isn't in the safety regs).
Oh, so you suppose they'll come down on Neo Monster Island next? How about Club Tokyo? Okay, probably facetious examples, as they are fan-sites, and are either going to be regarded as free advertising for various kaiju products, or as parody sites (well, as least the T.K.T. on NMI is) and therefore likely to be held immune.
However, I don't think Mozilla quite reaches the point (in my personal, non-lawyerish opinion) where it is trademark infringement. I mean, a red dinosaur? Everyone knows that Godzilla is green. Well, except for the Bandai Hyper Burning Goji.
Well, if you'll recall, the first edition of Deities and Demigods also has Cthulhu and various other Lovecraftian beasties in it (although much flavour is lost when the sight of the Great Old Ones does not drive your character instantly insane) as well as various gods and characters from Moorcock's "Elric" saga. Those were, I believe, cut out in later editions due to potential copyright issues and the lack of certain royalty payments being forthcoming.
And quite frankly, gods have little place as active participants in most AD&D games. It sucks a lot of the fun of the game away to have a different god show up every adventure. (Come to think of it, that's why I stopped playing Forgotten Realms games and Living City...)
Good point on the cavalry thing. However, given the popularity of some current actors, the relatively rare usage of entirely CGI movies, the current time and expense, etc. it will be a good many years before CGI completely replaces live actors.
When it gets to the point where the tools to CGI characters are cheap, easy to use, and accessible, then you might start seeing the demise of live actors. But right now, most movies have little to no CGI in them. And while science fiction movies might use it more then most, I can't really see "chick flick" movies getting heavily involved in CGI usage for some time.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, housing association property values are routinely linked so if one person's yard/house looks like sh!t, then it does lower the property values of the nearby houses. Hence, the restrictions on what you can and cannot do.
However, in the case of the fiber connection, unless you're setting up a viewscreen in the front yard so everyone can see what web sites you're surfing, none of your neighbors should ever know what you're doing, so it can't lower property values, and therefore should not be included in a list of "prohibited activities".
Kierthos
Flawed argument. If I go into a Radio Shack like one of the the ones here in Columbia, which seems to have no sense of organization, and ask for a specific part, and the guy behind the counter doesn't even know what I'm talking about, how likely am I to return for business?
Likewise, at a Linux Expo, one would expect that any company that is expending the time, effort, and money to have a booth there would supply personnel with a minimum knowledge sufficient to answer questions that could be asked. If they were being asked minutiae or Linux trivia questions, I could understand the blank stares. However.....
Kierthos
You could at least make the effort to get it right.
Repeat after me: Dust Puppy.
And the Dust Puppy is popular enough to be in Quake.
Kierthos
How is that any different from a Microsoft analysis?
Kierthos
Well, for one thing, monsters in 3rd edition AD&D are scalable now. It is entirely possible to build that (as an example) 14th level orc chieftain without having to pull rules out of your ass. Likewise, you can make a 20th level Kobold Assassin (which actually would be fairly powerful). It's a much more flexible system, as it allows a lot of the different types of monsters to have different abilities and features, rather then just having your 20th level party run into dragon after dragon. (Yes, I play. Isn't it obvious?)
We now return you to your regularly scheduled geek-fest.
Kierthos
How the Hell(tm) should I know? I'm not arguing the merits of having a BSOD. I'm arguing that with the current lackadasical approach that the Patent Office seems to be taking, it's entirely likely that someone could patent a BSOD and get away with it, especially if phrased properly.
Because, let's face it, as much as many of us want the Patent Office revamped, it's unlikely to happen until and unless a big business is upset by one of the patents that are foolishly allowed.
Kierthos
No, they get paid to properly review and either approve or deny patents. It's not their job to give blanket approval to every patent that comes across their desks. This is just the latest example of the Patent Office falling down on the job as regards computer technology and software, as well as prior art.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Neither is plain ignorance.
Kierthos
Right, I'm sitting here in desolate South Carolina actually considering the future possibility of removing my own eyes to have cybernetic implants put in and you think I never thought about contacts?
I can't wear them. Not everyone can.
Kierthos
IRC moment: /me gives the US Patent Office the finger, but only after patenting the gesture.
Sad thing is, the morons there would probably allow such a thing, as the concept of prior art seems to have escaped them entirely.
Hey, has anyone thought of patenting a BSOD?
Kierthos
Hey, once we have reliable, full-colour cyber-eyes that can get 20/20 vision or better, you can bet I'm going to start looking at getting a pair to replace my own slowly degenerating eyes. (The only thing keeping me from wearing Coke-bottle glasses is that the technology for lenses seems to be outpacing the degeneration of my eyes. If it wasn't for 'space age' plastics, my glasses would easily weigh twice what they do now.)
Now, about those Wired Reflexes....
Kierthos
Well, considering that the Russians are going to be sending up yet another space tourist soon, it technically shouldn't be a problem for them to get a flight to the ISS should the shuttle transports break down. (Alas, they are bringing the talentless hack back down with them....)
Kierthos
Hey, I said ideally. Sometimes requirements of the components make it less then ideal to replace/repair certain parts. I'm reminded of some machines used in the nuclear power industry which are a stone bitch to repair or replace, namely because of the space constraints, material requirements, etc.
Sometimes, things have to be built "the hard way".
Kierthos
Dear AOL.
I must return the 2,197 CDs and disks you have sent me over the years, even during the time when I was in a mentally fragile state and was actually a paying AOL customer. I would like to thank you for all the test media, and I will be sure to give you credit in my latest paper "Modern computer storage media, and their survivability chances in the microwave on HIGH", which should be appearing in computer journals in the next few months.
I also further apologize for the dried bean and beaf burrito incrustations on some of the aforementioned microwaved CDs. However, radiation testing storage media is a hungry job.
Kierthos
You don't even need to trash it. You can keep it for free, and the company can't bill you legally. Postal regulations.
Kierthos
Probably, yes. However, it is likely that the doctor would be prohibited from mentioning the ingredients of the pharmaceuticals, or various bits of proprietary information, rather then not being allowed to say "You should try OmniCare brand medication to cure those ugly facial lesions."
It kind of defeats the purpose of mailing the catalog if the person who would recommend the products is not even allowed to mention the products. (Of course, we are talking about something that lawyers were obviously allowed near, so common sense is already thrown out the window.)
Kierthos
And you do realize that federal law trumps state law in most, if not all cases, yes? The Post Office, bloated, inefficient organization is it, has it right. If someone sends something to you unsolicited, it's yours, gratis, free, no charge.
The only possible way out for anyone vending this kind of thing is if they sent it to you by mistake, but in the story's case of the doctor getting the pharmacy tome, that's clearly not the case.
Kierthos
I know what you mean. We have a Scam-Alert at work that notifies us of vendors who may be pulling this kind of thing. You know, get an unsuspecting worker on the phone, get them to agree to some dodgy shipment of goods worth maybe $30 with a bill for $150, and then claim a restocking fee of $75 if we want to send it back.
Of course, damn near everyone I know at work also gets spam e-mail to buy toner supplies for our business, no matter what position we hold. I started getting them two months after being hired. (Yeah, like the most recent hire automatically has purchasing control. *plonk*)
Kierthos
You know, I meant to make question 3 different from question 1, but I was distracted by a licensing agreement....
3 should be: How can they prove that I read anything other then the licensing agreement before tossing it in the rubbish? (They can't.)
Kierthos
Okay, let me see. Assume that I am a doctor. OmniCare sends me one of these hefty tomes. I see the sticker on the front mentioning the shrinkwrap license, unwrap the book, read the license, shrug and toss the book in a dumpster on my way to lunch.
1) How can OmniCare prove it was me who opened it? (They can't.)
2) How can they prove it even arrived unless they send it certified mail? (They really can't.)
3) How can they prove that I unwrapped the book? (Again, they can't.)
Seems to me that they (OmniCare) is going to extreme lengths in order to try and ensure that the doctors who receive these books keep them. Big deal. I could always use another doorstop.
Kierthos
Check me if I'm wrong on this, but has NASA sacrificed any human lives to get the ISS going so far? Just from my checking, no, they haven't.
Yes, there have been deaths in the space program. Just as there have been deaths in any human endeavor to get to whatever the newest frontier is. People died getting from Europe to the Americas. People died trying to get to the to the West Coast of what is now the United States. And people have died in the 'quest' to get to space. It doesn't make it any less tragic, but it doesn't make it any less important either.
Kierthos
*nod* Some of this machinery is so complex that you cannot detect certain types of material failure until and unless you take it apart. Now, above and beyond the fact that you're not just going to take this stuff apart on a whim ("Hey, Frank, I'm bored. Let's go deconstruct a million dollar piece of equipment."), but rather stick to a maintainence schedule, there is the question of just how often this stuff does get checked, as in just what is the maintainence schedule?
Now, ideally, these parts will not be too terribly difficult to replace, but considering the immense price-tag on one of the shuttles, I don't see this being an easy process in terms of all the tests that will need to be done in order to satisfy the legitimate safety requirements (as well as all the wierd shit that the engineers know need to be done but isn't in the safety regs).
Kierthos
Oh, so you suppose they'll come down on Neo Monster Island next? How about Club Tokyo? Okay, probably facetious examples, as they are fan-sites, and are either going to be regarded as free advertising for various kaiju products, or as parody sites (well, as least the T.K.T. on NMI is) and therefore likely to be held immune.
However, I don't think Mozilla quite reaches the point (in my personal, non-lawyerish opinion) where it is trademark infringement. I mean, a red dinosaur? Everyone knows that Godzilla is green. Well, except for the Bandai Hyper Burning Goji.
Kierthos
Er, you do realize that plush Cthulhu dolls have been out for about 15 years, don't you?
Kierthos
Well, if you'll recall, the first edition of Deities and Demigods also has Cthulhu and various other Lovecraftian beasties in it (although much flavour is lost when the sight of the Great Old Ones does not drive your character instantly insane) as well as various gods and characters from Moorcock's "Elric" saga. Those were, I believe, cut out in later editions due to potential copyright issues and the lack of certain royalty payments being forthcoming.
And quite frankly, gods have little place as active participants in most AD&D games. It sucks a lot of the fun of the game away to have a different god show up every adventure. (Come to think of it, that's why I stopped playing Forgotten Realms games and Living City...)
Kierthos
Good point on the cavalry thing. However, given the popularity of some current actors, the relatively rare usage of entirely CGI movies, the current time and expense, etc. it will be a good many years before CGI completely replaces live actors.
When it gets to the point where the tools to CGI characters are cheap, easy to use, and accessible, then you might start seeing the demise of live actors. But right now, most movies have little to no CGI in them. And while science fiction movies might use it more then most, I can't really see "chick flick" movies getting heavily involved in CGI usage for some time.
Kierthos