> My second guess would be Steve Jobs, because he's > crazy and has finiancial incentive (can you say > iPod?)
Jobs would be my first guess. There aren't that many players with the money and as much financial incentive as he has. After all, he just spent half a decade rebuilding Apple. It finally is to the point where it has huge potential. But the Hollings bill could destroy it all, by handing Microsoft a perpetual, government blessed, monopoly. Microsoft's DRMOS patents could prevent Apple from continuing to manufacture computers, or burden Apple with huge licensing fees to remain legal.
With the December 3rd Time ad, Apple declared open war on Microsoft. In recent months, Apple has begun going head to head with the RIAA and MPAA as well. Apple has gone on a media creation tool shopping spree. When Jobs was asked what they planned to do with their acquistions, he said that they were going to democratise them. By making them less expensive and far easier to use, Apple can hand some of the power of the RIAA and MPAA to anyone with the desire to use it. This will be a boon to small, independent recording labels and movie houses, helping them to be able to replace the existing, power-hungry, big media corporations.
What Apple once did for desktop publishing, what Apple is doing for UNIX, Apple will be doing for music and movie creation: putting the power in the hands of everyone (and I do mean everyone: with Apple's lead of the industry and its sharing of technologies such as Rendevous and Firewire, other platforms will benefit as well). Apple's empowerment of the user puts it in direct conflict with the likes of Microsoft, Hollywood, and the big 5 labels.
On December 14, 1996, Mothra resurrected a charred Apple sapling ("Mosura" 1996). On December 14, 2001, Mothra returned to see its fruit ("Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Ghidora: Daikaiju Soukougeki"). OS X Jaguar: truly the Apple of Mothra's Aqua eye.
> Last I heard it was not a crime to putt around > anyones neighborhood, whether you lived there or > not. So what, if you just happen to have a laptop > and a wireless network device. I haven`t heard of > anyone bieng arrested for posessing network gear. > Unless it was stolen! Is a cop really gonna bust > you for wardriving? I think not.
If you "putt around" the neighborhood of a single woman, living alone, especially at night, she will most likely be giving her local police department a call about a "suspicious vehicle" which appears to be canvasing the neighborhood. And when you explain to Mr. Policeman that you are "scanning for access points", you are going to be seeing some bars from the inside very shortly.
And if Mr. Policeman sees your WarDriving Tshirt, no doubt he will think you are part of a gang.
> It`ll be the old skateboarding thing, where your > told that even though it is public property, and > you technically can be there that what your > doing is potentially damaging and/or disruptive. > Who cares!
My guess is the rest of the general public who don't want to be damaged or disrupted. Well, except for the bigger skateboarding dude that runs into you and puts you in the hospital. Chances are, he won't care.
To be a responsible member of a civilized society, you have to think (and care) about the impact of your actions on others.
"What do you think Mothra would do?" - Moll, "Mosura" 1996
> It boggles the mind that so many administrators > unintentionally leave their wireless networks open > and available
It doesn't boggle anything when you get off you geeky high horse and realize that most people buying and installing wireless network equipment are not "administrators" of any sort. They are ordinary people who don't know a thing about network security, but just need a net to work. The only thing that boggles the mind is that you would rationalize preying upon their ignorance.
The manufacturers hold one key to solving this. If they would make the configuration of these networks secure by default, and give people easy to understand instructions for enabling security: "Yes, I want to make my network safe from invading hordes of young hoodlums.", it would help.
"Godzilla and Jaguar: Punch! Punch! Punch! Hit! Hit! Hit!
We die if they stop fighting for us." Jet Jaguar Song, "Godzilla vs. Megalon"
> Anyone know of popular fiction references to > Microsoft. Directly or by implication.
"Godzilla 2000 Millenium" (American version "Godzilla 2000" chops out the "Millenium" references). Millenium was a Microsoft research project in the late 1990's (http://research.microsoft.com/research/sn/Millenn ium/mgoals.html especially "What would such a system be like?").
In the movie the "Millenium alien" seized control of Earth's computers (PC's, Macs, and even ones running the open source game emulator MAME). It planned to rule the world, and to do that, it needed a terrestrial form. It attempted to embrace, extend, and extinguish Godzilla.
The Mac-loving Monster King had no intention of giving up his crown to the ursurper, but was having trouble destroying it, after it had assimilated Godzilla's own healing abilities. Finally the alien opened its mouth way too wide and extended a big flap with tentacles grasping at him. Godzilla came to a decision, and dived in. Millenium gulped down his DNA with "Organizer G1" (a component of G-cells left over from earlier in the history of life when life was still evolving into widely diverse forms). All was well, until Millenium noticed Godzilla's spines begin to glow. The alien died in a massive nuclear fireball. Then the Dreaded God bellowed his triumph!
Microsoft's Millenium distributed network did have a cameo in the Japanese version of the movie. As Shinoda was about to leave the computer room with the MAME computers, he whirled around and stared at the monitors. All of them were displaying the "Millenium" boot screen.
It was the only moment in Toho's kaiju eiga where a Microsoft OS was shown with any unique identifying parts (window title bars, etc.) unblurred. Toho does not usually give Microsoft any product placement, even if a PC is used in a movie and its screen has vital info for the plot. PCs are rarely used, and usually by the bad guy (or at least the "wanting to destroy Godzilla" guy, or the "hasn't yet been reformed by Mothra" guy). Good guys use Macs.;)
The best thing that could happen with these crippled PCs would be product placement on the next Godzilla movie. Compaq stupidly tried that for two movies in a row, and look at where are they now!;)
"At this moment, it has control of systems all over the world. And...we can't do a damn thing to stop it." Miyasaka, Godzilla 2000 Millennium (Japanese version)
Millenium's Message (words appeared on all computer monitors): "Earth...Destroy...Erase...Suppression ...Dominate...
Terror...Prosperity...Oppulence...Oppression...
Revolution...Kingdom..." Godzilla 2000 Millennium (Japanese version)
> Honestly, unless Apple comes out with a x86 port > this claim is one of the most anal around.
They already did that (http://www.apple.com/ipod/).
So have a couple of third party players, who were original enough not to get sued for exactly duplicating iTunes in all including name.
If the world is ever going to believe in the superiority of open source or free software, the apps are going to have to be original, innovative, and better than the existing proprietary apps.
There are some such apps out there. Xtunes is apparently not one of them.
"What I'm thinking is different from what you are." Belabera, "Mothra 3" 1998
> I was under the mistaken impression that the only > FreeBSD stuff in the Darwin kernel was the > filesystem and network code (and a bit more, I'm > oversimplifying). I somehow got the idea that it > had a completely different driver model (IOKit) > and a completely different core (Mach). Silly me > thought most of it came from NeXT.
Apple has a good explanation of Darwin here (http://www.apple.com/macosx/technologies/darwin.h tml):
>> Darwin is a complete BSD UNIX implementation, >> derived from the original 4.4BSD-Lite2 Open >> Source distribution. Darwin uses a monolithic >> kernel based on FreeBSD 3.2 and the OSF/mk Mach 3, >> combining BSD's POSIX support with the >> fine-grained multithreading and real-time >> performance of Mach. Darwin also provides a >> complete shell environment based primarily on >> NetBSD 1.4
Or another way to put it:
Darwin, child of NeXT, combines the best of all BSDs, with the finest kitchen sink money can buy thrown in for good measure.;)
"Heart can reach where hand cannot. Climb over any wall..." Mothra (via Moll) "Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks"
> According to news.com [com.com]apple is using > the dmca
Yesterday, I wrote a posting "First version of this story did *not* mention DMCA" (read it at http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=38907&cid=4163 229) that gives my reasons for believing that Apple did not use the DMCA. If OWC wants to change my mind, they can show me the letter from Apple legal that mentions the DMCA.
> to make sure its itools software does not work > with any other dvd player but there own internal > ones
This has nothing to do with iTools (which kinda indicates that you might not have read the article you are refering to). Apple created *iDVD* to sell their SuperDrive equipped Macs. OWC was trying to warp iDVD so they could use it to sell OWC's own DVD drives. OWC was stealing Apple's work, against Apple's license, in order to compete with Apple in the DVD drive market. Apple is the victim here.
> Apple does not care about the opensource > community
Ha! They have released Darwin and Quick Time Streaming Server (and next month Rendevous) as open source.
OS X includes such well loved open source and free software as GCC, Emacs, Apache, and Perl.
They provide documentation on using open source, such as this page (http://developer.apple.com/internet/macosx/osdb.h tml) on open source databases.
And Apple ships with Macs (compressed on the hard drive but available and free for install) and in the OS X retail boxes a free copy of their development suite (which now includes GCC 3.1). Upgrades are free for the download, or $20 for a FedEx-ed CD. This enables any Mac user that wants to, to develop as much open source as their little heart desires, without having to pay for development tools.
> like Enron care about profits above all else.
Companies have to care about their profits because their first duty is to their shareholders. But in order to get those profits (and they have to be real, not cooked books), they have to care about their customers and keeping them happy.
Apple does care about their customers, their shareholders, and even tries to benefit the industry as a whole (Firewire, Rendevous). In contrast, Microsoft takes their customers for granted, uses them, manipulates them, treats them like criminals. Microsoft also doesn't pay shareholders dividends, and their stock prices are no longer going up and up. Microsoft acquired more congresscritters than Enron, because they donated three times what Enron did in the 2000 elections. You can compare one of these two companies to Enron. The one isn't Apple.
BTW, thank you Apple, for gifting Rendevous to the open source community. It was an unexpected, and most pleasant surprise. Yatta Jaguar!
"It's a miracle! The sea water has once again created new life." Moll, "Rebirth of Mothra 2"
Re:Please, AOLTW, switch to NS from IE for AOL..
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Netscape 7.0 is Out
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iamsure wrote:
> please for the love of God, start the browser war > back up.
For the love of Godzilla, it has started up again. Only this time it is not Netscape vs. IE, it is many standards compliant browsers (across Windows, Linux, and Mac) vs. IE. And IE is loosing ground.
In just one month since Mozilla 1.0's release, the alternative browsers wrested 1.8 percent of the market from IE, splitting it primarily between Netscape, Mozilla, and Opera.
In Europe Opera's star is rising.
AOL has released their Gecko (Mozilla's engine) based client for the Mac. The current plan is to do the same for Windows for version 8.0. That should grab quite a sizable chunk away from Microsoft.
> With that, we may see a reverse in the tides. > ANYTHING short of all of that, and it will be > just a ripple.
Remember, Microsoft defeated Netscape, and once the antitrust trial is over (with naught worse than a wrist slap), they will be free to do so again.
But they can't possibly defeat Netscape, AOL's client, Mozilla, Opera, Konqueror, iCab, OmniWeb, and a cast of thousands. Not while they are fighting off Apple, Linux, Sun, Corel, Sony, Nintendo, Palm, Sharp, and others on multiple fronts, either defending their existing monopolies or trying to gain new ones.
Break Microsoft up into a thousand competing pieces, and have the pieces work together using existing open standards, and everybody (but Microsoft) wins.
Its either that, or have Godzilla stuff his face down Microsoft's throat and make with a nuclear explosion. Frankly, I think the other residents of Redmond would prefer the former solution. The radioactivity generated by the latter is killer on property values.;)
What happens when you embrace and extend Godzilla? Nuclear heartburn! See "Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millennium") for details.
Before you all get too worked up over this, please read this:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020812/120170_1.html
This happened back on August 12th (a tad old to be "news"). Other World Computing's story back then was that Apple *requested* that they drop their software and support (because it violates the iDVD license).
There was *no* mention of the DMCA, and no need to invoke it as Apple's iDVD license is quite clear.
Note that the reference to the DMCA in the article is purely the quote of Other World Computing's president. There is no quote from any document they received from Apple.
Note too that this is the same silly news site that manufactured the "Apple + Sun = true love and Star Office for OS X" story.
Lacking any actual proof, beyond someone's say-so who has an axe to grind, reported on a flaky news site, I'm going to presume that Apple is innocent here.
After all, who would you believe, a company that has taken the RIAA to task over their anti-piracy excesses, or one who tried to capitalize on someone else's hard work in order to compete with them?
I am breaking with tradition, and ending with a quote not from Mothra, but from her friend, Steve Jobs:
"Apple strives to protect the rights of both intellectual property owners and consumers alike and believes there is a 'middle path' in digital music distribution which actively discourages the theft of music, while at the same time preserving consumers rights to manage and listen to their legally acquired music on whatever devices they own," Steve Jobs, 2002 Grammy Awards, as reported on http://sg.news.yahoo.com/020227/1/2jun2.html.
> So what I really want is for Apple to publish > the APIs for programming the iPod.
Good idea. Tell Apple that (they are a very strange company that has occasionally actually listened to customers -- imagine that). Their feedback page is here:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/feedback/
"Lightning shines on wavey beach, and all clouds are made right:
Happiness Appears!" From the song "Infanto no Musume" in the Japanese version of Mothra (1961).
> You're overlooking the fact that the two industries are symbiotic. The > smaller content industry FUELS the much larger tech industry.
I hate to inform you, but the entire tech industry is not about shoveling Hollywood's silly content to the masses. Ever heard of word processing, spreadsheets, number crunching, or telephones?
> What good is all that consumer electronics (the bulk of tech dollars) > if the entertainment industry isn't producing anything new because of > rampant piracy?
So who needs this entertainment industry thing? Learn to play an instrument, write and sing a song, make your own movie, tell a story or a joke, or just bang some rocks together. Ever hear of folk music? That's music the people make, our music. Music we can create ourselves and legally share. If the poor people kidnapped from their homes in Africa and wrongly sold as slaves more than a century ago in America could make such beautiful music, how much more can we, the free citizens of America's present?
> The answer is not much; the tech industry would much more if the > content industry is hurt.
If the Hollings bill goes through, the tech industry will be seriously injured. The products they would be forced to make would be crippled, expensive, and unsellable.
On the other hand, if the members of the RIAA went out of business tomorrow, they would not be missed much by music buyers. A market would be created for the recording of music, creation of CD's, and putting the music on the web. This market can be easily filled with small businesses, resulting in more control for the artist, lower prices, and more spreading around of the wealth. With cheaper CD's and a sane approach to selling music on the web, music file-sharing would decrease to a point where it could be written off as an advertising cost. The tech industry might be improved by such a shift in the market, but it wouldn't be harmed by it.
"Really, gentlemen, if that's the case, let's see the power of attorney given to you by Mothra."
Torahata "Mothra vs. Godzilla"
> but people really need to stop with the > "terrorist" thing. I know terrorism is the latest > fad and all,
Terrorism isn't a fad, latest or not. It is the most base form of tyranny. Read the definition of "terrorism" in the dictionary: it has nothing to do with killing people, unless that is the means chosen to induce a state of fear. The US of A was founded to fight tyranny, not to practice it!
> but all you accomplish by equating the DMCA with > the wholesale slaughter of innocents is make > yourself look the fool.
I'm not. I'm equating the use of the DMCA to terrorize people with the use of a few hijacked jets to terrorize people. The end is the same: frightened little rabbits afraid to stand up to the big bullies. (Funny thing is, Al Quada aren't the only ones using 9/11 to terrify people into submission. Guess who else is.)
BTW, I don't care if I look the fool, if it gets people to think.
"The path of peace is yours to discover for eternity." "Mosura", 1961
> The worst terrorist attack in recorded history > occurred nearly a year ago,
Worst terrorist attack, yes. But no where near what it could have been. Nearly three thousand died. Many more were wounded. But in a tower complex that could have had up to 50,000 people in it, it is clear that the terrorist attack is only part of the story. The other part is the wisdom, courage and compassion of those who sacrified themselves, those who died in the line of duty, and ordinary people who helped each other. That part worked a shining miracle, saving tens of thousands. Those noble, heroic hearts put those heartless monsters to shame!
> followed by a Holy War against Islam,
9/11 had nothing to do with Islam. Since we are talking about the *World* Trade Center, you might keep in mind that good followers of Islam were murdered that day as well. That isn't Allah that Bin Laden is following. I don't care who he thinks his boss is, or how many Islamic poems he mutters. I'm sure Azi Dahaka gets a big kick out of being called "Allah" though. Right up there with "Great Devil that comes from the Sky" and Nostradamus's little nickname "King of Terror".
> and now Israel and the Palestinians as well as > India and Pakistan are teetering on the brink of > their own war,
Which is a really novel experience for them. Not.
> Argentina is in the midst of a financial crisis,
Yes, I know. My sympathies. Most of the world is having some kind of economic problems.
> America is considering launching attacks against > Somalia and Iraq,
I've got a unique idea: how about we take down the Al Quada organization in all 60 countries before we add new enemies to our plate. But no, we must go after Saddam at all costs because he is using the "weapons of mass destruction" we gave him on an ethnic minority inside Iraq (kinda brings back memories of the Old West and those smallpox blankets). If there was honest hope of helping the Kurds, I might be more willing. But somehow I think any real humanitarian assistance is pretty far down on the list.
> and you people have the gall to be discussing > the FISA court rebuking the FBI and Justice > Department????
They need a good rebuking. Ashcroft needs to take the curtain off the statue of Justice and get reaquainted.
> My *god*, people, GET SOME PRIORITIES! > > The bodies of the thousands of innocent > civilians who died (and will die) in these > unprecedented events could give a good god damn > about the FISA court rebuking the FBI and > Justice Department (and I'm sure if they were > still alive, they'd thank the wiretaps that > could have saved their lives), your childish > Lego models, your nerf toy guns and whining > about the lack of a "fun" workplace, your > Everquest/Diablo/D&D fixation, the latest Cowboy > Bebop rerun, or any of the other ways you are > "getting on with your life" (here's a hint: > watching Cowboy Bebop in your jammies and eating > a bowl of Shreddies is *not* "getting on with > your life"). The souls of the victims are > watching in horror as you people squander your > finite, precious time on this earth playing > video games! > > You people disgust me!
You disgust me, if your solution is to sit around quaking in terror. I will not dishonor the memory of those people by bowing to the will of their murderers!!! They want us to be terrified. It is the terror, not the deaths, that is the key to the definition of the word "terrorist". Anyone who huddles up in fear, drags the flag around for a security blanket, or uses the terror of 9/11 to further their quest for tyranny is basically inviting the King of Terror to come and put up a throne for himself in Washington D.C.
The terrorists took the right to Life away from people on 9/11. I will not surrender Liberty and Happiness too.
"Lola, kindness is not enough, look for the reason of hatred and anger. When you find and understand that, love becomes the strongest power..." Belabera, "Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks"
> Some secretary probably wanted a new Mac. When > it arrived the guys wanted to check under the > hood. They found that it is 3 million years > ahead of their SGI boxes and decided to start > switching/porting. > > I seriously doubt that they got into doing this > with Linux... My guess is that they installed > Redhat 5.0 a few years ago, and then maybe tried > 6.2 on an underused partition, eventually > scraping it when their uncompressed images > needed more space... They probably never really > investigated Linux as an alternative.
Sorry, but your fantasy doesn't jive with the article.
Scott Sneddon said he had been using Mac for years. He was using Mac, Linux, and SGI at the same time for different tasks. Then along came OS X, and he said "good-bye" to his Linux and SGI boxes, and freed up much disk space. He also said that "OS X is a better Unix development environment than Linux or Silicon Graphics Irix". Having done development under all three platforms (though SGI was ten years ago), I must agree. Cocoa is really sweet.
Craig Hunter, from NASA, replaced his SGIs with Macs running OS X.
Gaurav Khanna also replaced his SGIs with Macs running OS X.
Rob Meyer's company used to produce software for the Mac, and now they are back. Rob Meyer himself is a long time Windows user, and thinking of buying himself a Mac.
> Wait! I do have a point - I assume that they > have not really given Linux a try, and should > not compare it to OS/X for that reason....
Nope, you are point free. Next time, try actually reading the article before you post a comment.
"Godzilla and Jaguar: Punch! Punch! Punch! Hit! Hit! Hit! We die if they stop fighting for us." Jet Jaguar Song, "Godzilla vs. Megalon"
Re:I'm sure everyone is going to do this.
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Haiku vs Spam
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How then knowest they to send haiku, if I not send them it first?
-- Mecha Godzilla / Destruction's Mirror; Goji's / Greatest foe: Himself. Heart of flesh and fire / can defeat heart of cold steel / filled with rage and hate.
> Nevermind that public domain works have benefitted > the "artists" themselves. Now they dont want to > give back anything.
It is not the artists doing this, it is the record labels and movie studios. The recording artists are, by and large, the recording industry's first victims, stripped of their copyrights (and even their voices) by draconian contracts and a convenient bit of "work for hire" legislation. The entire recording industry needs to be redone, and the artists put in the driver's seat. Most of them are smart enough to realize that file sharing and internet radio are valuable marketing tools that help them make money.
Otherwise, your post was very good.
"They bind our hearts: 'Let's sell them again and again!'" From the song "Infant Girl" in the Japanese version of Mothra (1961). The entire song was censored by a Hollywood terrified that American audiences would actually understand Mothra's thundering condemnation of their business practices. Song was speech in her Infant Island culture.
> Dmitry was involved with a for-sale product > that defeated e-book copyright restrictions, > which clearly falls under the jurisdiction of > the DMCA.
Um, no.
From http://www.freesklyarov.org/background/: >> According to the company's website, the >> software permits eBook owners to translate from >> Adobe's secure eBook format into the more >> common Portable Document Format (PDF). The >> software only works on legitimately purchased >> eBooks and has been used, for example, by blind >> people to read otherwise-inaccessible PDF >> user's manuals, and by people who want to move >> an eBook from one computer to another (just >> like anyone can move a music CD from the home >> player to a portable or car).
So the software was only for the legitimate purchasers of eBooks, and primary purpose of the software was to allow them to move the eBook to their other machine or to allow a blind person to read the eBook they bought.
The article states: >> Start with the text of the DMCA itself. It >> says, "No person shall manufacture, import, >> offer to the public, provide, or otherwise >> traffic in any technology, product, service, >> device (or) component" that is primarily >> designed to bypass copy-protection technology.
According to the article, the DMCA should not have applied to Dmitry. Prior to the DMCA, under fair use laws, Dmitry's software would have been as legal here as in Russia. Why was Dmitry even in jail?
The answer: it doesn't matter what the DMCA really says. What matters is what a company like Adobe thinks it says. What matters is what a company like Adobe can convince the FBI it says. What matters is what a company like Adobe can scare a professor, a security expert, a software maker, or an employee into believing it says. Who cares if that is really what the DMCA says? If you land in jail, even if a wise judge throws the case out and declares the law unconstitutional, you have still lost a part of your life, income, possibly your job and even your reputation.
The DMCA is a four letter recipe for a reign of corporate terror. Stupid sharks, you think 9/11 would have taught them terror is a no-no.
Bells are ringing: Mothra, Mothra! Every heart is calling: Mothra, Mothra! Come on, Tok Wira, these sharks have gotta pay! New Kirk calling Mothra, we need you today!
> I'm sure others will mention this, but I thought > this quote was worth highlighting. > >> Microsoft really doesn't care about what you >> think; they care about what the RIAA and the MPAA >> think.
Even more, Microsoft doesn't care what its *customers* think. And that is going to get it into serious trouble one fine day.
I don't care how unsophisticated a computer user is, most people would notice not being allowed to do a favorite activity when their old PC let them do it. If you think the copy-protected CD returns are something, wait till you see droves of people trying to return their Palladium PCs because:
1) It has a virus. It's not supposed to get them. 2) It ate my mp3 collection. 3) It won't play my CDs. There is nothing wrong with them, my old PC played them just fine. 4) It charges my credit card every time I play some music. 5) It won't run this program I downloaded. In fact it tried to call the police, but I unplugged the phone line. Nope, it wasn't warez, it was this cool free (GPL'd) program named FileZilla. The computer was calling me a commie. 6) It won't run my old programs.
If the RIAA and MPAA are all Microsoft cares about, then they can just go swim with those sharks. And they can share their fate: shark steaks:
Eisner and Disney (what he gets for saying mean things about Mothra's dear Apple): http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnfla sh/aug200 2/nf20020816_4160.htm
Bells are ringing: Mothra, Mothra! Every heart is calling: Mothra, Mothra! Come on, Tok Wira, these sharks have gotta pay! New Kirk calling Mothra, we need you today!
But it isn't the responsibility of people who paid for their music to bear the burden of preventing copyright breaches. It is not *their* problem.
If I pay $60 for a 2 disk imported Mothra soundtrack (and I did), I should be able to simply rip the music onto my hard drive or do anything else with it (except break laws). It's mine. Why should I have to report to anyone (let alone Microsoft) if I have to restore the mp3's from it from a backup copy? And the only reason the person in the article was doing it in the first place was because Microsoft's software is crap!
Thank Mothra for Apple and iTunes. I had a most enjoyable time yesterday afternoon ripping that disk set and others. I'm listening to the "Godzilla 2000 Millenium" soundtrack now (which I also ripped from a CD I legally owned). This is how it should be! The artists (and even the greedy sharks) have their money, no laws are being broken, and I'm being entertained without hassle.
Last I heard, the one convicted of breaking the law was Microsoft. Funny how they are now the gatekeeper of DRM, and in charge of policing pirates.
Windows: "Go talk to my friend, an 800 pound monopoly-abusing gorilla!" Mac: "And here's my good buddy, the 66,000 ton Godzilla!" Godzilla: Stomp!;)
> He/She shoud uncheck the option to encript the > WMA file...
He/She and you ought to check your EULAs for MSN, all your Microsoft software, and any recent service packs. Chances are, Microsoft has already given themselves the "right" to do anything they want on your computer, including rechecking options or removing them as options all together.
After all, Microsoft did opt-in their Hotmail accounts and sell the names, against the wishes of the Hotmail users. They don't care how you set your configuration, only that they can do as they please.
And what they please is global domination.
"At this moment, it has control of systems all over the world. And...we can't do a damn thing to stop it." Miyasaka, Godzilla 2000 Millennium (Japanese version)
(that crovira wrote:) >> The direction M$ wants to take the world in (not >> where we might want to go today,) is one where >> PCs boot off of a network
> Actually, that is Sun Microsystem's catch line - > The Network is the Computer - or at least it used > to be. Sun was the one with the whole goal of > going back to dummy terminals.
True, but there is a big difference between running programs off of a server while viewing them on a dumb terminal and the network really being the computer: ie. a distributed network that takes over your computer.
As it happens, Microsoft had just such a research project, called Millenium, back in the late 90's:
http://research.microsoft.com/research/sn/Millen ni um/mgoals.html (Especially "What would such a system be like?")
http://research.microsoft.com/research/sn/ (Loo k under "Previous Projects".)
From the technologies they have been introducing, or revealing as vaporware:.Net, DRM, Palladium, Longhorn, they are definitely moving in that direction. And they have duped a group of open source developers into extending their Millenium to Linux and the Mac.
crovira was quite right about the ramifications as well. And the scariest thing is, Microsoft has rigged its EULA's in such a way that they can simply install it any time, without the PC owner's knowledge (they got their consent when they clicked through the EULA).
Please keep in mind that when Media Player plays a song and checks online to restore that license info, the user of Media Player has already given their permission to Microsoft to automatically upgrade their computer with new "security" features at that time. MSN users, well you've agreed to let Microsoft make downloads to your machine any time you connect to MSN. I believe a recent service pack ropes in XP and 2000 users as well.
We do have three hopes of escaping Microsoft's Millenial Kingdom:
1) Microsoft, being Microsoft, blunders Millenium so spectacularly badly that they sink under the weight of a thousand billion dollar lawsuits.
2) Linux gets on the desktop (really, what is keeping you?) and joins Apple in the fight to grab marketshare from Microsoft's monopoly. Without monopoly power, Millenium would never happen on a global scale.
3) At the very worst, if Linux and Apple are infected by Mono and get assimilated by Millenium, there is one last hope yet. Nintendo, I'd move your American offices out of Redmond, because an old (and highly radioactive) friend of yours will be coming to town. The One True Monster King has no intention of sharing his crown with the likes of Microsoft. (Or CGI iguanas for that matter.;)
Oh, and Microsoft, where did SQL Server (you know, the basis of Longhorn's file system) put the sacred nuclear materials of the Dreaded God of the Atom? He *really* wants to know.
"At this moment, it has control of systems all over the world. And...we can't do a damn thing to stop it." Miyasaka, Godzilla 2000 Millennium (Japanese version) (Note: I'm not associated with Toho in any way, besides loving their monster movies. A better, or more prophetic, version of "Godzilla vs. Microsoft" than "Godzilla 2000 Millenium" could not be made.)
Hearing the pleas of her OS X Mozilla using worshippers, the Great Goddess Mothra, who had resurrected the forests of Hokkaido and parted the Pacific Ocean, arose from her island and took flight. With two flaps of her mighty wings she sent God flying.
Then the Heroic Wonder-Working Deity sent her holy Shobijin to Toho, and reminded the company that if it expected her to miraculously bail out Godzilla again in 2011, Toho needed to follow her ways of peace and happiness. That meant playing nicely with others. The Toho executives blanched at the thought of Mothra going back to her cave for another twenty years, and called their lawyers off.
A Mighty Goddess is our Moth, The Peerless Queen of Monsters! She alone has defeated them all, E'en Godzilla fears her Name!
> Mozilla is a trademark infringement on Godzilla > just as Godzilla is a trademark infringement on > God. Now there's a three-way fight I'd like to > see.:-)
"God" is a general term for deity in the English language. There are anglo-saxon deities worshiped before Christianity who could sue the Christian deity for trademark infringement.
Besides, it's pronounced "go-dzi-lla" not "god-zil-la". And Godzilla is a god.
Godzilla is the King! Godzilla is the God! The Power and the Price of godly flame we stole! The fire from the atom's heart bears a terrible price: Godzilla is... Our Nuclear Nightmare! (From my lyrics to the instrumental "G-Proximity" from "Godzilla X Megagiras".)
Slashdot Mirror
Eusebo wrote:
> My second guess would be Steve Jobs, because he's
> crazy and has finiancial incentive (can you say
> iPod?)
Jobs would be my first guess. There aren't that many players with the money and as much financial incentive as he has. After all, he just spent half a decade rebuilding Apple. It finally is to the point where it has huge potential. But the Hollings bill could destroy it all, by handing Microsoft a perpetual, government blessed, monopoly. Microsoft's DRMOS patents could prevent Apple from continuing to manufacture computers, or burden Apple with huge licensing fees to remain legal.
With the December 3rd Time ad, Apple declared open war on Microsoft. In recent months, Apple has begun going head to head with the RIAA and MPAA as well. Apple has gone on a media creation tool shopping spree. When Jobs was asked what they planned to do with their acquistions, he said that they were going to democratise them. By making them less expensive and far easier to use, Apple can hand some of the power of the RIAA and MPAA to anyone with the desire to use it. This will be a boon to small, independent recording labels and movie houses, helping them to be able to replace the existing, power-hungry, big media corporations.
What Apple once did for desktop publishing, what Apple is doing for UNIX, Apple will be doing for music and movie creation: putting the power in the hands of everyone (and I do mean everyone: with Apple's lead of the industry and its sharing of technologies such as Rendevous and Firewire, other platforms will benefit as well). Apple's empowerment of the user puts it in direct conflict with the likes of Microsoft, Hollywood, and the big 5 labels.
On December 14, 1996, Mothra resurrected a charred Apple sapling ("Mosura" 1996).
On December 14, 2001, Mothra returned to see its fruit ("Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Ghidora: Daikaiju Soukougeki").
OS X Jaguar: truly the Apple of Mothra's Aqua eye.
I wrote:
> The best thing that could happen with these
> crippled PCs would be product placement on the
> next Godzilla movie.
I'm sorry, what I meant to say was:
The best thing that could happen with these crippled PCs would be product placement *for Godzilla's enemies* on the next Godzilla movie.
Simple product placement on a G movie won't get your company destroyed. You have to make him mad.
Godzilla to Microsoft:
"If you can't take the heat, RUN!"
From the Godzilla 2000 trailer Tristar tried so hard to hide.
g0bshiTe wrote:
> Last I heard it was not a crime to putt around
> anyones neighborhood, whether you lived there or
> not. So what, if you just happen to have a laptop
> and a wireless network device. I haven`t heard of
> anyone bieng arrested for posessing network gear.
> Unless it was stolen! Is a cop really gonna bust
> you for wardriving? I think not.
If you "putt around" the neighborhood of a single woman, living alone, especially at night, she will most likely be giving her local police department a call about a "suspicious vehicle" which appears to be canvasing the neighborhood. And when you explain to Mr. Policeman that you are "scanning for access points", you are going to be seeing some bars from the inside very shortly.
And if Mr. Policeman sees your WarDriving Tshirt, no doubt he will think you are part of a gang.
> It`ll be the old skateboarding thing, where your
> told that even though it is public property, and
> you technically can be there that what your
> doing is potentially damaging and/or disruptive.
> Who cares!
My guess is the rest of the general public who don't want to be damaged or disrupted. Well, except for the bigger skateboarding dude that runs into you and puts you in the hospital. Chances are, he won't care.
To be a responsible member of a civilized society, you have to think (and care) about the impact of your actions on others.
"What do you think Mothra would do?" - Moll, "Mosura" 1996
hillct wrote:
> It boggles the mind that so many administrators
> unintentionally leave their wireless networks open
> and available
It doesn't boggle anything when you get off you geeky high horse and realize that most people buying and installing wireless network equipment are not "administrators" of any sort. They are ordinary people who don't know a thing about network security, but just need a net to work. The only thing that boggles the mind is that you would rationalize preying upon their ignorance.
The manufacturers hold one key to solving this. If they would make the configuration of these networks secure by default, and give people easy to understand instructions for enabling security: "Yes, I want to make my network safe from invading hordes of young hoodlums.", it would help.
"Godzilla and Jaguar: Punch! Punch! Punch! Hit! Hit! Hit!
We die if they stop fighting for us."
Jet Jaguar Song, "Godzilla vs. Megalon"
RichMan wrote:
n ium/mgoals.html especially "What would such a system be like?").
;)
;)
n ...Dominate. ..
> Anyone know of popular fiction references to
> Microsoft. Directly or by implication.
"Godzilla 2000 Millenium" (American version "Godzilla 2000" chops out the "Millenium" references). Millenium was a Microsoft research project in the late 1990's (http://research.microsoft.com/research/sn/Millen
In the movie the "Millenium alien" seized control of Earth's computers (PC's, Macs, and even ones running the open source game emulator MAME). It planned to rule the world, and to do that, it needed a terrestrial form. It attempted to embrace, extend, and extinguish Godzilla.
The Mac-loving Monster King had no intention of giving up his crown to the ursurper, but was having trouble destroying it, after it had assimilated Godzilla's own healing abilities. Finally the alien opened its mouth way too wide and extended a big flap with tentacles grasping at him. Godzilla came to a decision, and dived in. Millenium gulped down his DNA with "Organizer G1" (a component of G-cells left over from earlier in the history of life when life was still evolving into widely diverse forms). All was well, until Millenium noticed Godzilla's spines begin to glow. The alien died in a massive nuclear fireball. Then the Dreaded God bellowed his triumph!
Microsoft's Millenium distributed network did have a cameo in the Japanese version of the movie. As Shinoda was about to leave the computer room with the MAME computers, he whirled around and stared at the monitors. All of them were displaying the "Millenium" boot screen.
It was the only moment in Toho's kaiju eiga where a Microsoft OS was shown with any unique identifying parts (window title bars, etc.) unblurred. Toho does not usually give Microsoft any product placement, even if a PC is used in a movie and its screen has vital info for the plot. PCs are rarely used, and usually by the bad guy (or at least the "wanting to destroy Godzilla" guy, or the "hasn't yet been reformed by Mothra" guy). Good guys use Macs.
The best thing that could happen with these crippled PCs would be product placement on the next Godzilla movie. Compaq stupidly tried that for two movies in a row, and look at where are they now!
"At this moment, it has control of systems all over the world.
And...we can't do a damn thing to stop it."
Miyasaka, Godzilla 2000 Millennium (Japanese version)
Millenium's Message (words appeared on all computer monitors):
"Earth...Destroy...Erase...Suppressio
Terror...Prosperity...Oppulence...Oppression...
Revolution...Kingdom..."
Godzilla 2000 Millennium (Japanese version)
Your Mom wrote:
> Honestly, unless Apple comes out with a x86 port
> this claim is one of the most anal around.
They already did that (http://www.apple.com/ipod/).
So have a couple of third party players, who were original enough not to get sued for exactly duplicating iTunes in all including name.
If the world is ever going to believe in the superiority of open source or free software, the apps are going to have to be original, innovative, and better than the existing proprietary apps.
There are some such apps out there. Xtunes is apparently not one of them.
"What I'm thinking is different from what you are."
Belabera, "Mothra 3" 1998
ZigMonty wrote:
h tml):
;)
> I was under the mistaken impression that the only
> FreeBSD stuff in the Darwin kernel was the
> filesystem and network code (and a bit more, I'm
> oversimplifying). I somehow got the idea that it
> had a completely different driver model (IOKit)
> and a completely different core (Mach). Silly me
> thought most of it came from NeXT.
Apple has a good explanation of Darwin here (http://www.apple.com/macosx/technologies/darwin.
>> Darwin is a complete BSD UNIX implementation,
>> derived from the original 4.4BSD-Lite2 Open
>> Source distribution. Darwin uses a monolithic
>> kernel based on FreeBSD 3.2 and the OSF/mk Mach 3,
>> combining BSD's POSIX support with the
>> fine-grained multithreading and real-time
>> performance of Mach. Darwin also provides a
>> complete shell environment based primarily on
>> NetBSD 1.4
Or another way to put it:
Darwin, child of NeXT, combines the best of all BSDs, with the finest kitchen sink money can buy thrown in for good measure.
"Heart can reach where hand cannot. Climb over any wall..."
Mothra (via Moll) "Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks"
Billy Gates wrote:
3 229) that gives my reasons for believing that Apple did not use the DMCA. If OWC wants to change my mind, they can show me the letter from Apple legal that mentions the DMCA.
h tml) on open source databases.
> According to news.com [com.com]apple is using
> the dmca
Yesterday, I wrote a posting "First version of this story did *not* mention DMCA" (read it at http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=38907&cid=416
> to make sure its itools software does not work
> with any other dvd player but there own internal
> ones
This has nothing to do with iTools (which kinda indicates that you might not have read the article you are refering to). Apple created *iDVD* to sell their SuperDrive equipped Macs. OWC was trying to warp iDVD so they could use it to sell OWC's own DVD drives. OWC was stealing Apple's work, against Apple's license, in order to compete with Apple in the DVD drive market. Apple is the victim here.
> Apple does not care about the opensource
> community
Ha! They have released Darwin and Quick Time Streaming Server (and next month Rendevous) as open source.
OS X includes such well loved open source and free software as GCC, Emacs, Apache, and Perl.
They provide documentation on using open source, such as this page (http://developer.apple.com/internet/macosx/osdb.
And Apple ships with Macs (compressed on the hard drive but available and free for install) and in the OS X retail boxes a free copy of their development suite (which now includes GCC 3.1). Upgrades are free for the download, or $20 for a FedEx-ed CD. This enables any Mac user that wants to, to develop as much open source as their little heart desires, without having to pay for development tools.
> like Enron care about profits above all else.
Companies have to care about their profits because their first duty is to their shareholders. But in order to get those profits (and they have to be real, not cooked books), they have to care about their customers and keeping them happy.
Apple does care about their customers, their shareholders, and even tries to benefit the industry as a whole (Firewire, Rendevous). In contrast, Microsoft takes their customers for granted, uses them, manipulates them, treats them like criminals. Microsoft also doesn't pay shareholders dividends, and their stock prices are no longer going up and up. Microsoft acquired more congresscritters than Enron, because they donated three times what Enron did in the 2000 elections. You can compare one of these two companies to Enron. The one isn't Apple.
BTW, thank you Apple, for gifting Rendevous to the open source community. It was an unexpected, and most pleasant surprise.
Yatta Jaguar!
"It's a miracle! The sea water has once again created new life."
Moll, "Rebirth of Mothra 2"
iamsure wrote:
;)
> please for the love of God, start the browser war
> back up.
For the love of Godzilla, it has started up again. Only this time it is not Netscape vs. IE, it is many standards compliant browsers (across Windows, Linux, and Mac) vs. IE. And IE is loosing ground.
In just one month since Mozilla 1.0's release, the alternative browsers wrested 1.8 percent of the market from IE, splitting it primarily between Netscape, Mozilla, and Opera.
In Europe Opera's star is rising.
AOL has released their Gecko (Mozilla's engine) based client for the Mac. The current plan is to do the same for Windows for version 8.0. That should grab quite a sizable chunk away from Microsoft.
> With that, we may see a reverse in the tides.
> ANYTHING short of all of that, and it will be
> just a ripple.
Remember, Microsoft defeated Netscape, and once the antitrust trial is over (with naught worse than a wrist slap), they will be free to do so again.
But they can't possibly defeat Netscape, AOL's client, Mozilla, Opera, Konqueror, iCab, OmniWeb, and a cast of thousands. Not while they are fighting off Apple, Linux, Sun, Corel, Sony, Nintendo, Palm, Sharp, and others on multiple fronts, either defending their existing monopolies or trying to gain new ones.
Break Microsoft up into a thousand competing pieces, and have the pieces work together using existing open standards, and everybody (but Microsoft) wins.
Its either that, or have Godzilla stuff his face down Microsoft's throat and make with a nuclear explosion. Frankly, I think the other residents of Redmond would prefer the former solution. The radioactivity generated by the latter is killer on property values.
What happens when you embrace and extend Godzilla? Nuclear heartburn!
See "Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millennium") for details.
Before you all get too worked up over this, please read this:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020812/120170_1.html
This happened back on August 12th (a tad old to be "news"). Other World Computing's story back then was that Apple *requested* that they drop their software and support (because it violates the iDVD license).
There was *no* mention of the DMCA, and no need to invoke it as Apple's iDVD license is quite clear.
Note that the reference to the DMCA in the article is purely the quote of Other World Computing's president. There is no quote from any document they received from Apple.
Note too that this is the same silly news site that manufactured the "Apple + Sun = true love and Star Office for OS X" story.
Lacking any actual proof, beyond someone's say-so who has an axe to grind, reported on a flaky news site, I'm going to presume that Apple is innocent here.
After all, who would you believe, a company that has taken the RIAA to task over their anti-piracy excesses, or one who tried to capitalize on someone else's hard work in order to compete with them?
I am breaking with tradition, and ending with a quote not from Mothra, but from her friend, Steve Jobs:
"Apple strives to protect the rights of both intellectual property owners and consumers alike and believes there is a 'middle path' in digital music distribution which actively discourages the theft of music, while at the same time preserving consumers rights to manage and listen to their legally acquired music on whatever devices they own,"
Steve Jobs, 2002 Grammy Awards, as reported on http://sg.news.yahoo.com/020227/1/2jun2.html.
Doug Moen (dmoen) wrote:
> So what I really want is for Apple to publish
> the APIs for programming the iPod.
Good idea. Tell Apple that (they are a very strange company that has occasionally actually listened to customers -- imagine that). Their feedback page is here:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/feedback/
"Lightning shines on wavey beach, and all clouds are made right:
Happiness Appears!"
From the song "Infanto no Musume" in the Japanese version of Mothra (1961).
An AC writes:
> You're overlooking the fact that the two industries are symbiotic. The
> smaller content industry FUELS the much larger tech industry.
I hate to inform you, but the entire tech industry is not about shoveling Hollywood's silly content to the masses. Ever heard of word processing, spreadsheets, number crunching, or telephones?
> What good is all that consumer electronics (the bulk of tech dollars)
> if the entertainment industry isn't producing anything new because of
> rampant piracy?
So who needs this entertainment industry thing? Learn to play an instrument, write and sing a song, make your own movie, tell a story or a joke, or just bang some rocks together. Ever hear of folk music? That's music the people make, our music. Music we can create ourselves and legally share. If the poor people kidnapped from their homes in Africa and wrongly sold as slaves more than a century ago in America could make such beautiful music, how much more can we, the free citizens of America's present?
> The answer is not much; the tech industry would much more if the
> content industry is hurt.
If the Hollings bill goes through, the tech industry will be seriously injured. The products they would be forced to make would be crippled, expensive, and unsellable.
On the other hand, if the members of the RIAA went out of business tomorrow, they would not be missed much by music buyers. A market would be created for the recording of music, creation of CD's, and putting the music on the web. This market can be easily filled with small businesses, resulting in more control for the artist, lower prices, and more spreading around of the wealth. With cheaper CD's and a sane approach to selling music on the web, music file-sharing would decrease to a point where it could be written off as an advertising cost. The tech industry might be improved by such a shift in the market, but it wouldn't be harmed by it.
"Really, gentlemen, if that's the case, let's see the power of attorney given to you by Mothra."
Torahata "Mothra vs. Godzilla"
Don't waste your time with "hardware manufacturers". Convince Apple to include Ogg Vorbis support on the iPod.
As soon as an iPod with Ogg Vorbis is released, you can bet the rest of the mp3 player manufacturers will be scrambling to get it on their products.
Such is the power of Apple.
"Godzilla and Jaguar: Punch! Punch! Punch! Hit! Hit! Hit!
We die if they stop fighting for us."
Jet Jaguar Song, "Godzilla vs. Megalon"
thomas.galvin wrote:
> but people really need to stop with the
> "terrorist" thing. I know terrorism is the latest
> fad and all,
Terrorism isn't a fad, latest or not. It is the most base form of tyranny. Read the definition of "terrorism" in the dictionary: it has nothing to do with killing people, unless that is the means chosen to induce a state of fear. The US of A was founded to fight tyranny, not to practice it!
> but all you accomplish by equating the DMCA with
> the wholesale slaughter of innocents is make
> yourself look the fool.
I'm not. I'm equating the use of the DMCA to terrorize people with the use of a few hijacked jets to terrorize people. The end is the same: frightened little rabbits afraid to stand up to the big bullies. (Funny thing is, Al Quada aren't the only ones using 9/11 to terrify people into submission. Guess who else is.)
BTW, I don't care if I look the fool, if it gets people to think.
"The path of peace is yours to discover for eternity."
"Mosura", 1961
An AC wrote:
> The worst terrorist attack in recorded history
> occurred nearly a year ago,
Worst terrorist attack, yes. But no where near what it could have been. Nearly three thousand died. Many more were wounded. But in a tower complex that could have had up to 50,000 people in it, it is clear that the terrorist attack is only part of the story. The other part is the wisdom, courage and compassion of those who sacrified themselves, those who died in the line of duty, and ordinary people who helped each other. That part worked a shining miracle, saving tens of thousands. Those noble, heroic hearts put those heartless monsters to shame!
> followed by a Holy War against Islam,
9/11 had nothing to do with Islam. Since we are talking about the *World* Trade Center, you might keep in mind that good followers of Islam were murdered that day as well. That isn't Allah that Bin Laden is following. I don't care who he thinks his boss is, or how many Islamic poems he mutters. I'm sure Azi Dahaka gets a big kick out of being called "Allah" though. Right up there with "Great Devil that comes from the Sky" and Nostradamus's little nickname "King of Terror".
> and now Israel and the Palestinians as well as
> India and Pakistan are teetering on the brink of
> their own war,
Which is a really novel experience for them. Not.
> Argentina is in the midst of a financial crisis,
Yes, I know. My sympathies. Most of the world is having some kind of economic problems.
> America is considering launching attacks against
> Somalia and Iraq,
I've got a unique idea: how about we take down the Al Quada organization in all 60 countries before we add new enemies to our plate. But no, we must go after Saddam at all costs because he is using the "weapons of mass destruction" we gave him on an ethnic minority inside Iraq (kinda brings back memories of the Old West and those smallpox blankets). If there was honest hope of helping the Kurds, I might be more willing. But somehow I think any real humanitarian assistance is pretty far down on the list.
> and you people have the gall to be discussing
> the FISA court rebuking the FBI and Justice
> Department????
They need a good rebuking. Ashcroft needs to take the curtain off the statue of Justice and get reaquainted.
> My *god*, people, GET SOME PRIORITIES!
>
> The bodies of the thousands of innocent
> civilians who died (and will die) in these
> unprecedented events could give a good god damn
> about the FISA court rebuking the FBI and
> Justice Department (and I'm sure if they were
> still alive, they'd thank the wiretaps that
> could have saved their lives), your childish
> Lego models, your nerf toy guns and whining
> about the lack of a "fun" workplace, your
> Everquest/Diablo/D&D fixation, the latest Cowboy
> Bebop rerun, or any of the other ways you are
> "getting on with your life" (here's a hint:
> watching Cowboy Bebop in your jammies and eating
> a bowl of Shreddies is *not* "getting on with
> your life"). The souls of the victims are
> watching in horror as you people squander your
> finite, precious time on this earth playing
> video games!
>
> You people disgust me!
You disgust me, if your solution is to sit around quaking in terror. I will not dishonor the memory of those people by bowing to the will of their murderers!!! They want us to be terrified. It is the terror, not the deaths, that is the key to the definition of the word "terrorist". Anyone who huddles up in fear, drags the flag around for a security blanket, or uses the terror of 9/11 to further their quest for tyranny is basically inviting the King of Terror to come and put up a throne for himself in Washington D.C.
The terrorists took the right to Life away from people on 9/11. I will not surrender Liberty and Happiness too.
"Lola, kindness is not enough, look for the reason of hatred and anger.
When you find and understand that, love becomes the strongest power..."
Belabera, "Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks"
displague wrote:
> Some secretary probably wanted a new Mac. When
> it arrived the guys wanted to check under the
> hood. They found that it is 3 million years
> ahead of their SGI boxes and decided to start
> switching/porting.
>
> I seriously doubt that they got into doing this
> with Linux... My guess is that they installed
> Redhat 5.0 a few years ago, and then maybe tried
> 6.2 on an underused partition, eventually
> scraping it when their uncompressed images
> needed more space... They probably never really
> investigated Linux as an alternative.
Sorry, but your fantasy doesn't jive with the article.
Scott Sneddon said he had been using Mac for years. He was using Mac, Linux, and SGI at the same time for different tasks. Then along came OS X, and he said "good-bye" to his Linux and SGI boxes, and freed up much disk space. He also said that "OS X is a better Unix development environment than Linux or Silicon Graphics Irix". Having done development under all three platforms (though SGI was ten years ago), I must agree. Cocoa is really sweet.
Craig Hunter, from NASA, replaced his SGIs with Macs running OS X.
Gaurav Khanna also replaced his SGIs with Macs running OS X.
Rob Meyer's company used to produce software for the Mac, and now they are back. Rob Meyer himself is a long time Windows user, and thinking of buying himself a Mac.
> Wait! I do have a point - I assume that they
> have not really given Linux a try, and should
> not compare it to OS/X for that reason....
Nope, you are point free. Next time, try actually reading the article before you post a comment.
"Godzilla and Jaguar: Punch! Punch! Punch! Hit! Hit! Hit!
We die if they stop fighting for us."
Jet Jaguar Song, "Godzilla vs. Megalon"
Zyrkyr wrote:
> Spammers forge message,
> Violate copyright law.
> Pay me royalties!
How then knowest they
to send haiku, if I
not send them it first?
--
Mecha Godzilla / Destruction's Mirror; Goji's / Greatest foe: Himself.
Heart of flesh and fire / can defeat heart of cold steel / filled with rage and hate.
An AC wrote:
> Nevermind that public domain works have benefitted
> the "artists" themselves. Now they dont want to
> give back anything.
It is not the artists doing this, it is the record labels and movie studios. The recording artists are, by and large, the recording industry's first victims, stripped of their copyrights (and even their voices) by draconian contracts and a convenient bit of "work for hire" legislation. The entire recording industry needs to be redone, and the artists put in the driver's seat. Most of them are smart enough to realize that file sharing and internet radio are valuable marketing tools that help them make money.
Otherwise, your post was very good.
"They bind our hearts: 'Let's sell them again and again!'"
From the song "Infant Girl" in the Japanese version of Mothra (1961).
The entire song was censored by a Hollywood terrified that American audiences would actually understand Mothra's thundering condemnation of their business practices. Song was speech in her Infant Island culture.
jayhawk88 wrote:
> Dmitry was involved with a for-sale product
> that defeated e-book copyright restrictions,
> which clearly falls under the jurisdiction of
> the DMCA.
Um, no.
From http://www.freesklyarov.org/background/:
>> According to the company's website, the
>> software permits eBook owners to translate from
>> Adobe's secure eBook format into the more
>> common Portable Document Format (PDF). The
>> software only works on legitimately purchased
>> eBooks and has been used, for example, by blind
>> people to read otherwise-inaccessible PDF
>> user's manuals, and by people who want to move
>> an eBook from one computer to another (just
>> like anyone can move a music CD from the home
>> player to a portable or car).
So the software was only for the legitimate purchasers of eBooks, and primary purpose of the software was to allow them to move the eBook to their other machine or to allow a blind person to read the eBook they bought.
The article states:
>> Start with the text of the DMCA itself. It
>> says, "No person shall manufacture, import,
>> offer to the public, provide, or otherwise
>> traffic in any technology, product, service,
>> device (or) component" that is primarily
>> designed to bypass copy-protection technology.
According to the article, the DMCA should not have applied to Dmitry. Prior to the DMCA, under fair use laws, Dmitry's software would have been as legal here as in Russia. Why was Dmitry even in jail?
The answer: it doesn't matter what the DMCA really says. What matters is what a company like Adobe thinks it says. What matters is what a company like Adobe can convince the FBI it says. What matters is what a company like Adobe can scare a professor, a security expert, a software maker, or an employee into believing it says. Who cares if that is really what the DMCA says? If you land in jail, even if a wise judge throws the case out and declares the law unconstitutional, you have still lost a part of your life, income, possibly your job and even your reputation.
The DMCA is a four letter recipe for a reign of corporate terror. Stupid sharks, you think 9/11 would have taught them terror is a no-no.
Bells are ringing: Mothra, Mothra! Every heart is calling: Mothra, Mothra!
Come on, Tok Wira, these sharks have gotta pay! New Kirk calling Mothra, we need you today!
beleg777 wrote:
a sh/aug200 2/nf20020816_4160.htm
a bleworld/2002/ 08/05/cwd02080506.shtml
0 82412.stm
> I'm sure others will mention this, but I thought
> this quote was worth highlighting.
>
>> Microsoft really doesn't care about what you
>> think; they care about what the RIAA and the MPAA
>> think.
Even more, Microsoft doesn't care what its *customers* think. And that is going to get it into serious trouble one fine day.
I don't care how unsophisticated a computer user is, most people would notice not being allowed to do a favorite activity when their old PC let them do it. If you think the copy-protected CD returns are something, wait till you see droves of people trying to return their Palladium PCs because:
1) It has a virus. It's not supposed to get them.
2) It ate my mp3 collection.
3) It won't play my CDs. There is nothing wrong with them, my old PC played them just fine.
4) It charges my credit card every time I play some music.
5) It won't run this program I downloaded. In fact it tried to call the police, but I unplugged the phone line. Nope, it wasn't warez, it was this cool free (GPL'd) program named FileZilla. The computer was calling me a commie.
6) It won't run my old programs.
If the RIAA and MPAA are all Microsoft cares about, then they can just go swim with those sharks. And they can share their fate: shark steaks:
Eisner and Disney (what he gets for saying mean things about Mothra's dear Apple):
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnfl
AOL Time/Warner:
http://www.cableworld.com/archive/c
Vivendi:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2
Mmm, yummy. Somebody pass the butter sauce.
Bells are ringing: Mothra, Mothra! Every heart is calling: Mothra, Mothra!
Come on, Tok Wira, these sharks have gotta pay! New Kirk calling Mothra, we need you today!
An AC wrote:
;)
> The problem of preventing piracy is difficult.
But it isn't the responsibility of people who paid for their music to bear the burden of preventing copyright breaches. It is not *their* problem.
If I pay $60 for a 2 disk imported Mothra soundtrack (and I did), I should be able to simply rip the music onto my hard drive or do anything else with it (except break laws). It's mine. Why should I have to report to anyone (let alone Microsoft) if I have to restore the mp3's from it from a backup copy? And the only reason the person in the article was doing it in the first place was because Microsoft's software is crap!
Thank Mothra for Apple and iTunes. I had a most enjoyable time yesterday afternoon ripping that disk set and others. I'm listening to the "Godzilla 2000 Millenium" soundtrack now (which I also ripped from a CD I legally owned). This is how it should be! The artists (and even the greedy sharks) have their money, no laws are being broken, and I'm being entertained without hassle.
Last I heard, the one convicted of breaking the law was Microsoft. Funny how they are now the gatekeeper of DRM, and in charge of policing pirates.
Windows: "Go talk to my friend, an 800 pound monopoly-abusing gorilla!"
Mac: "And here's my good buddy, the 66,000 ton Godzilla!"
Godzilla: Stomp!
An AC wrote:
> He/She shoud uncheck the option to encript the
> WMA file...
He/She and you ought to check your EULAs for MSN, all your Microsoft software, and any recent service packs. Chances are, Microsoft has already given themselves the "right" to do anything they want on your computer, including rechecking options or removing them as options all together.
After all, Microsoft did opt-in their Hotmail accounts and sell the names, against the wishes of the Hotmail users. They don't care how you set your configuration, only that they can do as they please.
And what they please is global domination.
"At this moment, it has control of systems all over the world.
And...we can't do a damn thing to stop it."
Miyasaka, Godzilla 2000 Millennium (Japanese version)
RazzleFrog wrote:
n ni um/mgoals.html
o k under "Previous Projects".)
.Net, DRM, Palladium, Longhorn, they are definitely moving in that direction. And they have duped a group of open source developers into extending their Millenium to Linux and the Mac.
;)
(that crovira wrote:)
>> The direction M$ wants to take the world in (not
>> where we might want to go today,) is one where
>> PCs boot off of a network
> Actually, that is Sun Microsystem's catch line -
> The Network is the Computer - or at least it used
> to be. Sun was the one with the whole goal of
> going back to dummy terminals.
True, but there is a big difference between running programs off of a server while viewing them on a dumb terminal and the network really being the computer: ie. a distributed network that takes over your computer.
As it happens, Microsoft had just such a research project, called Millenium, back in the late 90's:
http://research.microsoft.com/research/sn/Mille
(Especially "What would such a system be like?")
http://research.microsoft.com/research/sn/
(Lo
From the technologies they have been introducing, or revealing as vaporware:
crovira was quite right about the ramifications as well. And the scariest thing is, Microsoft has rigged its EULA's in such a way that they can simply install it any time, without the PC owner's knowledge (they got their consent when they clicked through the EULA).
Please keep in mind that when Media Player plays a song and checks online to restore that license info, the user of Media Player has already given their permission to Microsoft to automatically upgrade their computer with new "security" features at that time. MSN users, well you've agreed to let Microsoft make downloads to your machine any time you connect to MSN. I believe a recent service pack ropes in XP and 2000 users as well.
We do have three hopes of escaping Microsoft's Millenial Kingdom:
1) Microsoft, being Microsoft, blunders Millenium so spectacularly badly that they sink under the weight of a thousand billion dollar lawsuits.
2) Linux gets on the desktop (really, what is keeping you?) and joins Apple in the fight to grab marketshare from Microsoft's monopoly. Without monopoly power, Millenium would never happen on a global scale.
3) At the very worst, if Linux and Apple are infected by Mono and get assimilated by Millenium, there is one last hope yet. Nintendo, I'd move your American offices out of Redmond, because an old (and highly radioactive) friend of yours will be coming to town. The One True Monster King has no intention of sharing his crown with the likes of Microsoft. (Or CGI iguanas for that matter.
Oh, and Microsoft, where did SQL Server (you know, the basis of Longhorn's file system) put the sacred nuclear materials of the Dreaded God of the Atom? He *really* wants to know.
"At this moment, it has control of systems all over the world. And...we can't do a damn thing to stop it."
Miyasaka, Godzilla 2000 Millennium (Japanese version)
(Note: I'm not associated with Toho in any way, besides loving their monster movies.
A better, or more prophetic, version of "Godzilla vs. Microsoft" than "Godzilla 2000 Millenium" could not be made.)
Hearing the pleas of her OS X Mozilla using worshippers, the Great Goddess Mothra, who had resurrected the forests of Hokkaido and parted the Pacific Ocean, arose from her island and took flight. With two flaps of her mighty wings she sent God flying.
Then the Heroic Wonder-Working Deity sent her holy Shobijin to Toho, and reminded the company that if it expected her to miraculously bail out Godzilla again in 2011, Toho needed to follow her ways of peace and happiness. That meant playing nicely with others. The Toho executives blanched at the thought of Mothra going back to her cave for another twenty years, and called their lawyers off.
A Mighty Goddess is our Moth,
The Peerless Queen of Monsters!
She alone has defeated them all,
E'en Godzilla fears her Name!
thelenm wrote:
:-)
> Mozilla is a trademark infringement on Godzilla
> just as Godzilla is a trademark infringement on
> God. Now there's a three-way fight I'd like to
> see.
"God" is a general term for deity in the English language. There are anglo-saxon deities worshiped before Christianity who could sue the Christian deity for trademark infringement.
Besides, it's pronounced "go-dzi-lla" not "god-zil-la". And Godzilla is a god.
Godzilla is the King! Godzilla is the God!
The Power and the Price of godly flame we stole!
The fire from the atom's heart bears a terrible price:
Godzilla is... Our Nuclear Nightmare!
(From my lyrics to the instrumental "G-Proximity" from "Godzilla X Megagiras".)