going by google's old zeitegeist (sp?), which is a much more accurate indicator of machines people use (as opposed to servers, or single-process machines) Apple was up by a few % to Linux. And remember, Apple's is a platform with a disproportionate number of graphic artists, many of them rusted on to the Mac.
It's a good move for Linux to get Adobe behind them, but I wouldn't be sacking your GIMP just yet.
you know there's something wrong in America when Bin Laden starts taunting Americans about the country's PATRIOT Act:
Bin Laden also said the Bush administration was like repressive Arab regimes "in that half of them are ruled by the military and the other half are ruled by the sons of kings and presidents."
He said the resemblance became clear when Bush's father was president and visited Arab countries.
"He wound up being impressed by the royal and military regimes and envied them for staying decades in their positions and embezzling the nation's money with no supervision," bin Laden said.
"He passed on tyranny and oppression to his son, and they called it the Patriot Act, under the pretext of fighting terror. Bush the father did well in placing his sons as governors and did not forget to pass on the expertise in fraud from the leaders of the (Mideast) region to Florida to use it in critical moments."
Obvious disclaimer: I in no way support terrorism, or even the use of force in conflicts unless there is no other alternative. I also consider Bin Laden a piece of shit, but that doesn't mean he hasn't got a point above.
Linux, IBM and Apple. All open standards compliant (with a few exceptions to the last two). And all your key vendors of choice if you want to become MS free.
if the retirement (what a lovely euphemism) is in lieu of a new program, great.
If the scrapping is in lieu of nothing... that's not so great.
I do think a vehicle capable of re-use is important to the goal to get us off the planet; if they need to use rockets to get the ISS done while a new vehicle is built, so be it.
This is about freedom of information, freedom of ideas. Linux is a part of that in that embodies freedom in software, but to only look at Linux is to miss the broader context.
There is no marginal cost to the sharing of digital or intellectual content, beyond the cost of transmission and storage. This fight is about taking ideas out of the hands of a few powerful entities with a vested interest in maintaining their power, and shifting it to everyone.
The world will benefit. The fucked nature of the existing system is no better demonstrated than in the US - where you'd think that having all the power would make life better. But medicine is more expensive there than in almost any other Western country.
-- james PS please don't start feeding me bullshit about how you have to be paying more for drugs to support the companies. I cannot believe people actually tow this line. It's human health, for chrissakes
It may come as a surprise to Steve Ballmer, but Microsoft's stranglehold on the operating system market is doomed - and if it folds to Linux or Sun or Apple or any other organisation that supports open standards in its operating system, there will no longer be any reason for organisations to support Microsoft. With any of their products.
Hear that noise, Mr Ballmer? That is the sound of in-evit-a-bility.
There are other examples of big Aussie Govt agencies going against the Redmond beast. I know for a fact that the NSW Govt is pushing open source/open standards software.
For a mirror of the mp3, sans all the anti-bush garbage
You call it "anti-bush garbage", but where do you think all the infringement of the US's free speech (wrapped under the guise of "decency") is stemming from in your country?
Yep, pretty much right. A non-American's opinion in the 2004 presidential election is pretty much as irrelevant as it gets. Likewise, my opinion on Tony Blair's campaign is also irrelevant. If you really care that much, you can immigrate.
Shame Bush didn't take that attitude when he decide who would be single handedly running Iraq since April last year.
anyway, despite what that tech is used for, it is damn cool tech.
I'd like to think that I could trust the people who it has been designed for, in particular the chief architect and user of the system, the US Govt. However, these past couple of years, with all the shit that's been going on, I'm starting to wonder. I mean, they seem to know how to use it to get an advantage for their companies, but they can't use it to stop one of the largest attacks on US soil in the country's history.
I think the topic of this discussion is a side-effect. I think, the question this all starts with is: how can you stop American politicians from being legally bribed?
It's really obvious looking from the outside in that America is rotting, it's more difficult to see from the inside because the ones that are trying to control the government, and succeeding in my opinion, are the ones that feed you information through TV.
As someone who was (and to an extent, still is) an American-ophile (is that a word?) the whole situation is really distressing me. The parent is right IMO about the problem beginning with the legal bribing of politicians.
I think the problems would almost entirely stop if the US banned political donations from corporations. The INDUCEs, the DMCAs, the targeted top end tax cuts, even the Iraq War.
I know many Americans are going to be saying that "why the hell should we listen to him? He's a foreigner, he should have no say". Well, fair enough, except you're exporting both your Corporation-centric laws and, quite obviously, your foreign policy. There's also your environmental policy. When the US sneezes, the rest of us get covered in slobber.
And the rot stems from the politicians trying to keep the big donators happy - the big business end of town. That's the goal for politicians now in the US. But it's not making Americans happy; it is, as the parent said, rotting the US from the inside. If making your corporations the centre-piece of your country at the expense of everything else had a benefit for the country, then great. But it doesn't. It makes people unhappy. Dead kids coming back in body bags from Iraq. Assault weapons legally available for sale on the streets. No international environmental laws (like Kyoto), even though your country is getting pounded by hurricanes. Even little things, like being unable to copy your CDs to your iPod. It all stems from too much money corrupting the democratic process.
I never thought I'd say this, but I am looking forward to the day when China provides a counter-balance to the US's might. The Chinese goal of doing what's best for the state, as opposed to the new US goal since the end of the Cold War of doing what's best for the corporation, is probably going to be more world friendly than the present US position.
Ask yourself - since Bush has come to power, what positive or great thing has been achieved in the world? There's a mess in Iraq, a mess in Afghanistan, no Kyoto while the Florida Quays sinks under hurricanes, trade wars with Europe... he's leading your country, and with it the world, into disaster.
but I'm not getting Viriginia's apparent reasoning for introducing the RFIDs - "Virginia is considering just such a measure, largely because several of the 9/11 hijackers were licensed there". How would have RFID helped? It's a non sequitur.
As I understand it, the issue wasn't that identification failed at the airport. So how would RFID have helped?
I copied this from a post I saw earlier on slashdot - I have lost the link but still have the text.
That's why they need the dumb-ass DMCA, because it's impossible to make secure DRM. DRM is not and can never be cryptographically secure because it is not actually a cryptography problem. Cyrpography is about keeping secrets away from unauthorized people. That's fairly easy. DRM is about GRANTING people authorized access and GIVING them the key and then attempting to keep what you've given to them a secret from them.
DRM is a schizophrenic and fundamentally impossible task.
All they can do is the key obscurely inside the player and hope that no one makes the effort to look at it.
It was written about SACDs, but it applies just as equally to stopping people copying text. In the long run, DRM won't work. It's just a serious pain in the ass, especially for legitimate users (how can you get fair use if the damn copy/paste functionality is disabled?)
maybe the reason MS have stopped caring is that there is no longer any reason to care.
they offered IE for free in the hope that they could "embrace and extend" the internet - stopping all other browsers, and thereby stopping all other platforms - but it didn't work. so why should they bother any more? there's nothing to be gained by owning the users browser.
on the other hand, owning where they buy all their music from... now that might be a lucrative business to get into...
Cocoa Gestures adds mouse gestures to any Cocoa program such as Mail, Address Book, iCal, TextEdit, Safari, Chimera, OmniWeb, Path Finder, Stone Design's great suite of applications like Create, and many others.
on the subject of questionable ethics, does anyone else wonder about the guy who said "One did concede, however, that the scheme has real potential"? Potential? Potential? Maybe "potential for abuse" would be ok, but the way that's phrased at the moment... I can see the cogs turning over in this guys head for companies to target!
didn't they just come out with the 4th gen ipod, oh, 3 or 4 months ago?
I think this is more likely to be marketed as an iPod plus rather than an iPod.
Its existence would also help explain the relatively restricted supply 4 months out, plus it would also help explain that slip of the tongue by Toshiba about Apple wanting 60GB drives.
I think there is a market for this, that's maybe a little bit of a shift from the iPods present target market.
it's the iPod for grown ups. These are the people who wouldn't buy one just for the music, but the prospect of taking their kids/grandkids photos with them everywhere, being able to whip out a cool little device with every digital photo they've ever taken, would definitely hold some appeal with some of the older folk.
Slashdot Mirror
I know you're trying to be humourous, but it raises an interesting question: is this thing faster than the Big Mac?
-- james
going by google's old zeitegeist (sp?), which is a much more accurate indicator of machines people use (as opposed to servers, or single-process machines) Apple was up by a few % to Linux. And remember, Apple's is a platform with a disproportionate number of graphic artists, many of them rusted on to the Mac.
It's a good move for Linux to get Adobe behind them, but I wouldn't be sacking your GIMP just yet.
-- james
you know there's something wrong in America when Bin Laden starts taunting Americans about the country's PATRIOT Act:
Bin Laden also said the Bush administration was like repressive Arab regimes "in that half of them are ruled by the military and the other half are ruled by the sons of kings and presidents."
He said the resemblance became clear when Bush's father was president and visited Arab countries.
"He wound up being impressed by the royal and military regimes and envied them for staying decades in their positions and embezzling the nation's money with no supervision," bin Laden said.
"He passed on tyranny and oppression to his son, and they called it the Patriot Act, under the pretext of fighting terror. Bush the father did well in placing his sons as governors and did not forget to pass on the expertise in fraud from the leaders of the (Mideast) region to Florida to use it in critical moments."
Obvious disclaimer: I in no way support terrorism, or even the use of force in conflicts unless there is no other alternative. I also consider Bin Laden a piece of shit, but that doesn't mean he hasn't got a point above.
-- james
Linux, IBM and Apple. All open standards compliant (with a few exceptions to the last two). And all your key vendors of choice if you want to become MS free.
-- james
if the retirement (what a lovely euphemism) is in lieu of a new program, great.
If the scrapping is in lieu of nothing... that's not so great.
I do think a vehicle capable of re-use is important to the goal to get us off the planet; if they need to use rockets to get the ISS done while a new vehicle is built, so be it.
-- james
This is about freedom of information, freedom of ideas. Linux is a part of that in that embodies freedom in software, but to only look at Linux is to miss the broader context.
There is no marginal cost to the sharing of digital or intellectual content, beyond the cost of transmission and storage. This fight is about taking ideas out of the hands of a few powerful entities with a vested interest in maintaining their power, and shifting it to everyone.
The world will benefit. The fucked nature of the existing system is no better demonstrated than in the US - where you'd think that having all the power would make life better. But medicine is more expensive there than in almost any other Western country.
-- james
PS please don't start feeding me bullshit about how you have to be paying more for drugs to support the companies. I cannot believe people actually tow this line. It's human health, for chrissakes
It may come as a surprise to Steve Ballmer, but Microsoft's stranglehold on the operating system market is doomed - and if it folds to Linux or Sun or Apple or any other organisation that supports open standards in its operating system, there will no longer be any reason for organisations to support Microsoft. With any of their products.
Hear that noise, Mr Ballmer? That is the sound of in-evit-a-bility.
-- james
There are other examples of big Aussie Govt agencies going against the Redmond beast. I know for a fact that the NSW Govt is pushing open source/open standards software.
-- james
You call it "anti-bush garbage", but where do you think all the infringement of the US's free speech (wrapped under the guise of "decency") is stemming from in your country?
Hint: Howard Stern has a fair idea.
-- james
but even I know that Howard Stern + FCC chairman = fireworks . Shame (but not unexpected) that the blog is down already.
:)
Maybe the FCC pulled it?
-- james
Shame Bush didn't take that attitude when he decide who would be single handedly running Iraq since April last year.
-- james
Damn straight!
And guess what? This is exactly what Australia has done. If you want an example for when you write to your representative, use the Aussies.
-- james
Here's the proof
These guys won't ship outside of Australia, but the "super box set" exists.
-- james
man Wikipedia is cool :)
anyway, despite what that tech is used for, it is damn cool tech.
I'd like to think that I could trust the people who it has been designed for, in particular the chief architect and user of the system, the US Govt. However, these past couple of years, with all the shit that's been going on, I'm starting to wonder. I mean, they seem to know how to use it to get an advantage for their companies, but they can't use it to stop one of the largest attacks on US soil in the country's history.
Hmmm.
-- james
sorry to crash the linux party, but also I'd be interested of any reports of it working with MacOS X as well.
cheers
-- james
As someone who was (and to an extent, still is) an American-ophile (is that a word?) the whole situation is really distressing me. The parent is right IMO about the problem beginning with the legal bribing of politicians.
I think the problems would almost entirely stop if the US banned political donations from corporations. The INDUCEs, the DMCAs, the targeted top end tax cuts, even the Iraq War.
I know many Americans are going to be saying that "why the hell should we listen to him? He's a foreigner, he should have no say". Well, fair enough, except you're exporting both your Corporation-centric laws and, quite obviously, your foreign policy. There's also your environmental policy. When the US sneezes, the rest of us get covered in slobber.
And the rot stems from the politicians trying to keep the big donators happy - the big business end of town. That's the goal for politicians now in the US. But it's not making Americans happy; it is, as the parent said, rotting the US from the inside. If making your corporations the centre-piece of your country at the expense of everything else had a benefit for the country, then great. But it doesn't. It makes people unhappy. Dead kids coming back in body bags from Iraq. Assault weapons legally available for sale on the streets. No international environmental laws (like Kyoto), even though your country is getting pounded by hurricanes. Even little things, like being unable to copy your CDs to your iPod. It all stems from too much money corrupting the democratic process.
I never thought I'd say this, but I am looking forward to the day when China provides a counter-balance to the US's might. The Chinese goal of doing what's best for the state, as opposed to the new US goal since the end of the Cold War of doing what's best for the corporation, is probably going to be more world friendly than the present US position.
Ask yourself - since Bush has come to power, what positive or great thing has been achieved in the world? There's a mess in Iraq, a mess in Afghanistan, no Kyoto while the Florida Quays sinks under hurricanes, trade wars with Europe... he's leading your country, and with it the world, into disaster.
-- james
fair enough, you wouldn't mind.
but I'm not getting Viriginia's apparent reasoning for introducing the RFIDs - "Virginia is considering just such a measure, largely because several of the 9/11 hijackers were licensed there". How would have RFID helped? It's a non sequitur.
As I understand it, the issue wasn't that identification failed at the airport. So how would RFID have helped?
-- james
Welcome to the club
-- james
this is a damn good point.
I copied this from a post I saw earlier on slashdot - I have lost the link but still have the text.
That's why they need the dumb-ass DMCA, because it's impossible to make secure DRM. DRM is not and can never be cryptographically secure because it is not actually a cryptography problem. Cyrpography is about keeping secrets away from unauthorized people. That's fairly easy. DRM is about GRANTING people authorized access and GIVING them the key and then attempting to keep what you've given to them a secret from them.
DRM is a schizophrenic and fundamentally impossible task.
All they can do is the key obscurely inside the player and hope that no one makes the effort to look at it.
It was written about SACDs, but it applies just as equally to stopping people copying text. In the long run, DRM won't work. It's just a serious pain in the ass, especially for legitimate users (how can you get fair use if the damn copy/paste functionality is disabled?)
-- james
maybe the reason MS have stopped caring is that there is no longer any reason to care.
they offered IE for free in the hope that they could "embrace and extend" the internet - stopping all other browsers, and thereby stopping all other platforms - but it didn't work. so why should they bother any more? there's nothing to be gained by owning the users browser.
on the other hand, owning where they buy all their music from... now that might be a lucrative business to get into...
-- james
I can think of a few compelling reasons...
-- james
there's nothing opera-specific about mouse enabled gestures.
here it is for OS X, supporting all major browsers and many other apps:
http://www.bitart.com/CocoaGestures.html
Cocoa Gestures adds mouse gestures to any Cocoa program such as Mail, Address Book, iCal, TextEdit, Safari, Chimera, OmniWeb, Path Finder, Stone Design's great suite of applications like Create, and many others.
-- james
on the subject of questionable ethics, does anyone else wonder about the guy who said "One did concede, however, that the scheme has real potential"? Potential? Potential? Maybe "potential for abuse" would be ok, but the way that's phrased at the moment... I can see the cogs turning over in this guys head for companies to target!
-- james
I think this is more likely to be marketed as an iPod plus rather than an iPod.
Its existence would also help explain the relatively restricted supply 4 months out, plus it would also help explain that slip of the tongue by Toshiba about Apple wanting 60GB drives.
-- james
very true.
I think there is a market for this, that's maybe a little bit of a shift from the iPods present target market.
it's the iPod for grown ups. These are the people who wouldn't buy one just for the music, but the prospect of taking their kids/grandkids photos with them everywhere, being able to whip out a cool little device with every digital photo they've ever taken, would definitely hold some appeal with some of the older folk.
the music may just be a bonus!
-- james