This has been a corporate stealth agenda in the US since the late 1980s.
Don't believe me?
What's your immediate reaction to the following phrases:
McDonalds coffee lawsuit
Jackpot justice
Frivolous lawsuit
Tort reform No need to reply, just hold the thought.
Now go to http://hotcoffeethemovie.com/ and watch the trailer (if you have HBO watch the full film there, or rent the DVD after November). Now consider the sheer number of companies that have, or changed, EULAs, warranties, or other consumer contracts to preclude anything other than "binding arbitration". Guess who pays for the "arbitrators"? The company whose product or service you, the consumer, have had a problem with. Since said arbitrators are paid for the company, how many adverse rulings do you think you're going to see against the company?
EA is just following suit of AT&T, Verizon, FINRA, auto dealers, and many others looking to minimize their "attack threshold", which is a good thing, right?
PS: For extra credit research and discuss ALEC, and enjoy your weekend.
Thanks for the 411, I'll recommend she look to change things up (though I can hear the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth starting in the background).
She had a Paypal account tied to her iTunes account emptied of over $400.
Luckily her buying habits and those of the hacker/s were wildly divergent (inspirational audio books vs. FPS shooters), so she got her refund...after nearly two months.
Her password? It was at least eight characters, capitalization, numbers and special characters and is considered "strong" by any password assessment tool you'll find.
I equate Apple's response to these attacks as the same Ford had to Pinto gas tanks.
For this to have gone on as long as it has means either the changes needed to really combat it would be bad for business, or the bean counters have decided the percentages warrant the non-response.
Be sure to thoroughly read program restrictions. 503c's are not created equal, nor do they enjoy the same benefits. There are loopholes, however.
Before you sign up look at your organization and see if there's anything that services the community as a whole, as opposed to just the congregation. Think secular outreach.
Example: The Church of Cthulu seeks the benefits of Techsoup, however as a 503c faith based organization their options are limited. They open the Nyarlothotep Coffee, Books & More store, available to all the townsfolk, irrespective of their faith, which runs under the same 503c as the Church. They apply as NCB&M, as a secular outreach, et voilá! Magically, MS & Adobe benefits (all products carried) are now theirs.
For end users, it's the little things that matter.
I know people who are still on FF 3.6.18 because their favorite weather addon doesn't work in 4.0/5.5 (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/forecastbar-enhanced/), or users who don't want to upgrade past XP because the TCP-IP changes in Vista/7 broke Kerio Personal Firewall (http://www.sunbelt-software.com/ihs/alex/keriopf215.zip), or Mac users who lag behind OS versions because a haxie wasn't ready for prime time (http://unsanity.com/haxies/) and have no plans to upgrade to Lion because key components will go missing (http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?threadid=119528).
While I understand the reasoning of the major players for updating and refining, isn't it time in the rush to do so, that they stop and consider "What really makes my product appealing to the user?".
The budgetary axe falls on those least able to defend themselves. Children, seniors, the sick and homeless have all "taken one for the team" (in most cases more than once).
In the meantime, other areas in the budget grab bag are given a complete pass. "Defense" spending on the Federal level, the prison industry, the multiple "soft wars" (Drugs/Terrorism/Crime/et. al), as well as others, all remain sacrosanct.
For decades politicians have screwed up in prioritizing what's really important, versus what's politically palatable, or profitable. Bootz is simply trying to make the point that once again politicians are making more poor choices when it comes to being "fiscally responsible".
Bad day for scientific research? No. It's set back of limited duration. Is GM food "bad"? Dunno, jury's still out on that and it really depends which camp you want to listen to. Is the licensing and patenting of GM crops bad? Oh hell yes. The goal of "crop lock-in" is real, demonstrated and rather scary IMO. Would this be a good time to discuss licensing or policies to halt this type of corporate behavior? Definitely. In fact it's so long overdue we may have passed the tipping point five years ago.
I think that this imbroglio underscores the need to limit or do away with gene patents, as there is little chance that the men in white coats (or the ones in black suits that pay them) will stop their tinkering, and I'm not sure that it needs to stop.
Since I believe that accepting any company's claims about a free service will get you... well... what you pay for; I tend to be proactive.
The first thing I did after creating my Dropbox account was create a 1.9Gb read/write sparse disc image with AES 256 encryption and a strong password, which is stored on in the keychain of each machine needing to access the data.
So even though Dropbox can access my account, they couldn't see what's in my image.
Would this obviate my ability to join any legal proceeding resulting from the complaint and investigation? Just askin'.
My only observation? Over time, anything that dilutes or threatens the iTunes/App Store/iDevice ecosystem is met with increasingly over-the-top responses.
Maybe that's how you get ahead in business, but it sucks nonetheless.
Slashdot Mirror
This has been a corporate stealth agenda in the US since the late 1980s.
Don't believe me?
What's your immediate reaction to the following phrases:
McDonalds coffee lawsuit
Jackpot justice
Frivolous lawsuit
Tort reform
No need to reply, just hold the thought.
Now go to http://hotcoffeethemovie.com/ and watch the trailer (if you have HBO watch the full film there, or rent the DVD after November).
Now consider the sheer number of companies that have, or changed, EULAs, warranties, or other consumer contracts to preclude anything other than "binding arbitration".
Guess who pays for the "arbitrators"?
The company whose product or service you, the consumer, have had a problem with.
Since said arbitrators are paid for the company, how many adverse rulings do you think you're going to see against the company?
EA is just following suit of AT&T, Verizon, FINRA, auto dealers, and many others looking to minimize their "attack threshold", which is a good thing, right?
PS: For extra credit research and discuss ALEC, and enjoy your weekend.
Thanks for the 411, I'll recommend she look to change things up (though I can hear the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth starting in the background).
Agreed. But there again, she didn't ask me. :^D
She had a Paypal account tied to her iTunes account emptied of over $400.
Luckily her buying habits and those of the hacker/s were wildly divergent (inspirational audio books vs. FPS shooters), so she got her refund...after nearly two months.
Her password? It was at least eight characters, capitalization, numbers and special characters and is considered "strong" by any password assessment tool you'll find.
I equate Apple's response to these attacks as the same Ford had to Pinto gas tanks.
For this to have gone on as long as it has means either the changes needed to really combat it would be bad for business, or the bean counters have decided the percentages warrant the non-response.
That Dominion 'igions and other religious shibboleths are alive, well and still spreading their dogmas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_consequences
Something our brilliant politicos are very familiar with.
Not in a good way though.
F. U.
'nuff said.
Doh! No coffee yet, 501c3, not 503c. Mea Culpa.
Be sure to thoroughly read program restrictions. 503c's are not created equal, nor do they enjoy the same benefits. There are loopholes, however.
Before you sign up look at your organization and see if there's anything that services the community as a whole, as opposed to just the congregation. Think secular outreach.
Example: The Church of Cthulu seeks the benefits of Techsoup, however as a 503c faith based organization their options are limited. They open the Nyarlothotep Coffee, Books & More store, available to all the townsfolk, irrespective of their faith, which runs under the same 503c as the Church. They apply as NCB&M, as a secular outreach, et voilá! Magically, MS & Adobe benefits (all products carried) are now theirs.
World dominion ensues.
Went twice. Awesome sauce.
So sad when it left for Detroit.
"quite a lot of regulation is designed to protect incumbent interests, squeezing out any potential competitors before they even get to market."
Nail.Head.Hit.
The other stuff is all window dressing for this.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9160878/Federal_judge_orders_Pa._schools_to_stop_laptop_spying
So if it's done by a company it's OK, but if it's done by a school, it's not? -.0
NEWS FLASH!
Transgenic bees found able to crossbreed with dragonflies!
The resulting insects have five to six inch wingspans, stingers able to pierce Kevlar and really nasty dispositions.
Scientists have dubbed them "dragonbees" and are said to be feverishly at work on a transgenic predator to combat the problem.
More at 6:00PM
"If you aren't uploading anything, you should be fine."
At least until their lobbyists manage to twist enough congressional arms to say otherwise.
For end users, it's the little things that matter.
I know people who are still on FF 3.6.18 because their favorite weather addon doesn't work in 4.0/5.5 (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/forecastbar-enhanced/), or users who don't want to upgrade past XP because the TCP-IP changes in Vista/7 broke Kerio Personal Firewall (http://www.sunbelt-software.com/ihs/alex/keriopf215.zip), or Mac users who lag behind OS versions because a haxie wasn't ready for prime time (http://unsanity.com/haxies/) and have no plans to upgrade to Lion because key components will go missing (http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?threadid=119528).
While I understand the reasoning of the major players for updating and refining, isn't it time in the rush to do so, that they stop and consider "What really makes my product appealing to the user?".
Students barely read anymore; why assume the cluestick of a light will work?
Lube optional
I think Superintendent Nathan Bootz has a point.
The budgetary axe falls on those least able to defend themselves. Children, seniors, the sick and homeless have all "taken one for the team" (in most cases more than once).
In the meantime, other areas in the budget grab bag are given a complete pass. "Defense" spending on the Federal level, the prison industry, the multiple "soft wars" (Drugs/Terrorism/Crime/et. al), as well as others, all remain sacrosanct.
For decades politicians have screwed up in prioritizing what's really important, versus what's politically palatable, or profitable. Bootz is simply trying to make the point that once again politicians are making more poor choices when it comes to being "fiscally responsible".
Bad day for scientific research? No. It's set back of limited duration.
Is GM food "bad"? Dunno, jury's still out on that and it really depends which camp you want to listen to.
Is the licensing and patenting of GM crops bad? Oh hell yes. The goal of "crop lock-in" is real, demonstrated and rather scary IMO.
Would this be a good time to discuss licensing or policies to halt this type of corporate behavior? Definitely. In fact it's so long overdue we may have passed the tipping point five years ago.
For your consideration:
Haitian rice
Monsanto Lawsuit / canola
Monsanto Lawsuit / soybeans
Patented disease
University gene patents
I think that this imbroglio underscores the need to limit or do away with gene patents, as there is little chance that the men in white coats (or the ones in black suits that pay them) will stop their tinkering, and I'm not sure that it needs to stop.
I'd hate to have a malfunctioning lightbulb eat up my monthly allowance for NetFlix.
Since I believe that accepting any company's claims about a free service will get you... well ... what you pay for; I tend to be proactive.
The first thing I did after creating my Dropbox account was create a 1.9Gb read/write sparse disc image with AES 256 encryption and a strong password, which is stored on in the keychain of each machine needing to access the data.
So even though Dropbox can access my account, they couldn't see what's in my image.
Would this obviate my ability to join any legal proceeding resulting from the complaint and investigation? Just askin'.
This isn't the first time Apple's apparently screwed over developers.
Panic made a better music player:
http://panic.com/audion/
http://panic.com/extras/audionstory/
Widgets didn't originate with Apple (at least according to Arlo Rose):
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=77382
http://www.konfabulator.com/cartoon/partOne.html
Alternative view here - http://www.randommaccess.com/articles/1088610260.shtml
Watson was slain:
http://www.karelia.com/watson/
iPodRip bullied into submission:
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/biz-tech/jobs-may-make-mat-lose-his-job-20091125-jq6t.html
My only observation? Over time, anything that dilutes or threatens the iTunes/App Store/iDevice ecosystem is met with increasingly over-the-top responses.
Maybe that's how you get ahead in business, but it sucks nonetheless.
If you need a reference.
... a great kiss requires lips *and* tongue *and* a head
and BOOBIES!
Just sayin'
: )
ESET would fill that bill, and in my experience is the only one with a small enough footprint to keep from pissing off Linux and OSX users *having* to use AV.
http://www.eset.com/us/business/enterprise
http://www.eset.com/us/business/why-eset
I don't work them, and am using the product after trying McAfee, and Virus Barrier X on my Mac.