In the United States, if one is acquitted of a crime and there aren't any additional charges that can be filed by the state, that's all folks, no more immediate legal repercussions. However, the state can always attempt to find something else to bring against someone, like additional crimes committed on the scene.
This isn't the first time that I've heard of an acquittal being appealed, I think that there was something in Italy in the last couple of years that made news for such.
So, I can use this to jam a modern GPS receiver, or I can use an old Magellan 300, which manages to not function on its own quite well.
I actually do like the idea of this though, since it's one tool that is available to make it more difficult for one to be monitored. It certainly won't stop them in their tracks, but confusion has its places.
Part of the reason that I obtained my license in the first place was to be able to play with some of the more interesting tech. Several of us gather at a local restaurant, about two miles from my home, and I've wanted to set up a bi-directional link to allow us to have high-speed (or at least better than 56K) internet access while we're 'geeking'. If equipment becomes easy to buy or build, this'll finally be a reality. yay.
The points being made by the SCO people, assuming they're real, is that specifically the System V implementation is the problem. MacOSX is based on NeXT, which is based on BSD, which is a different development strain from System V, going way back. If they took on this to take on Apple, they'd also be taking on BSDi, who have had commercial UNIX platforms for so long that they'd totally get their asses whooped.
"How does core Unix IP have anything to do with Linux?"
Based on what is described, they are arguing that running a System V based implementation, which is a function-a-like of SCO UNIX, is a violation of software patent. I'd imagine that they'd argue that things like the init structure, command structure and function, and other aspects that are similar to System V as implemented in Linux are intentional and violatory copies of their intellectual property, and have hurt their business.
Should such a case proceed, it'll be interesting to see what kind of arguments and outcomes occur, since Linux has been historically stated to be a re-implementation of Minix, and not solely based on System V (I mean, Slackware uses BSD init even), so they may not have much of an argument to stand on.
Beyond that, since the kernel and structure is all open source, they've had YEARS to attempt something, with their full knowledge of what was going on in the Linux community, and they've waited until now, a full decade after Linux became a stable OS.
The other thing that they're not properly considering is that if they attempt to pursue this, all that people have to do is change how Apache, or whatever other software they're going to attempt to use to prove that someone's running Linux, to report something else, like unknown, which leaves the burden on SCO, not on the user, to prove what is running.
If your intent as a search engine is to provide relevant results, you have to tweak your algorithm to remove the irrevelant ones. Since searchking is indeed irrevelant, it would be extremely susceptible to falling on its face for this. To be honest, I'm almost aghast that they had the gall to get mad about this.
... when there are still school districts that are anti-science if it does anything to contradict creationism. I mean, if it can be controlled by true believers in science, I can see such a thing working, but if subscribing schools/school districts start objecting and censoring it, then we have a big, big problem.
Don't get me wrong, I was the kid who was dissecting things in special curriculum science classes at age 10, and I would have loved to have had such available to me. But if dissent from religious elements prevading school districts gets in the way, I don't see this working at all.
Ziff Davis has always felt very pro-Microsoft from what I remember from subscribing to print magazines, and their web site never really stuck me as being any less so. I'm mildly surprised to find them publishing this, with such existing attitudes.
What happens when that million dollar technology booms into something huge, and surpasses that currently billion dollar industry? Remember, the RIAA got on the bandwagon too late, and mp3s, streaming, and high bandwidth are causing them lots of headaches now. Had they been in it from the beginning, this wouldn't be nearly so big of a problem, in their eyes, as it is now.
If the media industries that are still 'safe' invest in technology that will do some of the neat things that we as consumers want, but still leave them in ultimate control, they'll be happy. They won't go away. AOL Time Warner investing in Tivo gives AOL Time Warner some input into the future functionality of the device. This lets them shape what happens, before everyone and their brother has 1,000 movies in divx format on their hard drives.
Microsoft's biggest threat isn't Linux, OpenOffice, or any piece of software at all--its themselves
When a Time Warner executive stated that using PVR technology was stealing, right as AOL Time Warner dumped tons of money into Tivo, should indicate a lot about corporate culture these days.
That Time Warner executive should have been fired. He could have even faced lawsuits by AOL Time Warner stockholders, for directly going against (and possibly reducing value) of the parent company.
Plasma, n. the gaseous state of hot ionized material consisting of ions and electrons and present in the stars and fusion reactors: sometimes regarded as a fourth state of matter distinct from normal gasses.
And now for some usage:
It looks like Slashdot has successfully turned the article's server into plasma
You have to test the waters some time. He was good target, since 1) he was away from home, 2) was not in the legal status that he's familiar with, and 3) was relatively unknown to anyone except geeks. Remember. He wasn't convicted, because he didn't commit any crime, because what he and the company he worked for did was not within the United States, and if I am correct, not in a country that shares patent law. I don't know what the ultimate outcome of the court's decision will be, since there are so many pieces that specifically do not fit the DMCA, but I wouldn't be surprised it this was done to scare anyone else thinking about trying to get around the wishes of the e-book providers. We'll have to see.
If it really happens and you are used as an example then you would become a martir.
to be a martyr, you have to have people who will see what happens to you and take a stand against it. Today, most people only take note of what corporate media says to them, so unless something is so drastic that it actually catches the attention of the media, even then assuming they get it right, you won't have a chance. Also, people are apathetic. HIGHLY apathetic. And with geography no longer being nearly so relevant as it has been in previous struggles (the segregation of the deep south being an example) it'll be hard to get enough force behind a martyr to actually do something. Kevin Mitnick wasn't released because of the 'free Kevin' bumperstickers, he was released because the government was tired of him, and his lawyers got better.
... I started blogging when I was employed, but had nothing to do at work 9/10 of the time. My boss basically told me to play, and when they needed me, they'd give me something to do. Since I could SSH to my webhost, I blogged. I was the closest you could get to unemployed while still receiving a full payroll check.
When I became unemployed (not ever getting stuff to QA because Sales won't let Engineering finish anything tends to do this), I blogged even more. When I became employed again, I still blogged (and do to this day), but I didn't blog as much as I used to, since I 1) don't have time, 2) don't have as much wandering in my mind because I'm focused, and 3) don't have as much anger to rant off in a blog. Thus, I don't blog as much as I used to.
I still do occasionally, though, and it is a good way to collect one's thoughts, and straighten one's self out a bit if one is a bit confused.
... to make an example out of people? It's not unheard of for law makers to change the penalties for infractions of things that the populace as a majority or large minority want to be legal, and still get away with remaining in office, in power. Worse yet, those that get caught doing whatever "bad thing"(tm) that has been legislated against suffer massive penalties. I don't personally want to be the one caught if something that I enjoy doing, listening to, using, etc, gets made highly illegal in an attempt to make an example out of me to the others if I should happen to be one who gets caught.
Regarding your speed limit argument, something to keep in mind in many states is that there is a 'resonable and prudent' clause, where certain speeds above the posted speed limit are acceptable. In Arizona, one can go up to fifteen miles per hour over the posted speed limit and not have broken the law, assuming that one can demonstrate how that was reasonable and prudent (ie, everyone was going that fast, or there was no one on the road for a mile in each direction). Those that do exceed the reasonable and prudent grey area, however, are now subject to criminal traffic citation, rather than the civil citation that normal speeding, red light running, failure to stop, etc, would qualify for.
The only way that I could see such civil disobedience working is if it's in conjunction with pressure on lawmakers to change laws, so that when massive penalties are dealt upon parties involved, there can be a public outcry that lawmakers might feel they have to follow, else their continuing jobs will be threatened. Even then, though, I don't know if the modern system of campaign contributions, favours, kickbacks, and the like will allow for such.
"Why? Because we can..."
on
Decentralization
·
· Score: 2, Funny
"Geeks make new stuff primarily because it's fun, because it's useful, and because they can."
yes, much the the annoyance of receiving a $120 electric bill for a 810 sq. ft. apartment, where the air conditioning has to be run in the winter time to keep all of the equipment cool enough...
On a more serious note, I've used an optical Logitech mouse on an old Sun optical pad (from the mice that required such a pad) and it works all right. In fact, it's a little better than a random surface.
...when someone who would be a star witness does the telephone equivalent of not showing up in court? I wouldn't think that this would completely blow the case against the defendant, but I would imagine that many judges wouldn't give the prosecution much slack if they pulled a stunt like that.
If you don't want something for the short-term, don't manufacture it this way. Stuff like foundation seals, car parts, tools, etc, that doesn't get tossed out very often doesn't have to be made with this type of plastic. Stuff that is frequently disposed of (diapers, water filters, etc) can be made from this process, and won't cause nearly so much of a problem.
Where I work, we have about 100 sites in a metro area. We have Linux servers at each site handling printing and file services, for hundreds of users per site. We have built a rapid-install feature to put new boxes out, with very little time being necesary to configure the machines to match the existing setup. We have configured https-driven web front ends for things like user addition/deletion (for the samba accounts), printer addition/deletion/queue-clearing, and the like. We have ONE guy whose job is to maintain the backend of these servers. There are a total of four network engineers here, maintaining these, the Novell servers, the network backbone, and all of the other loose ends that come about.
It would be possible for a group of people, not necessarily a small group, but not necessarily huge, either to repeat this. 100 people, each with $3,000, could do it. The group would need to find some space to house the thing, and would probably have to do it in a climate where it could be relatively naturally cooled, which definitely rules out Phoenix. The computer would then be one of the fastest machines in the world.
Granted, I don't know what the hell they'd do with the computer, but it would be kind of cool to be on the list.
Slashdot Mirror
In the United States, if one is acquitted of a crime and there aren't any additional charges that can be filed by the state, that's all folks, no more immediate legal repercussions. However, the state can always attempt to find something else to bring against someone, like additional crimes committed on the scene.
This isn't the first time that I've heard of an acquittal being appealed, I think that there was something in Italy in the last couple of years that made news for such.
So, I can use this to jam a modern GPS receiver, or I can use an old Magellan 300, which manages to not function on its own quite well.
I actually do like the idea of this though, since it's one tool that is available to make it more difficult for one to be monitored. It certainly won't stop them in their tracks, but confusion has its places.
Part of the reason that I obtained my license in the first place was to be able to play with some of the more interesting tech. Several of us gather at a local restaurant, about two miles from my home, and I've wanted to set up a bi-directional link to allow us to have high-speed (or at least better than 56K) internet access while we're 'geeking'. If equipment becomes easy to buy or build, this'll finally be a reality. yay.
The points being made by the SCO people, assuming they're real, is that specifically the System V implementation is the problem. MacOSX is based on NeXT, which is based on BSD, which is a different development strain from System V, going way back. If they took on this to take on Apple, they'd also be taking on BSDi, who have had commercial UNIX platforms for so long that they'd totally get their asses whooped.
"How does core Unix IP have anything to do with Linux?"
Based on what is described, they are arguing that running a System V based implementation, which is a function-a-like of SCO UNIX, is a violation of software patent. I'd imagine that they'd argue that things like the init structure, command structure and function, and other aspects that are similar to System V as implemented in Linux are intentional and violatory copies of their intellectual property, and have hurt their business.
Should such a case proceed, it'll be interesting to see what kind of arguments and outcomes occur, since Linux has been historically stated to be a re-implementation of Minix, and not solely based on System V (I mean, Slackware uses BSD init even), so they may not have much of an argument to stand on.
Beyond that, since the kernel and structure is all open source, they've had YEARS to attempt something, with their full knowledge of what was going on in the Linux community, and they've waited until now, a full decade after Linux became a stable OS.
The other thing that they're not properly considering is that if they attempt to pursue this, all that people have to do is change how Apache, or whatever other software they're going to attempt to use to prove that someone's running Linux, to report something else, like unknown, which leaves the burden on SCO, not on the user, to prove what is running.
If your intent as a search engine is to provide relevant results, you have to tweak your algorithm to remove the irrevelant ones. Since searchking is indeed irrevelant, it would be extremely susceptible to falling on its face for this. To be honest, I'm almost aghast that they had the gall to get mad about this.
... when there are still school districts that are anti-science if it does anything to contradict creationism. I mean, if it can be controlled by true believers in science, I can see such a thing working, but if subscribing schools/school districts start objecting and censoring it, then we have a big, big problem.
Don't get me wrong, I was the kid who was dissecting things in special curriculum science classes at age 10, and I would have loved to have had such available to me. But if dissent from religious elements prevading school districts gets in the way, I don't see this working at all.
Ziff Davis has always felt very pro-Microsoft from what I remember from subscribing to print magazines, and their web site never really stuck me as being any less so. I'm mildly surprised to find them publishing this, with such existing attitudes.
What happens when that million dollar technology booms into something huge, and surpasses that currently billion dollar industry? Remember, the RIAA got on the bandwagon too late, and mp3s, streaming, and high bandwidth are causing them lots of headaches now. Had they been in it from the beginning, this wouldn't be nearly so big of a problem, in their eyes, as it is now.
If the media industries that are still 'safe' invest in technology that will do some of the neat things that we as consumers want, but still leave them in ultimate control, they'll be happy. They won't go away. AOL Time Warner investing in Tivo gives AOL Time Warner some input into the future functionality of the device. This lets them shape what happens, before everyone and their brother has 1,000 movies in divx format on their hard drives.
Microsoft's biggest threat isn't Linux, OpenOffice, or any piece of software at all--its themselves
When a Time Warner executive stated that using PVR technology was stealing, right as AOL Time Warner dumped tons of money into Tivo, should indicate a lot about corporate culture these days.
That Time Warner executive should have been fired. He could have even faced lawsuits by AOL Time Warner stockholders, for directly going against (and possibly reducing value) of the parent company.
So much for the "dead tree" edition...
Plasma, n. the gaseous state of hot ionized material consisting of ions and electrons and present in the stars and fusion reactors: sometimes regarded as a fourth state of matter distinct from normal gasses.
And now for some usage:
It looks like Slashdot has successfully turned the article's server into plasma
*grin*
You have to test the waters some time. He was good target, since 1) he was away from home, 2) was not in the legal status that he's familiar with, and 3) was relatively unknown to anyone except geeks. Remember. He wasn't convicted, because he didn't commit any crime, because what he and the company he worked for did was not within the United States, and if I am correct, not in a country that shares patent law. I don't know what the ultimate outcome of the court's decision will be, since there are so many pieces that specifically do not fit the DMCA, but I wouldn't be surprised it this was done to scare anyone else thinking about trying to get around the wishes of the e-book providers. We'll have to see.
If it really happens and you are used as an example then you would become a martir.
to be a martyr, you have to have people who will see what happens to you and take a stand against it. Today, most people only take note of what corporate media says to them, so unless something is so drastic that it actually catches the attention of the media, even then assuming they get it right, you won't have a chance. Also, people are apathetic. HIGHLY apathetic. And with geography no longer being nearly so relevant as it has been in previous struggles (the segregation of the deep south being an example) it'll be hard to get enough force behind a martyr to actually do something. Kevin Mitnick wasn't released because of the 'free Kevin' bumperstickers, he was released because the government was tired of him, and his lawyers got better.
Funny... joss didn't like my slashdot signature much either...
... I started blogging when I was employed, but had nothing to do at work 9/10 of the time. My boss basically told me to play, and when they needed me, they'd give me something to do. Since I could SSH to my webhost, I blogged. I was the closest you could get to unemployed while still receiving a full payroll check.
When I became unemployed (not ever getting stuff to QA because Sales won't let Engineering finish anything tends to do this), I blogged even more. When I became employed again, I still blogged (and do to this day), but I didn't blog as much as I used to, since I 1) don't have time, 2) don't have as much wandering in my mind because I'm focused, and 3) don't have as much anger to rant off in a blog. Thus, I don't blog as much as I used to.
I still do occasionally, though, and it is a good way to collect one's thoughts, and straighten one's self out a bit if one is a bit confused.
... to make an example out of people? It's not unheard of for law makers to change the penalties for infractions of things that the populace as a majority or large minority want to be legal, and still get away with remaining in office, in power. Worse yet, those that get caught doing whatever "bad thing"(tm) that has been legislated against suffer massive penalties. I don't personally want to be the one caught if something that I enjoy doing, listening to, using, etc, gets made highly illegal in an attempt to make an example out of me to the others if I should happen to be one who gets caught.
Regarding your speed limit argument, something to keep in mind in many states is that there is a 'resonable and prudent' clause, where certain speeds above the posted speed limit are acceptable. In Arizona, one can go up to fifteen miles per hour over the posted speed limit and not have broken the law, assuming that one can demonstrate how that was reasonable and prudent (ie, everyone was going that fast, or there was no one on the road for a mile in each direction). Those that do exceed the reasonable and prudent grey area, however, are now subject to criminal traffic citation, rather than the civil citation that normal speeding, red light running, failure to stop, etc, would qualify for.
The only way that I could see such civil disobedience working is if it's in conjunction with pressure on lawmakers to change laws, so that when massive penalties are dealt upon parties involved, there can be a public outcry that lawmakers might feel they have to follow, else their continuing jobs will be threatened. Even then, though, I don't know if the modern system of campaign contributions, favours, kickbacks, and the like will allow for such.
"Geeks make new stuff primarily because it's fun, because it's useful, and because they can."
yes, much the the annoyance of receiving a $120 electric bill for a 810 sq. ft. apartment, where the air conditioning has to be run in the winter time to keep all of the equipment cool enough...
I need to get that pad...
Oh wait, I use a trackball, nevermind.
On a more serious note, I've used an optical Logitech mouse on an old Sun optical pad (from the mice that required such a pad) and it works all right. In fact, it's a little better than a random surface.
...when someone who would be a star witness does the telephone equivalent of not showing up in court? I wouldn't think that this would completely blow the case against the defendant, but I would imagine that many judges wouldn't give the prosecution much slack if they pulled a stunt like that.
So, did anyone else get a Microsoft ad in the Newsforge add space embedded in the article?
It's a conspiracy, I tell you!
If you don't want something for the short-term, don't manufacture it this way. Stuff like foundation seals, car parts, tools, etc, that doesn't get tossed out very often doesn't have to be made with this type of plastic. Stuff that is frequently disposed of (diapers, water filters, etc) can be made from this process, and won't cause nearly so much of a problem.
Where I work, we have about 100 sites in a metro area. We have Linux servers at each site handling printing and file services, for hundreds of users per site. We have built a rapid-install feature to put new boxes out, with very little time being necesary to configure the machines to match the existing setup. We have configured https-driven web front ends for things like user addition/deletion (for the samba accounts), printer addition/deletion/queue-clearing, and the like. We have ONE guy whose job is to maintain the backend of these servers. There are a total of four network engineers here, maintaining these, the Novell servers, the network backbone, and all of the other loose ends that come about.
Show me this working on NT/2000.
but I already do sweep through the turns on two wheels! I suppose that's why mister traffic officer likes to talk to me, though.
It would be possible for a group of people, not necessarily a small group, but not necessarily huge, either to repeat this. 100 people, each with $3,000, could do it. The group would need to find some space to house the thing, and would probably have to do it in a climate where it could be relatively naturally cooled, which definitely rules out Phoenix. The computer would then be one of the fastest machines in the world.
Granted, I don't know what the hell they'd do with the computer, but it would be kind of cool to be on the list.