My first memories of the NEO-GEO were as a prize given away on "Video Power" (boy do I miss that show). My next memories were that of having World Heroes at our convenience store (boy, do I hate that game).
It was really such a bittersweet thing. Bless with a solid platform that put more games into the arcade than any other in history, but (with some exception) cursed with a cart system that drove prices through the roof for anyone but try uber-gamers)
"Fukui-san?"
"Yes, Ota?"
"The challenger has in his pot one Salisbury Steak, and is now adding five boxes of crushed croutons to it. I also see one of his assistants preparing two blowfish, while the other appears to be getting a bag of silver from the other side."
"Wow, I heard this Jesus guy was a skilled somallier, but I didn't know he had this in him..."
X-Box second edition to be released in March
on
XBox Released
·
· Score: 2, Funny
(Redmond, WA) - Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, today announced a launch date for a second edition of the X-Box.
At a press conference today, Mr. Gates described the intentions of his company in developing the Second Edition of X-Box.
"The system, nicknamed 'Box the Second', or 'BS', will carry console gaming into new heights, and continue to develop the synergy that grows between computing and consoles."
When pressed for specs, Mr. Gates gave a list of specifications that almost exactly matched that of the original X-Box.
Except for one difference:
"This one is purple."
He has a right to use the equipment within the bounds set by the university. But what are those bounds? I'm typing this on a university-owned computer right now. If I switch over and start playing around at Pogo (I have an unreasonable addiction to Word Whomp), they can boot me out of this lab for using university-owned equipment to play games.
So, the question now becomes: now that universities can no longer allow this unofficial screwing, what policies will be put into place to make it official (and legal)?
"Congratulations, Mr. Jones, on your court victory. You now own the rights to the patent. Oh, by the way, here is the bill for all of your research time.
"What? You want us to give you a free ride because you're student? Ah, but you see, you've imbalanced our entire relationship: You agree to enter into slave labor for us for several years, and in return, we get to keep the credit for anything you do.
"But since you want to take this patent developed while using our equipment, and our labs, it only stands to reason that you're prepared to pay for it.
"Let's see... you've got this judgement, and we'll subtract lab fees, utilities, maintenance (gotta pay the janitors to empty out the bit bucket)... hmmm... tell you what, just give us another $85,000 and we'll call it even.
"You mean you can't afford that? Well, surely we can work something out. If you'd be willing to work here a couple of years, I bet -- Put down the laptop Mr. Jones, you're scaring me a little..."
A federal court's jurisdiction stops at the borders of its country. The French Court can only get legally pissed (as opposed to morally), if the commerce originates, passes through, or ends in France. If you decide to sell a 100-pack of Swastika iron-on patches (kids love 'em!) to some guy in Texas, it's a non-issue to the US.
Keep in mind that France can always TRY to impose penalties against Yahoo, but can they collect? Does Yahoo have a place of business in France?
If I am a major media corporation's CEO, and I base my actions purely on what happens to my family, here's what happens to me:
If I'm successful, I get stock options and lots of cash. I'll also catch the notice of people who will be jealous of my success and will seriously frick up my chances in the future.
If I'm unsuccessful, I get even MORE stock options, because the company wants to induce me to succeed. And if I eventually lose my job, I'll just find another one, or I'll sail my boat around a bit.
Since my family's livelihood is actually improved by tanking, that's precisely what I do.
We have 2 million people in prison, a higher percentage than any other nation.
Actually, I wonder if there is a study comparing the lifespan of inmates to the lifespan of the rest of American society over a period of time. That is: are people in prison's lifespans growing at a faster rate than those on the outside. And if so, how does that compare with the rest of the world: what type of lifespan can be expected in the proverbial Turkish prison?
"Hi, I'd like to apply for a position on the cyber court."
"That's fine, could you please establish your education for us?"
"Well, I went to Harvard for three years before I dropped out to form my own New World Or... er... company."
"I'm sorry, sir, but we require a bachelor's degree for all members of the court."
"I'm Bill Gates, dammit! I founded MicroSoft! I'm the richest man in the world!"
"Oh, you should go see the summons department then. They've been wanting to meet with you about why people who have Office FU keep reporting lost data due to someone sniffing around from an IP we traced to Redmond."
"Err... it was Nintendo of America! Yeah, that's the ticket!"
There is a 100% direct correlation to a country's GDP, the strength of its intellectual property protections, and the number of patents filed by its citizens.
Ah, but by whom is this patent being filed? IBM is a citizen? No, this patent was filed by a company.
I submit a different correlation: There is an INVERSE correlation between the strength of intellectual property protections and the number of patents filed (assuming that a given country recognizes patents at all, of course). That is, more and more spurious patents are filed (and approved!), it takes away time and attention from those patents which are truly deserving of merit.
The enemy of my friend is my enemy.
What would happen to MS would also happen to other companies that provide template setups (such as MacroMedia with DreamWeaver, among others). Besides, would it have been a good thing for Luke to finish off Vader with Palpatine's approval? Dark side is dark side, no matter how you look at it.
"No, your honor, there were no MP3's anywhere there. I just renamed that file to '$tàirway to Heàven.mp3' because I didn't want the kids to find my goatsecx pictures."
The average non-collective programmer and/. user believes that a programs should have value. And that it should have the same benefits and regulations less tangible products have. However, ask yourself wherein the value of the today's app software lies? The program, or the license? Keep in mind that 1) the price you pay for software depends less on where you're buying it and more on who the heck you are (academic discount) and 2) anytime MS gripes about some cocked-up audit or whatever, it's dealt with in terms of how many licenses the site is short.
Short version: The software industry made software worthless.
We believe programmers should get paid, to be sure: take a poll as to how many readers would like to stuff Mattel execs into the driver's side of a Barbie Corvette, and you'll see this to be evident. Many of us remember a world when 20-30% royalties went to a SINGLE PROGRAMMER, and, for some reason, everyone made money. Now, the industry reaps record profits, rivaling other entertainment genres, and we have shutdowns and cutbacks that would make the airline industry blush. Just as people here claim that we should support indie music acts, we also claim to do the same when it comes to software.
Short version: Pay people who write programs, not people who make 8x10 cardboard boxes.
Re:It all seemed so clear the first time through..
on
Brian West Update
·
· Score: 1
The analogy doesn't hold. In this case the "house" is a location where the very idea is to take things. And it's not as if the owner's of the house put "please don't touch" signs on their favorite set of china. This is more giving your things to the Goodwill and then realizing that your wife accidentally put your favorite jersey in with the load.
A side effect of placing a document online in a publically accessible place is that people can get it. That's the entire point of the Internet, and if a site fails to properly obfuscate something, then it runs the risk of having its material copied. (This isn't the same as saying that the material can be republished freely).
If any publication accidentally prints something, it's free to be read by any. Granted, a drastic error in an advertisment doesn't have to be honored, but that doesn't apply here either.
This doesn't mean that Brian was in the clear, and to me, there should have been other issues of a more civil nature:
Where Brian should have had trouble is not in having the copyrighted source code, but in trying to develop this new version of the software using the old code without using some sort of clean room technique with another coder. To me, there was just a badly botched, half-assed reverse engineering attempt and nothing more.
IANAL, but I used to have a business law book.
That being said, a contract is not voidable if you are aware of the misrepresentation made by the other party before entering in the contract. Criminal court is another animal, but in civil court you're totally SOL.
What are you talking about 'choice'? If MS was interested in offering 'choice' they would offer a product called UsefullOfficeApps v1.0 which included only about 10% of MSOffice's features and would come standard with their OS - or for $5
This week on the MicroSoft Pyramid:
WordPad, Frontpage Express, Outlook Express, Paint. "Things that act like miniature Office apps." DING!
Not entirely. I'm generally a conservative (moreso fiscally than socially), and left with only the evil of two lessers, would have voted for Bush. I saw Nader, though, as a chance, albeit small, to jumpstart a 3rd party through an infusion of federal matching funds. I'm dealt with a lot of people who told me I wasted my vote with Nader, until I explained why. Now they realize they've wasted theirs.
Slashdot Mirror
My first memories of the NEO-GEO were as a prize given away on "Video Power" (boy do I miss that show). My next memories were that of having World Heroes at our convenience store (boy, do I hate that game).
It was really such a bittersweet thing. Bless with a solid platform that put more games into the arcade than any other in history, but (with some exception) cursed with a cart system that drove prices through the roof for anyone but try uber-gamers)
It will be missed.
"Fukui-san?" "Yes, Ota?" "The challenger has in his pot one Salisbury Steak, and is now adding five boxes of crushed croutons to it. I also see one of his assistants preparing two blowfish, while the other appears to be getting a bag of silver from the other side." "Wow, I heard this Jesus guy was a skilled somallier, but I didn't know he had this in him..."
(Redmond, WA) - Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, today announced a launch date for a second edition of the X-Box. At a press conference today, Mr. Gates described the intentions of his company in developing the Second Edition of X-Box. "The system, nicknamed 'Box the Second', or 'BS', will carry console gaming into new heights, and continue to develop the synergy that grows between computing and consoles." When pressed for specs, Mr. Gates gave a list of specifications that almost exactly matched that of the original X-Box. Except for one difference: "This one is purple."
He has a right to use the equipment within the bounds set by the university. But what are those bounds? I'm typing this on a university-owned computer right now. If I switch over and start playing around at Pogo (I have an unreasonable addiction to Word Whomp), they can boot me out of this lab for using university-owned equipment to play games.
So, the question now becomes: now that universities can no longer allow this unofficial screwing, what policies will be put into place to make it official (and legal)?
"Congratulations, Mr. Jones, on your court victory. You now own the rights to the patent. Oh, by the way, here is the bill for all of your research time.
"What? You want us to give you a free ride because you're student? Ah, but you see, you've imbalanced our entire relationship: You agree to enter into slave labor for us for several years, and in return, we get to keep the credit for anything you do.
"But since you want to take this patent developed while using our equipment, and our labs, it only stands to reason that you're prepared to pay for it.
"Let's see... you've got this judgement, and we'll subtract lab fees, utilities, maintenance (gotta pay the janitors to empty out the bit bucket)... hmmm... tell you what, just give us another $85,000 and we'll call it even.
"You mean you can't afford that? Well, surely we can work something out. If you'd be willing to work here a couple of years, I bet -- Put down the laptop Mr. Jones, you're scaring me a little..."
A federal court's jurisdiction stops at the borders of its country. The French Court can only get legally pissed (as opposed to morally), if the commerce originates, passes through, or ends in France. If you decide to sell a 100-pack of Swastika iron-on patches (kids love 'em!) to some guy in Texas, it's a non-issue to the US. Keep in mind that France can always TRY to impose penalties against Yahoo, but can they collect? Does Yahoo have a place of business in France?
If I am a major media corporation's CEO, and I base my actions purely on what happens to my family, here's what happens to me: If I'm successful, I get stock options and lots of cash. I'll also catch the notice of people who will be jealous of my success and will seriously frick up my chances in the future. If I'm unsuccessful, I get even MORE stock options, because the company wants to induce me to succeed. And if I eventually lose my job, I'll just find another one, or I'll sail my boat around a bit. Since my family's livelihood is actually improved by tanking, that's precisely what I do.
This won't be a problem. Your tax evasion will more than be offset by savings made by the government switching to open source.
You might even be able to afford to let your dog eat the Alpo instead of hoarding it.
We have 2 million people in prison, a higher percentage than any other nation.
Actually, I wonder if there is a study comparing the lifespan of inmates to the lifespan of the rest of American society over a period of time. That is: are people in prison's lifespans growing at a faster rate than those on the outside. And if so, how does that compare with the rest of the world: what type of lifespan can be expected in the proverbial Turkish prison?
Sometime in 2004...
"Hi, I'd like to apply for a position on the cyber court."
"That's fine, could you please establish your education for us?"
"Well, I went to Harvard for three years before I dropped out to form my own New World Or... er... company."
"I'm sorry, sir, but we require a bachelor's degree for all members of the court."
"I'm Bill Gates, dammit! I founded MicroSoft! I'm the richest man in the world!"
"Oh, you should go see the summons department then. They've been wanting to meet with you about why people who have Office FU keep reporting lost data due to someone sniffing around from an IP we traced to Redmond."
"Err... it was Nintendo of America! Yeah, that's the ticket!"
"Do you have a toothbrush, sir?"
There is a 100% direct correlation to a country's GDP, the strength of its intellectual property protections, and the number of patents filed by its citizens. Ah, but by whom is this patent being filed? IBM is a citizen? No, this patent was filed by a company. I submit a different correlation: There is an INVERSE correlation between the strength of intellectual property protections and the number of patents filed (assuming that a given country recognizes patents at all, of course). That is, more and more spurious patents are filed (and approved!), it takes away time and attention from those patents which are truly deserving of merit.
The enemy of my friend is my enemy. What would happen to MS would also happen to other companies that provide template setups (such as MacroMedia with DreamWeaver, among others). Besides, would it have been a good thing for Luke to finish off Vader with Palpatine's approval? Dark side is dark side, no matter how you look at it.
"No, your honor, there were no MP3's anywhere there. I just renamed that file to '$tàirway to Heàven.mp3' because I didn't want the kids to find my goatsecx pictures."
The average non-collective programmer and /. user believes that a programs should have value. And that it should have the same benefits and regulations less tangible products have. However, ask yourself wherein the value of the today's app software lies? The program, or the license? Keep in mind that 1) the price you pay for software depends less on where you're buying it and more on who the heck you are (academic discount) and 2) anytime MS gripes about some cocked-up audit or whatever, it's dealt with in terms of how many licenses the site is short.
Short version: The software industry made software worthless.
We believe programmers should get paid, to be sure: take a poll as to how many readers would like to stuff Mattel execs into the driver's side of a Barbie Corvette, and you'll see this to be evident. Many of us remember a world when 20-30% royalties went to a SINGLE PROGRAMMER, and, for some reason, everyone made money. Now, the industry reaps record profits, rivaling other entertainment genres, and we have shutdowns and cutbacks that would make the airline industry blush. Just as people here claim that we should support indie music acts, we also claim to do the same when it comes to software.
Short version: Pay people who write programs, not people who make 8x10 cardboard boxes.
The analogy doesn't hold. In this case the "house" is a location where the very idea is to take things. And it's not as if the owner's of the house put "please don't touch" signs on their favorite set of china. This is more giving your things to the Goodwill and then realizing that your wife accidentally put your favorite jersey in with the load.
A side effect of placing a document online in a publically accessible place is that people can get it. That's the entire point of the Internet, and if a site fails to properly obfuscate something, then it runs the risk of having its material copied. (This isn't the same as saying that the material can be republished freely).
If any publication accidentally prints something, it's free to be read by any. Granted, a drastic error in an advertisment doesn't have to be honored, but that doesn't apply here either.
This doesn't mean that Brian was in the clear, and to me, there should have been other issues of a more civil nature:
Where Brian should have had trouble is not in having the copyrighted source code, but in trying to develop this new version of the software using the old code without using some sort of clean room technique with another coder. To me, there was just a badly botched, half-assed reverse engineering attempt and nothing more.
IANAL, but I used to have a business law book. That being said, a contract is not voidable if you are aware of the misrepresentation made by the other party before entering in the contract. Criminal court is another animal, but in civil court you're totally SOL.
What are you talking about 'choice'? If MS was interested in offering 'choice' they would offer a product called UsefullOfficeApps v1.0 which included only about 10% of MSOffice's features and would come standard with their OS - or for $5
This week on the MicroSoft Pyramid:
WordPad, Frontpage Express, Outlook Express, Paint.
"Things that act like miniature Office apps."
DING!
Not entirely. I'm generally a conservative (moreso fiscally than socially), and left with only the evil of two lessers, would have voted for Bush. I saw Nader, though, as a chance, albeit small, to jumpstart a 3rd party through an infusion of federal matching funds. I'm dealt with a lot of people who told me I wasted my vote with Nader, until I explained why. Now they realize they've wasted theirs.
The lesson to be learned is that tickets cost more now than they did in years past.