> It seems like more and more, any attempt to make > money becomes an *evil conspiracy*.
I'm terribly sorry, but the "sacred" pursuit of profit and the incorporation of a company does not let the company off the hook of being a responsible part of society. They are not a free ticket to carefree irresponsible brathood. Profit is not more important than the law of the land.
The same goes for scientists, who for some reason think the "sacred" pursuit of knowledge and a doctorate somehow free them from responsibility for their discoveries.
> Just because someone has decided this is a good > business venture doesn't mean they have taken some > action against you personally (or anyone else).
Give me a break! It has been shown that the Clean Air Act saves lives, and when it is loosened, more people (like me) suffer, and some die. Yet Bush's energy cronies got him to loosen it, because their precious profits were suffering.
Or take the MPAA and RIAA (please!). To protect their precious profits they want Congress to pass a law that would severely impact the larger consumer electronics and IT industries.
These are just a few of the instances in which harm to the citizens of this country are being done by corporations in the glorious name of profit. You don't even have to be a customer to be affected by their antics. Yes, corporations have a duty to their investors to produce a profit. They also have duties to their employees, customers, and society as a whole.
When they decide to grow up and stop being brats, maybe they will get my business.
"Ridiculous, you have no claim. I'll sue you for interfering with private enterprise." Kumoyama, Happy Enterprises, "Mothra vs. Godzilla", 1964
Microsoft's DRM empire will be a bust. The only way they could have succeeded would have been with the Hollings bill mandating their DRMOS as law. Hollings has lost his position as head of the commerce committee, and no longer can use that post as a platform from which to launch his bill.
Without a legal mandate, DRM will fail due to customer rejection. Customers will not like DRM raking up charges on their credit card quietly like Microsoft believes it should. They will not like loosing all their licenses in a computer malfunction and having to obtain or buy new ones.
The next few years are going to be a bit messy, with Microsoft and the media sharks trying all sorts of stunts. But unless they can somehow hook into the "War on Terror", Microsoft won't be getting their kingdom, and they and the media sharks may not survive the wrath of their customers.
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!;)
> What amazes me is that mods that look cool and do > little to nothing are becoming so popular.
What amazes me was that for 15 years, the only innovations in the garden variety PC case were turning them on their sides to make towers and plastic thumbscrews, both of which came in early on.
That began to change in May of 1998, when the newly reborn Apple announced the iMac. Apple since followed with the rest of their product line, giving them a very unique look.
The PC world struggled to compete, but they were held down by Microsoft's specifications and a total lack of innovation. The best they could come up with were clueless copies, and copies good enough to get shot down by lawsuits.
Then came the fall of 2000 (or the Fall of 2000, depending whether you refer to the season or the PC crash). Apple recovered quickly, keeping its prices up and keeping up the innovation. The Wintel makers weren't as lucky, and they responded by slashing prices, shedding tens of thousands of workers, and huddling in storm shelters. The value had gone out of the PC world.
The first faint stirings of hope for the PC came when retailers such as CompUSA became bold enough to sell bare bones systems, that allowed some user customization. Microsoft raged about the total lack of bundling of their products, but that doesn't seem to have stopped anybody.
Someone, somewhere along the line, singly or collectively, got the brilliant idea to dovetail the case modding and build your own movements, and bring them into the mainstream as an established way of acquiring PCs. That did it. Now people could have highly unique and individual PCs, and pay for some of them nearly what Apple charges. Only the profits are spread across lots of little companies, instead of all going to an HP or a Dell. The PC has its value back. Innovation is raging, driven by customer demand and imagination.
Everyone seems to be worried about the Apple patent on case color changing. Don't be. Apple just noticed it wasn't the only cool thing on the block anymore, and is leapfrogging your coolness. A patent is only a worry if you are a blind imitator like the clueless big PC manufacturers. Don't fall into that trap. Leapfrog Apple again, and keep driving the coolness factor (and useful features) higher and higher. That, plus some serious choice in the operating system department, is the way to save the industry, and evolve the desktop computer into something ever more attractive and useful, maybe even exciting again.
Mind you, Microsoft won't like loosing control of the PC industry one bit. It is kind of difficult to lock down the PC when every component is lovingly chosen by the individual user. Palladium is never going to work in that kind of environment. Poor widdle litterbugs.
"It's a miracle! The sea water has once again created new life." Moll on Mothra Leo's transformation into Rainbow Mothra, "Mothra 2", December 13, 1997
> is this thing covered by the Apple patent on > dynamically changing the ornamental or decorative > appearance of something?
My understanding (IANAL) is that Apple's patent is on the computer changing the color of the outside of the case to match what the monitor is displaying.
This would be you manually replacing the plastic lens on the display device to suit your fancy.
If the latter activity infringes on the patent, all the colored filter companies (used on lights alot in Hollywood) and all the paint companies would line up to claim prior art. I don't think that is the case.
"Your way of thinking is completely different from mine!" Shinoda, "Godzilla 2000 Millennium" (Japanese version)
> Approximately half of these animals are now > gigantic and are terrorizing Japan as we speak.
Sorry, the only animals doing any terrorizing in Japan these days are Hamataro and his pals. The one being terrorized is Godzilla. He was mean to Mothra in last December's movie, so she saddled him with her little anime hamster friends. Poor Godzilla had to suffer through nearly a year's worth of filming with them constantly underfoot and he couldn't even step on them! (Let that be a lesson to you: don't mess with the Moth!)
Otherwise, it's just Godzilla duking it out with MechaGodzilla, operated by this year's "girl with a grudge". Looks like somebody is going to have to save the idiot humans from their latest Anti-G weapon. Anyway, it is going pretty good. Opening weekend, Godzilla came in third behind the latest "Harry Potter" and "Minority Report".
"Human, yet running wildly --
Can it be stopped?
The Mechanical Dragon (MechaGodzilla)" Translated from the second "Godzilla X MechaGodzilla" (2002) trailer
> That's why I was mentioning the animals, who were > exposed to the radiation all the time. > > I still think we might find some surprise in the > wildlife around that reactor.
My guess: you are mostly going to find genetic defects. Most mutations are not beneficial. The most likely beneficial mutation would be resistance to radiation. After all, that is the negative factor introduced to their environment, and the ones to overcome that factor will be most likely to be selected to survive and reproduce.
You are *not* going to find a Godzilla there. Every origin story Toho has ever given has either explicitly specified or at least implied some sort of divine or supernatural element in his creation. Godzilla the god predates Godzilla the mutated dinosaur. In "Gojira", the dance the characters watch on the island is a Shinto sacred dance, meant to placate Godzilla by worshipping him. As the old man says, in days of yore they sacrificed girls to Godzilla. Apparently, Godzilla prefered the sacrifices.
"All our tomorrows, Great Sun, by the Light, are very forgotten.
The Light dies. We pray and it sleeps." "Oh Peace Oh Light Return" (national song of mourning) from "Gojira" 1954
> They had turned off all safty messures and were > running an un-authorized experiment. It got away > on them and there was no stopping it. This > meltdown wasn't an accident. It was an orginized > effort at being stupid.
[and later...]
> 3 mile island had and accident, though once > again it was do to something stupid, a pump > turned off and no one knew.
In 1999 in Tokaimura, Japan had its greatest plant accident. Again, it was stupidity: discard all safety measures to save money and mix uranium power with nitric acid in a bowl with a great big spoon until it boils from the uranium spontaneously reacting. Two people died, and Tokaimura got a nice dose of radiation.
It isn't that surprising that stupidity would be at the root of these disasters. After all, stupidity is at the root of a lot of factory accidents too. Budgets get cut, people get complacent and lazy, and bad things happen.
Of course, inviting Godzilla over to film an attack on your plant on location, while engaging in bad safety practices is the height of stupidity. Life has a nasty habit of imitating his movies. Take, for example, Godzilla's love for power plant cuisine and the nuclear accident the Russians have in "Gojira", 1984 (Japanese version, the American version is a hatchet job as it was in the original movie).
> Nuke power is very safe, and clean.
We discovered fire thousands of years ago; but last summer's rampaging wild fires are testament to how much we don't have that under our control. What makes you think that our control of the fire of the atom, after a paltry few decades, is somehow perfect? There will be accidents, because humans are stupid, lazy and greedy. There will be accidents, because nature is chaotic, and the fire of the atom is not truly tamed. And there will be accidents, because our knowledge is imperfect and our experience is lacking.
Then there is nuclear waste, which is neither safe nor clean. Especially when you have a Godzilla sized lump of it to sock somewhere, and your President wants to put it in a heap of volcanic ash with many fault lines and seven young volcanos nearby, 100 miles from a major city.
> I much prefer one of them then a coal plant > around.
I live near a coal plant, and my sinus problems are a serious pain. On the other hand, I'm kind of glad that when three trains collided in my town, turning their engines to scrap metal (they looked like they were made of crumpled tin foil), they were carrying coal, not nuclear waste. (And yes, I know coal can have a little uranium in it.) That accident was another example of monumental stupidity, with extra credit for the creativity needed to get three coal unit trains to collide head on, considering the limitations of train tracks.
I don't care what kind of container they put waste for Yucca Mountain in, it is not going to be able to withstand an accident like that.
Sonora:"New Godzilla reading. He's moving inward toward Tokai." Shinoda: "The nuclear plants, I knew it. Sonora: "Afraid so." Yuki: "Well, that's just lovely. Another Chernobyl." "Godzilla 2000" (US version dialog)
They would have had to heard of Microsoft, or at least seen their name on the paycheck.
A review tells of the pros and cons of an item. It does not make assumptions that everything is okay because the product is for sale and from Microsoft.
This was PR, not a review. Nice try, litterbugs, but you can't fool me.
Oh, and litterbugs, if I want browse the web on my Mac in the company of a giant winged creature, I'll call Mothra, not MSN.;)
"What I'm thinking is different from what you are." Belabera, "Mothra 3" 1998
> OH PLEASE. I'm unemployed and for the first time > in 40 years I'm one of those dead beats you think > shouldn't get unemployment. Well I've been > activity looking for work for over 6 months and > the only thing I've found is volunteer work at the > State Funded Workforce center for people looking > for jobs.
Actually, the story was about people who (IMHO) are getting scammed into working for free on false promises (and thereby possibly devaluing programming work in general), not about good people who volunteer their time to help others during a bad time. You should be commended for your generousity. I'm afraid the people in the story are going to find that those stock options are mostly worthless and their "employers", if they give them a job, will just pay them more worthless paper. But then, maybe I just too cynical because my boss didn't fulfill any of his promises when he hired me. At least I still have a job.
> Believe me I don't want to be taking money away > from you workers. I hope to be one someday. So > whay don't you convince your boss to hire me so > I can stop stealing money from you. But until > that happens or until my unemployment runs out. > Thanks for helping me put food in my mouth and a > roof over my head.
Unemployment benefits were paid for by your previous employer, not by Slashdotters. If they hadn't been, you would have found out when you applied and your previous employer would have been in very hot water with your state. Extensions probably come from the taxpayers, but in times like these they are badly needed (I know, I benefitted from an extension back around 1991). I'd far rather see it go to helping folks like you than go for bombs and big brother programs.
I hope you get a good job soon, and I wish you peace, prosperity, and happiness for the coming new year.:)
"No one's going to die, mister. Mothra's going to come and save us." Taiki Goto, "Rebirth of Mothra"
> Where does that oil come from? Venezuala, Saudi > Arabia, Iraq, or Alaska, most likely.
The US gets 15% of its oil from Venezuela, and 5% (when they are in the mood) from Iraq.
They aren't the only oil producing areas to shop from: US: Texas, Louisiana, California, Oklahoma, and Alaska Rest of North America: Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Canada Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates Europe: Russia, United Kingdom, Norway Africa: Northern Africa, Nigeria Asia: China, Indonesia
> Venezuala is on the verge of civil war,
Venezuela is attempting to depose their president by having a strike. Very innovative of them. However, I don't think they can keep it up very long since it is massively hurting their economy.
> you've isolated yourself from the Saudis and the > Iraqis,
The Saudis don't want to get caught between the US and Iraq. I can't say I blame them. I doubt they would discontinue selling us oil, as it would hurt them too. Iraq has been refusing to sell their oil as a form of protest of our current state of unfriendliness (or some such reason).
> and Alaska is under the control of Putin.
Huh? You do know the US bought Alaska from Russia a long time ago, don't you? It is a state of the United States of America! I don't see how Putin would have any control unless he got elected governor of Alaska. He'd have to be a US citizen for that to happen, and there might be some conflict with his current job.;)
Now returning you to your regularly scheduled topic. I'm glad India is telling Microsoft where to go (bad litterbugs). Linux is a good start for them, but there is no reason they can't develop a few operating systems of their own. The more the merrier, as long as open standards let everything work together.
Chief Tsujimori: "I won't let you get away. I will never let you escape." Godzilla elegantly lifts his tail skyward to give her the "finger", crashes it down on the water, and submerges. "Godzilla X Megagiras", 2000
> I mean, M$ has this history of embrace and extend > in technology, and embrace and nuke in corporate > relationships.
The word you are looking for is "extinguish". Microsoft embraces, extends and extinguishes. Godzilla nukes.
And if Microsoft tries to embrace and extend Godzilla, Microsoft gets nuked.;)
Still, what happened to Sendo was sad. Yes, they were foolish to believe that Microsoft wouldn't do to them what they have done to others. But Microsoft was still a bad, bad litterbug for being so mean to Sendo.
Godzilla 2000, the Dreaded God! The battle for Earth's future has begun! The future Millenium threatens. Godzilla cannot be assimilated by Millenium who would embrace, extend!
> Microsoft has already written.NET for another > platform (Rotor, for BSD.) And Microsoft has > communicated with Miguel many times with regards > to Mono. An interview with him on the topic is > hosted on MSDN! This does not appear to be a > prelude to a lawsuit.
No it doesn't, not at the moment, anyway.
But say Microsoft were to come out with a new version of their operating system based on the.Net framework (as Longhorn is rumored to be). If it ran on top of Mono, Microsoft could use Mono like asphault to pave right over Linux and run their new OS on top. They already have a.Net for OS X under development, so they could do the same to Apple. A full 100% monopoly would be possible for Microsoft (ever looking for new ways to grow). And in the beginning they could afford to be nice and let you have whatever you wanted underneath, just like they let you run any DOS you wanted under 3.x.
Of course, you do remember what happened when you ran a non-Microsoft DOS under Windows, especially DR-DOS? How Microsoft put little tricks in their code to check for DR-DOS and spawn fake error messages? Do you really think they won't do that to Mono? They have done it before, and nothing, especially the government, is stopping them from doing it again. In the end, Linux and Apple (if not forced over to Intel and demoted to a mere Wintel OEM) would share the fate of DR-DOS, and Longhorn 95 would come along, with.Net's replacement bundled in, automatically installed on your PC assuming you have kept your subscription payments up. Microsoft would then have a 100% monopoly down to the metal.
Actually, I don't see Microsoft succeeding in this anymore than I see them making their customers happy with Licensing 6. But that doesn't mean they won't try something as gradiose and stupid as the stunt I outlined above. If you must use.Net, do it on a wintel machine that can't be any further messed up by Microsoft than it already is. Don't let them use the hard work of open source programmers to Embrace, Extend, and Extinguish Linux and OS X.
"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)
> The attacks on 9/11/2001 *could* have been stopped > - that's the truth behind all this.
Yes, they could have, and no innocents needed to be shot down. If the FBI had had its act together and listened to its field personnel, and if the INS could be bothered to check a list of known terrorists before admitting people into this country, 911 need never have happened.
Also, don't forget that one plane out of the four was stopped, by its passengers, who gave their lives to save many others.
> A pair of F15's launched from any airbase in the > region would have had plenty of time to > intercept and destroy the aircraft.
That won't be necessary. Flight 93 showed the way to stop a 911 style attack, and every airline passenger with half a brain knows it: if an evil terrorist brandishes a weapon or lights his shoes, do the 50 passenger pileon and have the stewardess call for help. Your F15's accompany the plane to a safe landing, and the bad guy, if not suffocated, goes to jail.
Heck, even the al Qaeda know it; that's why they've taken to using shoulder mounted anti-aircraft rockets. Thankfully, they can't hit the broad side of Godzilla, let alone an airplane, with those things.
> It's these fears that you're describing that our > government is counting on in order to keep us > better under control.
I see three reasons for the government's current behavior:
1) The American people are stampeeding out of fear because of the traumatic events of 911.
2) #1 makes it politically desirable to hand out anti-terror security blankets (take any old security measures just to calm the public).
3) As you said, those greedy for power want to take advantage of the people's fear to seize more power.
#1 is key to the whole thing. If the American people replace their fear with courage and wisdom, the demand for security blankets (#2) will not exist. Without #1 and #2, there is no excuse or opportunity for #3.
> There's an old saying, "I love my country, but I > fear my government." I believe that statement > more than ever now with the pattern of control > and dictatorship that they're demonstrating > daily.
Fear is what those greedy for power use to control you. Fear is bin Laden's weapon of choice. To fear is to hand the victory to the King of Terror, that great devil that comes from the sky, the enemy outside our borders and inside our hearts.
Cast aside fear, replace it with courage, wisdom, and love for your country and compassion for your fellow humans. Take a stand for liberty and justice. The EFF is good, but you might want to try the ACLU too, especially in light of such government antics as this:
http://www.aclu.org/ (see the "Rounded Up" story)
Looks like we need another one of those new births of freedom that Lincoln talked about in the Gettysburg Address.
"The last hope is to fight by ourselves." Belebera, "Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks"
> Let's not kid ourselves... we all know 99% of the > people will use this to copy DVDs. I will.
So copy DVDs. You can make as many copies of a DVD you produced yourself (home movies, iMovie film festival entry, 3D demo reel, etc.) as you want, as you own the copyright to it. You can make a backup copy of most things, that is supposed to be legal under fair use laws and court rulings.
The only illegal use is mass production of somebody else's DVDs (without permission) and distributing them yourself (usually with some money changing hands). But then the name of the program is "DVD X-Copy", not "Home DVD Piracy Ring Startup Pack".;)
We've already gotten one court case to show that if there are legitimate reasons for a product, and no wilful intent to make a tool for breaking the law, the product should be legal under the DMCA (IANAL). The more cases from different angles, the better chance we have to shoot the DMCA down in flames (in a court proceeding kind of way). The DMCA is a bad law that is discouraging foreign scientists from coming over to our conferences, makes permanent markers illegal, and allows for the harassment of coupon clubs. It is evil and must be stopped (in a court proceeding kind of way)!
"Really, gentlemen, if that's the case, let's see the power of attorney given to you by Mothra." Torahata "Mothra vs. Godzilla"
> I found this repugnant, the mpaa will spend tothe > ends of the earth to destroy fair use, but (for > whatever reason) what you do isnt important.
Oh, it isn't that it is not important to them, it's that you are not a member of the MPAA. Worse, you are in competition with MPAA members if you are producing content (as a non-member) and "wasting people's time with it when their time and money would be better spent on a MPAA member product".
Competition in distribution of their content (so called "piracy") and competition in content creation are their public enemies number one and two. Conveniently they can use copyright law to deal with competition in distribution of their content.
The other kind they have to deal with on the sly, because if they were ever too vocal about competing content creators, the government may see fit to bust their little anti-competitive cartel. That doesn't mean they (and their music industry counterparts) wouldn't love to rid the world of indie studios and musicians. At the moment, subtle little things like keeping CSS to themselves is all they can do.
Of course this is all evil, but what does one expect from a bunch of greedy sharks?
"They bind our hearts: 'Let's sell them again and again!'
Our plan understands the sea; we can wait for her coming." From the song "Infanto no Musume" in the Japanese version of Mothra (1961).
First off, IANAL, and IANAForensic expert of any sort. I have used photoshop for years. And I've worked on software projects requiring government certification. These are my opinions.
That said, DRM does not apply (you are certifying the source here, not caring about end user rights). Photoshop is way too broad a tool, with too many abilities to create your own content. As for a digital file, don't put that in your mouth unless you know where all it has been.
What you would need would be image processing (not editing) tool, preferably specific to enhancing fingerprints. The best thing would be a self contained fingerprint enhancing appliance, with scanner, printer, and built in algorithms. The fingerprint would be scanned in, enhanced, and then go back to the real world as a watermarked print that could be taken to court with the device's serial number and the original fingerprint.
The device would of course be fully certified to do exactly what the court would admit. And that is the ticket: you need a fully controlled process that can be examined at every step with a fine tooth comb by some agency of the court to prevent forgery of evidence. You also need to link the evidence to the specific machine, so it can be hauled into court and publicly verified that it hasn't been tampered with.
Of course, to make Slashdotters happy, the device could run embedded Linux, and use Gimp routines, as long as you could find somebody to fill out enought paperwork to keep a certifying agency happy. A few boxcars would do.;)
This device would not be a consumer or pro graphics device. So there is no need (or even desire) to burden the public and the pro graphics community with the requirements of forensic evidence.
"The thousand year dragon king: King Ghidora." Yuri, "Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidora: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack"
> As for the issue of outlawing spam, here's another way of looking at. If a computer is setup > to accept connections over the network and runs software that relays or saves electronic messages > sent to it, then it's fair game. The owner of the machine has set it up that way with the > knowledge that they have no control over what signals might be coming down that cable. When > designing any sort of system that involves machines under the control of different people, we > have to assume that if the system is in any way vulnerable to malicious or abusive uses, those > uses will be exploited. We can't rely on the government to hold together broken security.
Just like when we take those machines with four wheels and internal combustion engines down the road, we do so with the knowledge that we have no control over the sobriety, state of mind, courtesy, or experience of the other drivers. In fact, we have to assume that some of them are going to be drunk and try to kill us. So do we just let the drunks and reckless drivers kill people, and blame it on a fault of automotive security (steering wheels let cars be driven into other cars)?
Sorry, but if you "children" can't be civil, daddy (government) is going to have to lay down the law to keep the peace. In fact, that is one of the few decent reasons to have a government: so civilization doesn't turn into a bunch of idiots clubbing each other to death. (Note: this is commonly deemed to be undesirable.)
If people can't discipline themselves to maintain appropriate speeds, drive safely, and stay sober, awake, and attentive throughout the driving process; speed limits, fines, etc. get imposed to tone down the death count. Similarly, if greedy gluts can't quit monopolizing the world's lines of person to person communcation (phone, snail mail, and email) to feed their greed; the government is going to have to take some kind of measures to keep them open for their intended purpose.
Personally, I would rather the government be kept far from the internet. But that is ceasing to be an option, thanks to leaches that make millions and build mansions out of stuffing the email system full of horrible junk. If you don't like the government messing with the internet, go thank the spam kings and the slimy pyramid schemers who don't know how to behave.
"What do you think Mothra would do?" Moll, "Mosura" 1996
I agree with what you said, first axiom. Just adding the following:
Scientists publish to get their work out there. Traditionally, they have done that through the journals, because they were the only means they had. The journals, because of their greedy nature and jumping on the IP bandwagon (with IP that isn't theirs in the first place), are actually blocking access to scientific work.
Thanks to the internet, scientists no longer have to rely on the journals. They can take their work back and publish it themselves if that is what they want. The journals have no rights to their work if the scientists choose not to give it to the journals in the first place.
The greedy journals stand to loose everything if they don't stop their IP hoarding and start doing their jobs. Their job is simple: publish the work the scientists give them. If they can't even do that (without all the hoarding and greed), then they have no reason to continue existing.
Now then, you greedy sharks, what was that you were squawking about the libraries allowing too many people to access *your* precious IP?
(Silence.)
That's what I thought.;)
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!
Not quite. Frolic with Teletubbies and Sesamie Street on this kiddo console.
Ooh, I'd love to see you call
this guy
a "Teletubby". A real pity he is too busy in Japanese movie theatres at the moment to have time to give you the response such an insult would richly deserve.;)
Why don't you get out from in front of your XBox for a few minutes and check out the GameCube aisle in a local video game store. There are a wide varity of games available for all ages and interests. Not to mention the best Godzilla game ever in his 48 year history!
"His power is unequalled.
His battles are legendary.
His return is near...
Godzilla 2000
If you can't take the heat, RUN!"
From the "Godzilla 2000" trailer.
Thank you. The news doesn't cover peace movements much, so I had no idea so many people had joined. A 100,000 person strong peace march may not sound like many people, compared to the size of the nation and power of its rulers. But if it is anywhere near the equivalent of two five inch women facing down the 197 foot King of Terror, it will be enough.
You have given me new hope.
"The path of peace is yours to discover for eternity." Japanese version of "Mothra" (1961)
> Any artist who would have recieved a cut from the > sale of the legitmate product was a victim.
Who then is the greater criminal?
1) He that takes a handful of pennies from the hand of an artist (the royalties from a CD)?
Or
2) He that takes overwhelming share of the purchase price of a CD (often up to $18), takes the copyright via a work-for-hire law, and binds the artist to contracts whose term is based on albums which may never be accepted (effectively no limit) and during which the artist may not sing/work?
Preventing #1 is easy: reduce the price of CD to sane levels, and there would be no incentive to counterfeit them.
Preventing #2 is harder, and would require either massively restructuring the music industry, or creating a replacement. Right now the labels are in charge, and the artists are effectively their slaves. Give the artists back their copyrights, put them in charge, and turn the labels into a variety of services that could be run as small businesses. The same technology that the RIAA so greatly fears that "pirates" could use, could and should be used to liberate the artists.
Actually, I found the links to other Register articles at the bottom of this one to be far more interesting. Especially the one in which a RIAA rep is telling the Register to retract an article in nearly the same terms the bad guys used in the early (anti-media shark) Mothra movies. Looks like someone is just begging for a blue-eyed Category 5 hurricane to hit their HQ in beautiful downtown Newkirk City.;)
"Look at this story! I want a retraction!" Nelson, Japanese version of "Mothra" (1961)
> 3200 Phaethon's halfhearted attempt at mass > destruction of all life on the face of our planet > is bound to fail due to the fact that the meteors > they are sending are so small that they are > burning up on entry.
Ah, but the Phaethon King (and true master of Planet X) can very well achieve a mass extinction event if he so chooses. He did so in the past, an event called the "Permian Extinction" that wiped out 90% of life on Earth. His younger brother, Death, wiped out the dinosaurs (well the Phaethon King tried that too, but he was stopped by a time traveling moth deity). You can see from the states of Venus and Mars what he and his younger brother can really do.
> However, this doesn't excuse what can only be > construed as an act of war.
This is mere fireworks to amuse the Phaethon King. The declaration of war was an asteroid lobbed into a Pennsylvanian corn field in the summer of 2001. This was followed by an attack by his human minions, who he duped into thinking he was their "Allah". That is why the Phaethon King is called the "King of Terror" and "The Great Devil that comes from the skies".
> 1) Adjust the Star Wars project to defend from > extraterrestrial attack,
Earth's puny missles are no match for a god that has destroyed whole planets!
> 2) start manufacturing space-capabale war > vessels. Once #2 is complete, we can send our > armed forces to wipe them of the face of their > miserable--
Space vehicles didn't do the Xians any good. However much they thought they controlled him, he still slipped from their grasp and destroyed their H2O plants for his amusement.
> wait, this is a planet we're talking about, > right?
3200 Phaethon is either an asteroid or a dead comet. Nobody lives there to toss anything at us.
The Phaethon King, Mr. Mass Extinction Event, Destroyer of Worlds, Strongest Foe, and King of Terror is none other than Monster Zero of Planet X, King Ghidora!
If you want to defeat him, send someone to Mount Fuji in Japan. Find the bulge in Fuji's side, knock on it, and stand well back. That should give his big sister Mothra her wake up call. Tell her "the King of Terror has resurrected and is being mean again" and she will know what to do. Watch out for her wing swords though, they are very sharp!
"All we have to worry about is to slay King Ghidora." Shouta, "Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks"
When was the last time Linux got an FBI warning about one of its new versions soon after it came out? What about 32 pages of privacy violations filed with the FTC? Whole industries (banking, financial, health) that can't use Windows XP SP 1 because of its EULA?
Did you even do those searches? Or did you put your blinders back on when you saw the word "security"? Yes, every OS can have security problems. Most just fix them and move on. Microsoft denies security problems, tries to persecute people who report them to their customers (who have a right to know), downplays them, invents new trademarks (Trustworth Computing) so we don't think they have them, etc.
Rarely do they fix them. And when they do, they attach EULA ammendments that basically violate the security of your computer by allowing Microsoft to install anything they want to on it, and/or read any data on it.
Chief Tsujimori: "I won't let you get away. I will never let you escape." Godzilla elegantly lifts his tail skyward to give her the "finger", crashes it down on the water, and submerges. "Godzilla X Megagiras", 2000
> So I challenge the readers to actually give > factual evidence of the horrible-ness of XP
If you had taken the blinders off and kept abreast of the news in your industry for the last two years, you would know all the issues concerning Windows XP. Since it is off topic, I am only going to point you in the direction of Google.com. Here are some searches to try:
"FBI warns" XP "privacy violations" XP "service pack 1" EULA XP "service pack 1" EULA XP health financial banks security XP
Of course that barely scratches the surface of the Horror that is XP.
We now return you to our regularly scheduled topic: Microsoft trying to pollute India with its Stinky Source so its army of programmers can't write Open Source without tons of lawsuits.
Chief Tsujimori: "I won't let you get away. I will never let you escape." Godzilla elegantly lifts his tail skyward to give her the "finger", crashes it down on the water, and submerges. "Godzilla X Megagiras", 2000
One of the ideas kicked around for the 1992 "Godzilla vs. Mothra" was killing off Mothra, and resurrecting her as a dragonfly mecha. The dragonfly Mothra did actually appear in "Rebirth of Mothra 2" as Aqua Mothra. And while the mecha has never appeared on screen, Armored Mothra appeared in "Mothra 3", with sword blades on the forward edges of her wings that worked very nicely to slice and dice King Ghidora.
Since the 90s, Mothra marrionettes have included robotics. If you watch the "making of" for GMK, you can see them build Mothra and the suits, and test the robotic Mothra and the robotic heads. Godzilla's head was especially impressive: it could roll and blink its eyes, shake its head and bare its teeth. The soft latex "skin" was moved by robotic "muscles" underneath. Also, Godzilla could breath.
Would someone kindly photograph an Atlas moth (a large Malaysian moth with the same orange stripped body as Mothra) in that gizmo and send the results to Toho? Mothra would appreciate that very much.
"It's a miracle! The sea water has once again created new life." Moll, "Rebirth of Mothra 2"
The new "Godzilla X Mechagodzilla" will be opening in Japanese theaters on December 14th.
Slashdot Mirror
bluprint wrote:
> It seems like more and more, any attempt to make
> money becomes an *evil conspiracy*.
I'm terribly sorry, but the "sacred" pursuit of profit and the incorporation of a company does not let the company off the hook of being a responsible part of society. They are not a free ticket to carefree irresponsible brathood. Profit is not more important than the law of the land.
The same goes for scientists, who for some reason think the "sacred" pursuit of knowledge and a doctorate somehow free them from responsibility for their discoveries.
> Just because someone has decided this is a good
> business venture doesn't mean they have taken some
> action against you personally (or anyone else).
Give me a break! It has been shown that the Clean Air Act saves lives, and when it is loosened, more people (like me) suffer, and some die. Yet Bush's energy cronies got him to loosen it, because their precious profits were suffering.
Or take the MPAA and RIAA (please!). To protect their precious profits they want Congress to pass a law that would severely impact the larger consumer electronics and IT industries.
These are just a few of the instances in which harm to the citizens of this country are being done by corporations in the glorious name of profit. You don't even have to be a customer to be affected by their antics. Yes, corporations have a duty to their investors to produce a profit. They also have duties to their employees, customers, and society as a whole.
When they decide to grow up and stop being brats, maybe they will get my business.
"Ridiculous, you have no claim. I'll sue you for interfering with private enterprise."
Kumoyama, Happy Enterprises, "Mothra vs. Godzilla", 1964
Microsoft's DRM empire will be a bust. The only way they could have succeeded would have been with the Hollings bill mandating their DRMOS as law. Hollings has lost his position as head of the commerce committee, and no longer can use that post as a platform from which to launch his bill.
;)
Without a legal mandate, DRM will fail due to customer rejection. Customers will not like DRM raking up charges on their credit card quietly like Microsoft believes it should. They will not like loosing all their licenses in a computer malfunction and having to obtain or buy new ones.
The next few years are going to be a bit messy, with Microsoft and the media sharks trying all sorts of stunts. But unless they can somehow hook into the "War on Terror", Microsoft won't be getting their kingdom, and they and the media sharks may not survive the wrath of their customers.
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!
ymi here wrote:
> What amazes me is that mods that look cool and do
> little to nothing are becoming so popular.
What amazes me was that for 15 years, the only innovations in the garden variety PC case were turning them on their sides to make towers and plastic thumbscrews, both of which came in early on.
That began to change in May of 1998, when the newly reborn Apple announced the iMac. Apple since followed with the rest of their product line, giving them a very unique look.
The PC world struggled to compete, but they were held down by Microsoft's specifications and a total lack of innovation. The best they could come up with were clueless copies, and copies good enough to get shot down by lawsuits.
Then came the fall of 2000 (or the Fall of 2000, depending whether you refer to the season or the PC crash). Apple recovered quickly, keeping its prices up and keeping up the innovation. The Wintel makers weren't as lucky, and they responded by slashing prices, shedding tens of thousands of workers, and huddling in storm shelters. The value had gone out of the PC world.
The first faint stirings of hope for the PC came when retailers such as CompUSA became bold enough to sell bare bones systems, that allowed some user customization. Microsoft raged about the total lack of bundling of their products, but that doesn't seem to have stopped anybody.
Someone, somewhere along the line, singly or collectively, got the brilliant idea to dovetail the case modding and build your own movements, and bring them into the mainstream as an established way of acquiring PCs. That did it. Now people could have highly unique and individual PCs, and pay for some of them nearly what Apple charges. Only the profits are spread across lots of little companies, instead of all going to an HP or a Dell. The PC has its value back. Innovation is raging, driven by customer demand and imagination.
Everyone seems to be worried about the Apple patent on case color changing. Don't be. Apple just noticed it wasn't the only cool thing on the block anymore, and is leapfrogging your coolness. A patent is only a worry if you are a blind imitator like the clueless big PC manufacturers. Don't fall into that trap. Leapfrog Apple again, and keep driving the coolness factor (and useful features) higher and higher. That, plus some serious choice in the operating system department, is the way to save the industry, and evolve the desktop computer into something ever more attractive and useful, maybe even exciting again.
Mind you, Microsoft won't like loosing control of the PC industry one bit. It is kind of difficult to lock down the PC when every component is lovingly chosen by the individual user. Palladium is never going to work in that kind of environment. Poor widdle litterbugs.
"It's a miracle! The sea water has once again created new life."
Moll on Mothra Leo's transformation into Rainbow Mothra, "Mothra 2", December 13, 1997
HBPiper wrote:
> is this thing covered by the Apple patent on
> dynamically changing the ornamental or decorative
> appearance of something?
My understanding (IANAL) is that Apple's patent is on the computer changing the color of the outside of the case to match what the monitor is displaying.
This would be you manually replacing the plastic lens on the display device to suit your fancy.
If the latter activity infringes on the patent, all the colored filter companies (used on lights alot in Hollywood) and all the paint companies would line up to claim prior art. I don't think that is the case.
"Your way of thinking is completely different from mine!"
Shinoda, "Godzilla 2000 Millennium" (Japanese version)
glwtta wrote:
> Approximately half of these animals are now
> gigantic and are terrorizing Japan as we speak.
Sorry, the only animals doing any terrorizing in Japan these days are Hamataro and his pals. The one being terrorized is Godzilla. He was mean to Mothra in last December's movie, so she saddled him with her little anime hamster friends. Poor Godzilla had to suffer through nearly a year's worth of filming with them constantly underfoot and he couldn't even step on them! (Let that be a lesson to you: don't mess with the Moth!)
Otherwise, it's just Godzilla duking it out with MechaGodzilla, operated by this year's "girl with a grudge". Looks like somebody is going to have to save the idiot humans from their latest Anti-G weapon. Anyway, it is going pretty good. Opening weekend, Godzilla came in third behind the latest "Harry Potter" and "Minority Report".
"Human, yet running wildly --
Can it be stopped?
The Mechanical Dragon (MechaGodzilla)"
Translated from the second "Godzilla X MechaGodzilla" (2002) trailer
haggar wrote:
> That's why I was mentioning the animals, who were
> exposed to the radiation all the time.
>
> I still think we might find some surprise in the
> wildlife around that reactor.
My guess: you are mostly going to find genetic defects. Most mutations are not beneficial. The most likely beneficial mutation would be resistance to radiation. After all, that is the negative factor introduced to their environment, and the ones to overcome that factor will be most likely to be selected to survive and reproduce.
You are *not* going to find a Godzilla there. Every origin story Toho has ever given has either explicitly specified or at least implied some sort of divine or supernatural element in his creation. Godzilla the god predates Godzilla the mutated dinosaur. In "Gojira", the dance the characters watch on the island is a Shinto sacred dance, meant to placate Godzilla by worshipping him. As the old man says, in days of yore they sacrificed girls to Godzilla. Apparently, Godzilla prefered the sacrifices.
"All our tomorrows, Great Sun, by the Light, are very forgotten.
The Light dies. We pray and it sleeps."
"Oh Peace Oh Light Return" (national song of mourning)
from "Gojira" 1954
UniverseIsADoughnut wrote:
> They had turned off all safty messures and were
> running an un-authorized experiment. It got away
> on them and there was no stopping it. This
> meltdown wasn't an accident. It was an orginized
> effort at being stupid.
[and later...]
> 3 mile island had and accident, though once
> again it was do to something stupid, a pump
> turned off and no one knew.
In 1999 in Tokaimura, Japan had its greatest plant accident. Again, it was stupidity: discard all safety measures to save money and mix uranium power with nitric acid in a bowl with a great big spoon until it boils from the uranium spontaneously reacting. Two people died, and Tokaimura got a nice dose of radiation.
It isn't that surprising that stupidity would be at the root of these disasters. After all, stupidity is at the root of a lot of factory accidents too. Budgets get cut, people get complacent and lazy, and bad things happen.
Of course, inviting Godzilla over to film an attack on your plant on location, while engaging in bad safety practices is the height of stupidity. Life has a nasty habit of imitating his movies. Take, for example, Godzilla's love for power plant cuisine and the nuclear accident the Russians have in "Gojira", 1984 (Japanese version, the American version is a hatchet job as it was in the original movie).
> Nuke power is very safe, and clean.
We discovered fire thousands of years ago; but last summer's rampaging wild fires are testament to how much we don't have that under our control. What makes you think that our control of the fire of the atom, after a paltry few decades, is somehow perfect? There will be accidents, because humans are stupid, lazy and greedy. There will be accidents, because nature is chaotic, and the fire of the atom is not truly tamed. And there will be accidents, because our knowledge is imperfect and our experience is lacking.
Then there is nuclear waste, which is neither safe nor clean. Especially when you have a Godzilla sized lump of it to sock somewhere, and your President wants to put it in a heap of volcanic ash with many fault lines and seven young volcanos nearby, 100 miles from a major city.
> I much prefer one of them then a coal plant
> around.
I live near a coal plant, and my sinus problems are a serious pain. On the other hand, I'm kind of glad that when three trains collided in my town, turning their engines to scrap metal (they looked like they were made of crumpled tin foil), they were carrying coal, not nuclear waste. (And yes, I know coal can have a little uranium in it.) That accident was another example of monumental stupidity, with extra credit for the creativity needed to get three coal unit trains to collide head on, considering the limitations of train tracks.
I don't care what kind of container they put waste for Yucca Mountain in, it is not going to be able to withstand an accident like that.
Sonora:"New Godzilla reading. He's moving inward toward Tokai."
Shinoda: "The nuclear plants, I knew it.
Sonora: "Afraid so."
Yuki: "Well, that's just lovely. Another Chernobyl."
"Godzilla 2000" (US version dialog)
They would have had to heard of Microsoft, or at least seen their name on the paycheck.
;)
A review tells of the pros and cons of an item. It does not make assumptions that everything is okay because the product is for sale and from Microsoft.
This was PR, not a review. Nice try, litterbugs, but you can't fool me.
Oh, and litterbugs, if I want browse the web on my Mac in the company of a giant winged creature, I'll call Mothra, not MSN.
"What I'm thinking is different from what you are."
Belabera, "Mothra 3" 1998
An AC wrote:
:)
> OH PLEASE. I'm unemployed and for the first time
> in 40 years I'm one of those dead beats you think
> shouldn't get unemployment. Well I've been
> activity looking for work for over 6 months and
> the only thing I've found is volunteer work at the
> State Funded Workforce center for people looking
> for jobs.
Actually, the story was about people who (IMHO) are getting scammed into working for free on false promises (and thereby possibly devaluing programming work in general), not about good people who volunteer their time to help others during a bad time. You should be commended for your generousity. I'm afraid the people in the story are going to find that those stock options are mostly worthless and their "employers", if they give them a job, will just pay them more worthless paper. But then, maybe I just too cynical because my boss didn't fulfill any of his promises when he hired me. At least I still have a job.
> Believe me I don't want to be taking money away
> from you workers. I hope to be one someday. So
> whay don't you convince your boss to hire me so
> I can stop stealing money from you. But until
> that happens or until my unemployment runs out.
> Thanks for helping me put food in my mouth and a
> roof over my head.
Unemployment benefits were paid for by your previous employer, not by Slashdotters. If they hadn't been, you would have found out when you applied and your previous employer would have been in very hot water with your state. Extensions probably come from the taxpayers, but in times like these they are badly needed (I know, I benefitted from an extension back around 1991). I'd far rather see it go to helping folks like you than go for bombs and big brother programs.
I hope you get a good job soon, and I wish you peace, prosperity, and happiness for the coming new year.
"No one's going to die, mister. Mothra's going to come and save us."
Taiki Goto, "Rebirth of Mothra"
stevejsmith wrote:
;)
> Where does that oil come from? Venezuala, Saudi
> Arabia, Iraq, or Alaska, most likely.
The US gets 15% of its oil from Venezuela, and 5% (when they are in the mood) from Iraq.
They aren't the only oil producing areas to shop from:
US: Texas, Louisiana, California, Oklahoma, and Alaska
Rest of North America: Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Canada
Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates
Europe: Russia, United Kingdom, Norway
Africa: Northern Africa, Nigeria
Asia: China, Indonesia
> Venezuala is on the verge of civil war,
Venezuela is attempting to depose their president by having a strike. Very innovative of them. However, I don't think they can keep it up very long since it is massively hurting their economy.
> you've isolated yourself from the Saudis and the
> Iraqis,
The Saudis don't want to get caught between the US and Iraq. I can't say I blame them. I doubt they would discontinue selling us oil, as it would hurt them too. Iraq has been refusing to sell their oil as a form of protest of our current state of unfriendliness (or some such reason).
> and Alaska is under the control of Putin.
Huh? You do know the US bought Alaska from Russia a long time ago, don't you? It is a state of the United States of America! I don't see how Putin would have any control unless he got elected governor of Alaska. He'd have to be a US citizen for that to happen, and there might be some conflict with his current job.
Now returning you to your regularly scheduled topic. I'm glad India is telling Microsoft where to go (bad litterbugs). Linux is a good start for them, but there is no reason they can't develop a few operating systems of their own. The more the merrier, as long as open standards let everything work together.
Chief Tsujimori: "I won't let you get away. I will never let you escape."
Godzilla elegantly lifts his tail skyward to give her the "finger", crashes it down on the water, and submerges.
"Godzilla X Megagiras", 2000
PHAEDRU5 wrote:
;)
> I mean, M$ has this history of embrace and extend
> in technology, and embrace and nuke in corporate
> relationships.
The word you are looking for is "extinguish". Microsoft embraces, extends and extinguishes. Godzilla nukes.
And if Microsoft tries to embrace and extend Godzilla, Microsoft gets nuked.
Still, what happened to Sendo was sad. Yes, they were foolish to believe that Microsoft wouldn't do to them what they have done to others. But Microsoft was still a bad, bad litterbug for being so mean to Sendo.
Godzilla 2000, the Dreaded God! The battle for Earth's future has begun!
The future Millenium threatens.
Godzilla cannot be assimilated by Millenium who would embrace, extend!
ajp wrote:
.NET for another
.Net framework (as Longhorn is rumored to be). If it ran on top of Mono, Microsoft could use Mono like asphault to pave right over Linux and run their new OS on top. They already have a .Net for OS X under development, so they could do the same to Apple. A full 100% monopoly would be possible for Microsoft (ever looking for new ways to grow). And in the beginning they could afford to be nice and let you have whatever you wanted underneath, just like they let you run any DOS you wanted under 3.x.
.Net's replacement bundled in, automatically installed on your PC assuming you have kept your subscription payments up. Microsoft would then have a 100% monopoly down to the metal.
.Net, do it on a wintel machine that can't be any further messed up by Microsoft than it already is. Don't let them use the hard work of open source programmers to Embrace, Extend, and Extinguish Linux and OS X.
> Microsoft has already written
> platform (Rotor, for BSD.) And Microsoft has
> communicated with Miguel many times with regards
> to Mono. An interview with him on the topic is
> hosted on MSDN! This does not appear to be a
> prelude to a lawsuit.
No it doesn't, not at the moment, anyway.
But say Microsoft were to come out with a new version of their operating system based on the
Of course, you do remember what happened when you ran a non-Microsoft DOS under Windows, especially DR-DOS? How Microsoft put little tricks in their code to check for DR-DOS and spawn fake error messages? Do you really think they won't do that to Mono? They have done it before, and nothing, especially the government, is stopping them from doing it again. In the end, Linux and Apple (if not forced over to Intel and demoted to a mere Wintel OEM) would share the fate of DR-DOS, and Longhorn 95 would come along, with
Actually, I don't see Microsoft succeeding in this anymore than I see them making their customers happy with Licensing 6. But that doesn't mean they won't try something as gradiose and stupid as the stunt I outlined above. If you must use
"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)
DavittJPotter wrote:
> The attacks on 9/11/2001 *could* have been stopped
> - that's the truth behind all this.
Yes, they could have, and no innocents needed to be shot down. If the FBI had had its act together and listened to its field personnel, and if the INS could be bothered to check a list of known terrorists before admitting people into this country, 911 need never have happened.
Also, don't forget that one plane out of the four was stopped, by its passengers, who gave their lives to save many others.
> A pair of F15's launched from any airbase in the
> region would have had plenty of time to
> intercept and destroy the aircraft.
That won't be necessary. Flight 93 showed the way to stop a 911 style attack, and every airline passenger with half a brain knows it: if an evil terrorist brandishes a weapon or lights his shoes, do the 50 passenger pileon and have the stewardess call for help. Your F15's accompany the plane to a safe landing, and the bad guy, if not suffocated, goes to jail.
Heck, even the al Qaeda know it; that's why they've taken to using shoulder mounted anti-aircraft rockets. Thankfully, they can't hit the broad side of Godzilla, let alone an airplane, with those things.
> It's these fears that you're describing that our
> government is counting on in order to keep us
> better under control.
I see three reasons for the government's current behavior:
1) The American people are stampeeding out of fear because of the traumatic events of 911.
2) #1 makes it politically desirable to hand out anti-terror security blankets (take any old security measures just to calm the public).
3) As you said, those greedy for power want to take advantage of the people's fear to seize more power.
#1 is key to the whole thing. If the American people replace their fear with courage and wisdom, the demand for security blankets (#2) will not exist. Without #1 and #2, there is no excuse or opportunity for #3.
> There's an old saying, "I love my country, but I
> fear my government." I believe that statement
> more than ever now with the pattern of control
> and dictatorship that they're demonstrating
> daily.
Fear is what those greedy for power use to control you. Fear is bin Laden's weapon of choice. To fear is to hand the victory to the King of Terror, that great devil that comes from the sky, the enemy outside our borders and inside our hearts.
Cast aside fear, replace it with courage, wisdom, and love for your country and compassion for your fellow humans. Take a stand for liberty and justice. The EFF is good, but you might want to try the ACLU too, especially in light of such government antics as this:
http://www.aclu.org/ (see the "Rounded Up" story)
Looks like we need another one of those new births of freedom that Lincoln talked about in the Gettysburg Address.
"The last hope is to fight by ourselves."
Belebera, "Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks"
pVoid wrote:
;)
> Let's not kid ourselves... we all know 99% of the
> people will use this to copy DVDs. I will.
So copy DVDs. You can make as many copies of a DVD you produced yourself (home movies, iMovie film festival entry, 3D demo reel, etc.) as you want, as you own the copyright to it. You can make a backup copy of most things, that is supposed to be legal under fair use laws and court rulings.
The only illegal use is mass production of somebody else's DVDs (without permission) and distributing them yourself (usually with some money changing hands). But then the name of the program is "DVD X-Copy", not "Home DVD Piracy Ring Startup Pack".
We've already gotten one court case to show that if there are legitimate reasons for a product, and no wilful intent to make a tool for breaking the law, the product should be legal under the DMCA (IANAL). The more cases from different angles, the better chance we have to shoot the DMCA down in flames (in a court proceeding kind of way). The DMCA is a bad law that is discouraging foreign scientists from coming over to our conferences, makes permanent markers illegal, and allows for the harassment of coupon clubs. It is evil and must be stopped (in a court proceeding kind of way)!
"Really, gentlemen, if that's the case, let's see the power of attorney given to you by Mothra."
Torahata "Mothra vs. Godzilla"
MrLint wrote:
> I found this repugnant, the mpaa will spend tothe
> ends of the earth to destroy fair use, but (for
> whatever reason) what you do isnt important.
Oh, it isn't that it is not important to them, it's that you are not a member of the MPAA. Worse, you are in competition with MPAA members if you are producing content (as a non-member) and "wasting people's time with it when their time and money would be better spent on a MPAA member product".
Competition in distribution of their content (so called "piracy") and competition in content creation are their public enemies number one and two. Conveniently they can use copyright law to deal with competition in distribution of their content.
The other kind they have to deal with on the sly, because if they were ever too vocal about competing content creators, the government may see fit to bust their little anti-competitive cartel. That doesn't mean they (and their music industry counterparts) wouldn't love to rid the world of indie studios and musicians. At the moment, subtle little things like keeping CSS to themselves is all they can do.
Of course this is all evil, but what does one expect from a bunch of greedy sharks?
"They bind our hearts: 'Let's sell them again and again!'
Our plan understands the sea; we can wait for her coming."
From the song "Infanto no Musume" in the Japanese version of Mothra (1961).
First off, IANAL, and IANAForensic expert of any sort. I have used photoshop for years. And I've worked on software projects requiring government certification. These are my opinions.
;)
That said, DRM does not apply (you are certifying the source here, not caring about end user rights). Photoshop is way too broad a tool, with too many abilities to create your own content. As for a digital file, don't put that in your mouth unless you know where all it has been.
What you would need would be image processing (not editing) tool, preferably specific to enhancing fingerprints. The best thing would be a self contained fingerprint enhancing appliance, with scanner, printer, and built in algorithms. The fingerprint would be scanned in, enhanced, and then go back to the real world as a watermarked print that could be taken to court with the device's serial number and the original fingerprint.
The device would of course be fully certified to do exactly what the court would admit. And that is the ticket: you need a fully controlled process that can be examined at every step with a fine tooth comb by some agency of the court to prevent forgery of evidence. You also need to link the evidence to the specific machine, so it can be hauled into court and publicly verified that it hasn't been tampered with.
Of course, to make Slashdotters happy, the device could run embedded Linux, and use Gimp routines, as long as you could find somebody to fill out enought paperwork to keep a certifying agency happy. A few boxcars would do.
This device would not be a consumer or pro graphics device. So there is no need (or even desire) to burden the public and the pro graphics community with the requirements of forensic evidence.
"The thousand year dragon king: King Ghidora."
Yuri, "Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidora: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack"
Don't forget King Ghidora's birthday is tomorrow.
bethenco wrote:
> As for the issue of outlawing spam, here's another way of looking at. If a computer is setup
> to accept connections over the network and runs software that relays or saves electronic messages
> sent to it, then it's fair game. The owner of the machine has set it up that way with the
> knowledge that they have no control over what signals might be coming down that cable. When
> designing any sort of system that involves machines under the control of different people, we
> have to assume that if the system is in any way vulnerable to malicious or abusive uses, those
> uses will be exploited. We can't rely on the government to hold together broken security.
Just like when we take those machines with four wheels and internal combustion engines down the road, we do so with the knowledge that we have no control over the sobriety, state of mind, courtesy, or experience of the other drivers. In fact, we have to assume that some of them are going to be drunk and try to kill us. So do we just let the drunks and reckless drivers kill people, and blame it on a fault of automotive security (steering wheels let cars be driven into other cars)?
Sorry, but if you "children" can't be civil, daddy (government) is going to have to lay down the law to keep the peace. In fact, that is one of the few decent reasons to have a government: so civilization doesn't turn into a bunch of idiots clubbing each other to death. (Note: this is commonly deemed to be undesirable.)
If people can't discipline themselves to maintain appropriate speeds, drive safely, and stay sober, awake, and attentive throughout the driving process; speed limits, fines, etc. get imposed to tone down the death count. Similarly, if greedy gluts can't quit monopolizing the world's lines of person to person communcation (phone, snail mail, and email) to feed their greed; the government is going to have to take some kind of measures to keep them open for their intended purpose.
Personally, I would rather the government be kept far from the internet. But that is ceasing to be an option, thanks to leaches that make millions and build mansions out of stuffing the email system full of horrible junk. If you don't like the government messing with the internet, go thank the spam kings and the slimy pyramid schemers who don't know how to behave.
"What do you think Mothra would do?"
Moll, "Mosura" 1996
I agree with what you said, first axiom. Just adding the following:
;)
Scientists publish to get their work out there. Traditionally, they have done that through the journals, because they were the only means they had. The journals, because of their greedy nature and jumping on the IP bandwagon (with IP that isn't theirs in the first place), are actually blocking access to scientific work.
Thanks to the internet, scientists no longer have to rely on the journals. They can take their work back and publish it themselves if that is what they want. The journals have no rights to their work if the scientists choose not to give it to the journals in the first place.
The greedy journals stand to loose everything if they don't stop their IP hoarding and start doing their jobs. Their job is simple: publish the work the scientists give them. If they can't even do that (without all the hoarding and greed), then they have no reason to continue existing.
Now then, you greedy sharks, what was that you were squawking about the libraries allowing too many people to access *your* precious IP?
(Silence.)
That's what I thought.
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:
Ooh, I'd love to see you call this guy a "Teletubby". A real pity he is too busy in Japanese movie theatres at the moment to have time to give you the response such an insult would richly deserve. ;)
Why don't you get out from in front of your XBox for a few minutes and check out the GameCube aisle in a local video game store. There are a wide varity of games available for all ages and interests. Not to mention the best Godzilla game ever in his 48 year history!
"His power is unequalled.
His battles are legendary.
His return is near...
Godzilla 2000
If you can't take the heat, RUN!"
From the "Godzilla 2000" trailer.
Thank you. The news doesn't cover peace movements much, so I had no idea so many people had joined. A 100,000 person strong peace march may not sound like many people, compared to the size of the nation and power of its rulers. But if it is anywhere near the equivalent of two five inch women facing down the 197 foot King of Terror, it will be enough.
You have given me new hope.
"The path of peace is yours to discover for eternity."
Japanese version of "Mothra" (1961)
the eric conspiracy wrote:
;)
> Any artist who would have recieved a cut from the
> sale of the legitmate product was a victim.
Who then is the greater criminal?
1) He that takes a handful of pennies from the hand of an artist (the royalties from a CD)?
Or
2) He that takes overwhelming share of the purchase price of a CD (often up to $18), takes the copyright via a work-for-hire law, and binds the artist to contracts whose term is based on albums which may never be accepted (effectively no limit) and during which the artist may not sing/work?
Preventing #1 is easy: reduce the price of CD to sane levels, and there would be no incentive to counterfeit them.
Preventing #2 is harder, and would require either massively restructuring the music industry, or creating a replacement. Right now the labels are in charge, and the artists are effectively their slaves. Give the artists back their copyrights, put them in charge, and turn the labels into a variety of services that could be run as small businesses. The same technology that the RIAA so greatly fears that "pirates" could use, could and should be used to liberate the artists.
Actually, I found the links to other Register articles at the bottom of this one to be far more interesting. Especially the one in which a RIAA rep is telling the Register to retract an article in nearly the same terms the bad guys used in the early (anti-media shark) Mothra movies. Looks like someone is just begging for a blue-eyed Category 5 hurricane to hit their HQ in beautiful downtown Newkirk City.
"Look at this story! I want a retraction!"
Nelson, Japanese version of "Mothra" (1961)
An AC wrote:
> 3200 Phaethon's halfhearted attempt at mass
> destruction of all life on the face of our planet
> is bound to fail due to the fact that the meteors
> they are sending are so small that they are
> burning up on entry.
Ah, but the Phaethon King (and true master of Planet X) can very well achieve a mass extinction event if he so chooses. He did so in the past, an event called the "Permian Extinction" that wiped out 90% of life on Earth. His younger brother, Death, wiped out the dinosaurs (well the Phaethon King tried that too, but he was stopped by a time traveling moth deity). You can see from the states of Venus and Mars what he and his younger brother can really do.
> However, this doesn't excuse what can only be
> construed as an act of war.
This is mere fireworks to amuse the Phaethon King. The declaration of war was an asteroid lobbed into a Pennsylvanian corn field in the summer of 2001. This was followed by an attack by his human minions, who he duped into thinking he was their "Allah". That is why the Phaethon King is called the "King of Terror" and "The Great Devil that comes from the skies".
> 1) Adjust the Star Wars project to defend from
> extraterrestrial attack,
Earth's puny missles are no match for a god that has destroyed whole planets!
> 2) start manufacturing space-capabale war
> vessels. Once #2 is complete, we can send our
> armed forces to wipe them of the face of their
> miserable--
Space vehicles didn't do the Xians any good. However much they thought they controlled him, he still slipped from their grasp and destroyed their H2O plants for his amusement.
> wait, this is a planet we're talking about,
> right?
3200 Phaethon is either an asteroid or a dead comet. Nobody lives there to toss anything at us.
The Phaethon King, Mr. Mass Extinction Event, Destroyer of Worlds, Strongest Foe, and King of Terror is none other than Monster Zero of Planet X, King Ghidora!
If you want to defeat him, send someone to Mount Fuji in Japan. Find the bulge in Fuji's side, knock on it, and stand well back. That should give his big sister Mothra her wake up call. Tell her "the King of Terror has resurrected and is being mean again" and she will know what to do. Watch out for her wing swords though, they are very sharp!
"All we have to worry about is to slay King Ghidora."
Shouta, "Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks"
When was the last time Linux got an FBI warning about one of its new versions soon after it came out? What about 32 pages of privacy violations filed with the FTC? Whole industries (banking, financial, health) that can't use Windows XP SP 1 because of its EULA?
Did you even do those searches? Or did you put your blinders back on when you saw the word "security"? Yes, every OS can have security problems. Most just fix them and move on. Microsoft denies security problems, tries to persecute people who report them to their customers (who have a right to know), downplays them, invents new trademarks (Trustworth Computing) so we don't think they have them, etc.
Rarely do they fix them. And when they do, they attach EULA ammendments that basically violate the security of your computer by allowing Microsoft to install anything they want to on it, and/or read any data on it.
Chief Tsujimori: "I won't let you get away. I will never let you escape."
Godzilla elegantly lifts his tail skyward to give her the "finger", crashes it down on the water, and submerges.
"Godzilla X Megagiras", 2000
Evil Adrian wrote:
> So I challenge the readers to actually give
> factual evidence of the horrible-ness of XP
If you had taken the blinders off and kept abreast of the news in your industry for the last two years, you would know all the issues concerning Windows XP. Since it is off topic, I am only going to point you in the direction of Google.com. Here are some searches to try:
"FBI warns" XP
"privacy violations" XP
"service pack 1" EULA XP
"service pack 1" EULA XP health financial banks
security XP
Of course that barely scratches the surface of the Horror that is XP.
We now return you to our regularly scheduled topic: Microsoft trying to pollute India with its Stinky Source so its army of programmers can't write Open Source without tons of lawsuits.
Chief Tsujimori: "I won't let you get away. I will never let you escape."
Godzilla elegantly lifts his tail skyward to give her the "finger", crashes it down on the water, and submerges.
"Godzilla X Megagiras", 2000
One of the ideas kicked around for the 1992 "Godzilla vs. Mothra" was killing off Mothra, and resurrecting her as a dragonfly mecha. The dragonfly Mothra did actually appear in "Rebirth of Mothra 2" as Aqua Mothra. And while the mecha has never appeared on screen, Armored Mothra appeared in "Mothra 3", with sword blades on the forward edges of her wings that worked very nicely to slice and dice King Ghidora.
Since the 90s, Mothra marrionettes have included robotics. If you watch the "making of" for GMK, you can see them build Mothra and the suits, and test the robotic Mothra and the robotic heads. Godzilla's head was especially impressive: it could roll and blink its eyes, shake its head and bare its teeth. The soft latex "skin" was moved by robotic "muscles" underneath. Also, Godzilla could breath.
Would someone kindly photograph an Atlas moth (a large Malaysian moth with the same orange stripped body as Mothra) in that gizmo and send the results to Toho? Mothra would appreciate that very much.
"It's a miracle! The sea water has once again created new life."
Moll, "Rebirth of Mothra 2"
The new "Godzilla X Mechagodzilla" will be opening in Japanese theaters on December 14th.