Was freecode / freshmeat included? Please, please, please - this is one site I was sorry to see go. There was so much history and potential there along with the old school slashdot. I hope it was, and there is some plan for necromancy.
I've followed this site since it was CmdrTaco's blog (though as AnonCoward until explosion of hot grits). I doubt it's possible to recapture the late 90's / early 2000's style community here, but I second a lot of the comments about bringing back the older focus of the site.
Also - please let us change usernames!!!! My uid ain't that high, but I'd rather like to switch to my normal online moniker and not lose past karma / connections. If not changing the username, at least let us change display name.
nforce motherboard - $52 1.2 Ghz Duron - $33 20 Gig HD - $36 8x DVD - $30 256MB PC2100 $19 250 Watt ATX case - $20 Total: $190
Now the differences: This system has 2d/3d driver support, not some crappy frame buffer(or limited 2d).
This system doesn't require any soldering or special tricks to get working.
This system has 4 times amount of RAM as the XBox.
This system is upgradable, in every component.
This system doesn't require a game ($20), or any special hacks to get a keyboard working.
If you want a small formfactor fanless computer, replace the nforce2 motherboard with a Via ITX, and then you can have an even smaller, less noisy box than the XBox itself.
(Standard IANAL). Usually this is handled by the company/group simply by requiring that any patches folded into the main tree have the copyright assigned to the Company/group developing it. The only problem would be if the company/group stole source code from a fork of the project, or they used a patch the developer did not agree to having this done with.
Whenever you get QT, IIRC, all of the source code in Troll Tech's distribution is owned by Troll Tech, even if there are revised versions floating around for KDE, or distribution packages.
There is no legal grey area here - developers can license there code under several licenses, and no reasonable change I can see to the GPL will stop that. Further, I can't see the FsF having any disare to put an end to the practice, as it is, in reality, supporting the end goal of Free Software.
Comparing Apt and RPM is comparing apples to oranges. They are not equivalents. Dpkg (.deb) can, however, be compared against RPM. Further, Apt has been ported to allow use of RPM packages.
The fact that this very simple issue has escaped you reveals that you are in no position to compare RPM and DPKG, or update systems built on those, in any clear and/or consistant manner.
The Intel guys got Linux compiling on their compiler several months ago. Look it up. The patch was small, and it should already be in development kernels.
So, replacement for gcc, replacement for libc(bsd/other libc's mentioned), replacement for all other standard unix utilities.
As a side note several other OS projects use the GNU compiler to create their binaries. Should the be called GNU/Projects as well, even though they use few if any other GNU components? And I thought GNU and the FSF was about freedom....
I've yet to see the real feelings of the founders reflected here, so I quote them myself:
http://memory.loc.gov/const/fed/fed_68.html
It was desirable that the sense of the people should operate in the choice of the person to whom so important a trust was to be confided. This end will be answered by committing the right of making it, not to any preestablished body, but to men chosen by the people for the special purpose, and at the particular conjuncture.
It was equally desirable, that the immediate election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice. A small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass, will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated investigations.
The process of election affords a moral certainty, that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity, may alone suffice to elevate a man to the first honors in a single State; but it will require other talents, and a different kind of merit, to establish him in the esteem and confidence of the whole Union, or of so considerable a portion of it as would be necessary to make him a successful candidate for the distinguished office of President of the United States.
Madison does not describe the problems involved with taking a general vote. Further, it is clear that today's electoral system has NOTHING to do with what the Founder's actually intended. Indeed, the State Legislature choosing candidates would be closer.
The POINT of the electoral college is to provide a body with the qualifications of electing the President: not to create a winner takes all view. The fact that this provides a protection for smaller states is a secondary point to the overall design.
Re:LinuxFromNotSoScratch.com
on
LFS 4.0 Released
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· Score: 5, Insightful
What do you want them to start from? Flip 0's and 1's on a front panel?
In order to build ANYTHING you need an existing tool chain. Here that means gcc, bash, ld, etc... LFS starts with creating a bootstrap system using your existing distribution: this existing distribution might just be a bootable ISO cd. LFS DOES go through everything: the kernel, gcc, glibc,... everything.
LFS will show you how to build your own Linux, step by step. It will tell you everything you need to know to understand the bootup process.
If you want to run LFS on a 486 though, you'd probably be a lot better off getting it going from your main system, and then copying over. glibc alone can take HOUR(S) to compile on a modern system.
Install the patch for the TNT2/Geforce. It will allow the game to work on any newer video card. I've played through the whole thing with a Radeon with no problems. (It tooks some playing around with the settings though...)
I've heard this argument so many times and it has merit, but at the same time its just not true. There is more to life than the amount of time it takes to click on an item that the MacOS single menu bar approach breaks:
1. Graphical Organization. As was touched on by the parent post, the single menu bar design causes confusion when more than 1 application is running. Having 1 windows focused, when you are attempting to perform an action on another will result in that action being performed ON THE WRONG WINDOW. There is no way around this.
2. Switching between application. If I'm working with an IE window, and then decide to save a file in another I first must focus the window I want to perform the action in, and then use the menu. I'm doing 2 things here, where as before I could just do one.
I think it would be interesting though, to create a menu bar approach like the one in Windows, and then make life better according to the sacred Fitt's law by making the mouse accelerate slower over the menu (or even give force feedback) than the rest of the window. This might be disorienting at first, but after someone got used to it, I imagine it could speed things up even more than either the MacOS or Windows style alone.
The fact that so many people find the single menu bar so annoying should tell you something. UI interface designers have become so high up in their towers they forget to listen to the people that will use it.
There are a few school districts that are making the attempt. My middle school had a fairly focused Math program which finished with basic Algebra usually taught in high school, if were in the Honors program. They covered basic quadratic equations, substitution, etc... The earlier classes focused a lot on math drills, and the like. In the end every student who took the state end of course exam passed it, even though we weren't 'taught to the test'.
I think a lot could be gained by just having Math and Science teacher cooperate a bit more. It seemed through my time in High School, that often the math classes and science classes where completely disjointed. Simple things like having one assignment/project crossover into more than one class would definate help. (When I finished HS, they where moving to something like this.)
The problems for basic math are a lot more prevalent than you might guess. The local community colleges here have to place a lot of people through basic developmental math before they can start with the higher level subjects. (Developmental math covers basic fractions, percentages, multiplication, division, and factoring.) The scary thing is, a lot of the people in devlopmental math have High School Diplomas. Developmental math is then followed by High School Algebra, which is followed by College Algebra.
I find that a lot of the issue is in the heavy use of calculators. Instead of doing basic operations, and understanding, we have a generation of "use the calculator anyway" students, lacking a firm foundation in math. Punching the buttons to get percentages, etc.. Instead of understanding 3 + 3, they understand the buttons on the calculator.
Taking multiple post-Calculus classes this semester, I'm very happy that the (public) HS and middle school programs where as good as they where. =)
To be fair to the Lindows people, they are donating much of their Wine code and efforts back into Wine. As Lindows continues to advance, so will Wine. There is a lot more to Lindows than simply the Wine DLL's and such.
I question whether or not that's exactly the case, and it really depends on exactly how far they are carrying the new rules.
Verbatim copying is obviously a no-no, but who hasn't sat over lunch(or with a tutor) trying to figure out a problem, or discussing a research paper, etc...? This is part of what education is all about. (That doesn't mean that I believe students should have free license to copy each other's algorithms/code.)
I also wonder whether or not this is a purely pragmatic issue. If a teacher gives out a variable naming scheme, spacing scheme, and then tells you to a function named Foo, which will sort an array using a buble sort, chances are 99% of the class is going to turn in code that is VERY similar. At this early stage it is doubtful that actual cheating, and independent projects would look very different. (Much the same as someone trying to solve a simple math formula using standard principles...) Computer Science in the lower levels should be treated more like mathmatics than Writing. In higher levels, after learning the language, then it is definately more comparable to Writing, and REAL cheating is easy to spot.
..doesn't the LGPL give the option of redistribution under the GPL? So, if you distribute your program under the LGPL, anyone can redistribute it under the terms of the GPL.
Which is to say, by LGPL'ing your software, you are effectively dual licensing it with the GPL anyway(it's implied).
Remember, it's not the MPAA as a whole that you need to look at, moreso as the actions of its members. Star Wars is, as others have noted, done by LucasFilm, not associated with the MPAA.
Boycotting ALL movies will have no effect, however, a more meaningfull approach would be to boycott movies from members of the MPAA heavily in support of the legislation you don't want, and to see movies from more neutral/friendly studious.
IE: buy FOX instead of buying Disney.
This works in multiple ways: it shows the buying power that the slashdot crowd can create, it allows people to have pop entertainment and still stand for "the cause", and it damages the company that ppl do not support. A full boycott would be difficult to arrange, and very unpopular. A buy from this studio as they do not want to destroy your rights campain however, could possible work - perhaps even w/ the mass public, if you can get some media support.
(This entire line of reasoning however, exists souly because I want to see star wars(again). Yes i know, I'm a hyprocite. Bite me.)
I believe part of the SSSCA stated that any software used, would be "OpenSource". (Ironic, isn't it?)
So, it would seem the bill wiould require more of a hardware type solution - the software would probably be available for Linux, etc... Perhaps that clause was put in since so many studios are switching to Linux?
It wouldn't be a GOOD Thing for Linux, but I don't see it killing it. This is an optimistic way of looking at a post SSSCA world.
I believe most software solutions would be rather ineffective compared to a hardware solution.
Shareware authors, and everyone on the internet for that matter, need to ask "Why would I spend my money on this"? I'm sick of hearing websites complain that people don't register for what amounts to a few worthless extras. Would you register for that worthless trash? No? Don't complain.
A good example: If I didn't view the slashdot subscription as a tipjar, there is no way I would EVER consider paying for it. As a long time/.'er, I probabably will.
The shareware, software, or service I see being successful is that which has a service behind it.
Codeweaver's Crossover plugin is arguably worth the money. (As an above poster said, this really isn't shareware as much as it is a demo though.) Those that provide extras for registering - such as sending a CD. For the internet age, DigitalBlasphemy is a another excellent example. Providing an excellent freeware sample gallery, and then a relatively low annual fee for access to the full gallary and then discounts to artwork CD's/etc...
When providing something extra to those that pay, the honor system works. When treating your customers DECENTLY, the honor system works. But when you suspect your cutomers to be criminal from the start, and treat them like trash, you deserve what you get. Registration of shareware should be EASY - not something that requires a complete hardware identification of my machine, 3 CDKey's, all my personal information, and a blood sample. - And if they aren't having that many people register - they're probably asking too much or selling trash.
What the internet needs a little bit of old-style business sense. Something I see almost none of.
You are fundamentally misunderstanding copyright law here.
When you make a software purchase, you are entitled to fair use of your software. Courts have repeatedly ruled AGAINST software licenses - Klocek v. Gateway, Hill v. Gateway 2000. In general rulings FOR software licesning make a few statements, for example, from the most famous case FOR software licenses:
"Shrinkwrap licenses are enforceable unless their terms are objectionable on grounds applicable to contracts in general (for example, if they violate a rule of positive law, or if they are un- conscionable). Because no one argues that the terms of the license at issue here are troublesome, we remand with instructions to enter judgment for the plaintiff." (ProCD, Inc. v. Zeidenberg)
Here is where things get tricky. The majority of court opinions I've read view software licenses in terms of redistribution of purchased software(piracy), or warrenty disclaimers - I have yet to see a ruling state that such a license could govern HOW you use the software.
Fair use DOES NOT give you the right to redistribute software as you seem to state. Instead fair use gives you the right to A.) use the software as you see fit, B.) take screenshots/publish reviews, etc...
Basically, imagine purchasing a book. You can not legally copy the entire book or sell it as your own. You can however, quote, review, copy pictures from, write in, and research it.
You mean the OCing default with the SiS chipset(13Mhz) compared to that done in the Intel i845(17Mhz). Or only 5Mhz over the i850 chipset, which is itself overclocked by a entire 8 Mhz.
This is LESS than a 1% difference from the default clock. Given that the Intel chipset does the same with both its RDRAM and DDR-SDRAM configurations, I really don't see your point.
Further, if you compensate for the adjusted clock speed, I think you'll find that the results are still very similar. (Unless my math is wrong, SiS still comes out ahead on the first Q3 benchmark.)
Uhhhhhh errrrrr Ummmm.....
Benchmarks show otherwise. A SiS 645 chipset running PC2700 DDR-SDRAM will in most cases beat a P4 running PC800 RDRAM.
Not to trusting of Tom's Hardware? Have another set of benchmarks.
Stop spreading FUD about DDR chipsets and do a bit of research first. Any set of benchmarks I've seen has shown Intel's i850 w/ RDRAM and SiS 645 chipset in a dead heat - and most of the time SiS comes out on top.
A few years ago my little brother got a pacemaker. While they are not as restricted as the once where, in terms of avoiding certain things, the manufacturers/doctors still recommend avoiding a few things.
One such thing is that while using a cellphone, it should be used on the the side of the head furthest away from the pacemaker. They also recommended avoiding close contact with wireless devices near the area of the PM. - Nothing to the extreme requiring someone to move out to a town far away w/o anything.
More likely, the hospitals are concerned with monitoring equipment or ppl with OLD pacemakers. I get the impression that they only warn off certain activities with the new more advanced ones as insurance.
A couple years ago my little brother had a pace maker implanted. Now, earlier versions of pace makers required that the user avoid a great many of what we would consider "normal" activities.
Fortunately, this is no longer the case. However, when he had the pacemaker put in, we were given a set of rules regarding things he could and could not do, among these were recomendations that he not allow himself get too near to wireless devices. This is not to say no wireless networks in the house at all - but to simply not place himself in a manner where he was extremely close to such a thing. (They actually choose the side of your body to place the PaceMaker, based on your dominant hand - such that you can hold a cell phone in your other hand, having little impact on the pacemaker itself, as well as to reduce the strain on the device during movement.)
Newer devices are even less restricted - and as time goes on, I imagine many of the restrictions above will be reduced or eliminated. (Maybe future versions will actually talk to wireless networks.. hehe.) In any event, this was to simply answer your question about whether or not there were actually people that could be considered sensitive to RF. I can't imagine anybody requiring the extreme that was mentioned in this article.
1. Another 2.4.x kernel will be released with a bug, causing a slashdot story and a flamewar to start on how their isn't enough QA of linux distros.
2. A new stable series of debian will be released/frozen. Immediately after a new stable version of QT and/or GNOME will be released that will not be included. Corel will go bankrupt, and the remains of wordperfect for Linux and other ports will go the way of the dodo. Another company will contract/purchase these products, but will never actually release a product. Debian users, will apt-get dist-update to unstable again, lying about staying with the new stable because it's very decent.
3. Kernel 2.6.0 will be promised to be out in the summer, but in reality, will not hit prerelease stages until December.
4. My friends and I's Linux distribution will finally be released to a massive whoopdie-do from the linux community. Along with this distribution, another 3 distributions will be released and flop.
5. RedHat will finally perfect the 7.x series, only to release a new, and extremely buggy 8.x.
6. Mandrake will inexplicably move to Mandrake 9.x or even Mandrake X in an effort to continue the one-upping versioning of RedHat.
7. ATI will release binary only Linux drivers, but an effort to create an open source Radeon driver will continue. People will claim to use the opensource driver, while really using the binary driver, and making fun of nVidia's proprietary only products.
8. A twisted tape featuring a cartoon Linus and Bill Gates fighting will circulate the internet. The end of this tape will feature Gates and Linus uniting to destroy the Evil clown Steve Balmer, who enters the video shooting, "Windows might give you herpes, but the Linux cancer is fatal".
9. Corel will go bankrupt, and the remains of wordperfect for Linux and other ports will go the way of the dodo. Another company will contract/purchase these products, but will never actually release a product.
10. Borland will release C++ Builder for Linux. As Delphi and C++ shareware apps for Linux are released Linux users will make statements about trash apps. Some will move to *BSD, others will become debian users. Many Mandrake and RedHat users will buy these, say they are decent, but never really use them.
And as a bonus: Linux will move from 0.25%+ total desktop usage to 1.25%.:)
First off, I don't think that you can lump all the CS undergrads into one big group, because their backgrounds are fairly diversed.
My perception is somewhat similar. But, from what I've seen of the students with these amoral views, trying to look 1337, is that they generally mature, or they crack and become business majors or MCSE's.
Closed file formats are a big problem, and I don't think some profs realize what they are doing. Generally there are way's around this type of crap if you want to put forth the effort: My CS prof asked that all projects be turned in as Window's EXE's. My solution was to install linux mingw32 and setup wine, but I could have just as easily borrowed someone's W2K setup disks, and got a copy VC++. Need a.doc file? Use staroffice. Unsure of the results? Check it in the lab.
Truck Drivers, Audiophiles, "Gadget People", people who like to drive cross country(or need to).
I spend roughly 1 and a half hours in the car each day. Listening to a single set of mp3s, even a large one, can get tedious.
Then there is talk radio, which I imagine is going to be a large application of this thing. 24 hour Rush Limbaugh Marathons(...what joy...), still I imagined listened too. More selection, less trouble dealing with media/mp3's. Station not playing what you like, pick another. Then there is news, traffic reports(I don't know about localization, but I imagine it's possible), weather, and such - which just can't be taken with you.
Anyway, just because you don't see applications, doesn't mean that noone is going to buy it. Remember, people still listen to radio, not just CD's.
Slashdot Mirror
Was freecode / freshmeat included? Please, please, please - this is one site I was sorry to see go. There was so much history and potential there along with the old school slashdot. I hope it was, and there is some plan for necromancy.
I've followed this site since it was CmdrTaco's blog (though as AnonCoward until explosion of hot grits). I doubt it's possible to recapture the late 90's / early 2000's style community here, but I second a lot of the comments about bringing back the older focus of the site.
Also - please let us change usernames!!!! My uid ain't that high, but I'd rather like to switch to my normal online moniker and not lose past karma / connections. If not changing the username, at least let us change display name.
/me wanders over to pricewatch
nforce motherboard - $52
1.2 Ghz Duron - $33
20 Gig HD - $36
8x DVD - $30
256MB PC2100 $19
250 Watt ATX case - $20
Total: $190
Now the differences:
This system has 2d/3d driver support, not some crappy frame buffer(or limited 2d).
This system doesn't require any soldering or special tricks to get working.
This system has 4 times amount of RAM as the XBox.
This system is upgradable, in every component.
This system doesn't require a game ($20), or any special hacks to get a keyboard working.
If you want a small formfactor fanless computer, replace the nforce2 motherboard with a Via ITX, and then you can have an even smaller, less noisy box than the XBox itself.
Whenever you get QT, IIRC, all of the source code in Troll Tech's distribution is owned by Troll Tech, even if there are revised versions floating around for KDE, or distribution packages.
There is no legal grey area here - developers can license there code under several licenses, and no reasonable change I can see to the GPL will stop that. Further, I can't see the FsF having any disare to put an end to the practice, as it is, in reality, supporting the end goal of Free Software.
The fact that this very simple issue has escaped you reveals that you are in no position to compare RPM and DPKG, or update systems built on those, in any clear and/or consistant manner.
So, replacement for gcc, replacement for libc(bsd/other libc's mentioned), replacement for all other standard unix utilities.
As a side note several other OS projects use the GNU compiler to create their binaries. Should the be called GNU/Projects as well, even though they use few if any other GNU components? And I thought GNU and the FSF was about freedom....
http://memory.loc.gov/const/fed/fed_68.html
It was desirable that the sense of the people should operate in the choice of the person to whom so important a trust was to be confided. This end will be answered by committing the right of making it, not to any preestablished body, but to men chosen by the people for the special purpose, and at the particular conjuncture.
It was equally desirable, that the immediate election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice. A small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass, will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated investigations.
The process of election affords a moral certainty, that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity, may alone suffice to elevate a man to the first honors in a single State; but it will require other talents, and a different kind of merit, to establish him in the esteem and confidence of the whole Union, or of so considerable a portion of it as would be necessary to make him a successful candidate for the distinguished office of President of the United States.
Madison does not describe the problems involved with taking a general vote. Further, it is clear that today's electoral system has NOTHING to do with what the Founder's actually intended. Indeed, the State Legislature choosing candidates would be closer.
The POINT of the electoral college is to provide a body with the qualifications of electing the President: not to create a winner takes all view. The fact that this provides a protection for smaller states is a secondary point to the overall design.
In order to build ANYTHING you need an existing tool chain. Here that means gcc, bash, ld, etc... LFS starts with creating a bootstrap system using your existing distribution: this existing distribution might just be a bootable ISO cd. LFS DOES go through everything: the kernel, gcc, glibc, ... everything.
LFS will show you how to build your own Linux, step by step. It will tell you everything you need to know to understand the bootup process.
If you want to run LFS on a 486 though, you'd probably be a lot better off getting it going from your main system, and then copying over. glibc alone can take HOUR(S) to compile on a modern system.
Install the patch for the TNT2/Geforce. It will allow the game to work on any newer video card. I've played through the whole thing with a Radeon with no problems. (It tooks some playing around with the settings though...)
I've heard this argument so many times and it has merit, but at the same time its just not true. There is more to life than the amount of time it takes to click on an item that the MacOS single menu bar approach breaks:
1. Graphical Organization. As was touched on by the parent post, the single menu bar design causes confusion when more than 1 application is running. Having 1 windows focused, when you are attempting to perform an action on another will result in that action being performed ON THE WRONG WINDOW. There is no way around this.
2. Switching between application. If I'm working with an IE window, and then decide to save a file in another I first must focus the window I want to perform the action in, and then use the menu. I'm doing 2 things here, where as before I could just do one.
I think it would be interesting though, to create a menu bar approach like the one in Windows, and then make life better according to the sacred Fitt's law by making the mouse accelerate slower over the menu (or even give force feedback) than the rest of the window. This might be disorienting at first, but after someone got used to it, I imagine it could speed things up even more than either the MacOS or Windows style alone.
The fact that so many people find the single menu bar so annoying should tell you something. UI interface designers have become so high up in their towers they forget to listen to the people that will use it.
I think a lot could be gained by just having Math and Science teacher cooperate a bit more. It seemed through my time in High School, that often the math classes and science classes where completely disjointed. Simple things like having one assignment/project crossover into more than one class would definate help. (When I finished HS, they where moving to something like this.)
The problems for basic math are a lot more prevalent than you might guess. The local community colleges here have to place a lot of people through basic developmental math before they can start with the higher level subjects. (Developmental math covers basic fractions, percentages, multiplication, division, and factoring.) The scary thing is, a lot of the people in devlopmental math have High School Diplomas. Developmental math is then followed by High School Algebra, which is followed by College Algebra.
I find that a lot of the issue is in the heavy use of calculators. Instead of doing basic operations, and understanding, we have a generation of "use the calculator anyway" students, lacking a firm foundation in math. Punching the buttons to get percentages, etc.. Instead of understanding 3 + 3, they understand the buttons on the calculator.
Taking multiple post-Calculus classes this semester, I'm very happy that the (public) HS and middle school programs where as good as they where. =)
Maybe the /.'ers here can throw some change to a legal defense fun, they're going to need it.
To be fair to the Lindows people, they are donating much of their Wine code and efforts back into Wine. As Lindows continues to advance, so will Wine. There is a lot more to Lindows than simply the Wine DLL's and such.
Verbatim copying is obviously a no-no, but who hasn't sat over lunch(or with a tutor) trying to figure out a problem, or discussing a research paper, etc...? This is part of what education is all about. (That doesn't mean that I believe students should have free license to copy each other's algorithms/code.)
I also wonder whether or not this is a purely pragmatic issue. If a teacher gives out a variable naming scheme, spacing scheme, and then tells you to a function named Foo, which will sort an array using a buble sort, chances are 99% of the class is going to turn in code that is VERY similar. At this early stage it is doubtful that actual cheating, and independent projects would look very different. (Much the same as someone trying to solve a simple math formula using standard principles...) Computer Science in the lower levels should be treated more like mathmatics than Writing. In higher levels, after learning the language, then it is definately more comparable to Writing, and REAL cheating is easy to spot.
Which is to say, by LGPL'ing your software, you are effectively dual licensing it with the GPL anyway(it's implied).
So, what's the point?
Remember, it's not the MPAA as a whole that you need to look at, moreso as the actions of its members. Star Wars is, as others have noted, done by LucasFilm, not associated with the MPAA.
Boycotting ALL movies will have no effect, however, a more meaningfull approach would be to boycott movies from members of the MPAA heavily in support of the legislation you don't want, and to see movies from more neutral/friendly studious.
IE: buy FOX instead of buying Disney.
This works in multiple ways: it shows the buying power that the slashdot crowd can create, it allows people to have pop entertainment and still stand for "the cause", and it damages the company that ppl do not support. A full boycott would be difficult to arrange, and very unpopular. A buy from this studio as they do not want to destroy your rights campain however, could possible work - perhaps even w/ the mass public, if you can get some media support.
(This entire line of reasoning however, exists souly because I want to see star wars(again). Yes i know, I'm a hyprocite. Bite me.)
So, it would seem the bill wiould require more of a hardware type solution - the software would probably be available for Linux, etc... Perhaps that clause was put in since so many studios are switching to Linux?
It wouldn't be a GOOD Thing for Linux, but I don't see it killing it. This is an optimistic way of looking at a post SSSCA world.
I believe most software solutions would be rather ineffective compared to a hardware solution.
Shareware authors, and everyone on the internet for that matter, need to ask "Why would I spend my money on this"? I'm sick of hearing websites complain that people don't register for what amounts to a few worthless extras. Would you register for that worthless trash? No? Don't complain.
A good example: If I didn't view the slashdot subscription as a tipjar, there is no way I would EVER consider paying for it. As a long time /.'er, I probabably will.
The shareware, software, or service I see being successful is that which has a service behind it.
Codeweaver's Crossover plugin is arguably worth the money. (As an above poster said, this really isn't shareware as much as it is a demo though.) Those that provide extras for registering - such as sending a CD. For the internet age, DigitalBlasphemy is a another excellent example. Providing an excellent freeware sample gallery, and then a relatively low annual fee for access to the full gallary and then discounts to artwork CD's/etc...
When providing something extra to those that pay, the honor system works. When treating your customers DECENTLY, the honor system works. But when you suspect your cutomers to be criminal from the start, and treat them like trash, you deserve what you get. Registration of shareware should be EASY - not something that requires a complete hardware identification of my machine, 3 CDKey's, all my personal information, and a blood sample. - And if they aren't having that many people register - they're probably asking too much or selling trash.
What the internet needs a little bit of old-style business sense. Something I see almost none of.
When you make a software purchase, you are entitled to fair use of your software. Courts have repeatedly ruled AGAINST software licenses - Klocek v. Gateway, Hill v. Gateway 2000. In general rulings FOR software licesning make a few statements, for example, from the most famous case FOR software licenses:
"Shrinkwrap licenses are enforceable unless their terms are objectionable on grounds applicable to contracts in general (for example, if they violate a rule of positive law, or if they are un- conscionable). Because no one argues that the terms of the license at issue here are troublesome, we remand with instructions to enter judgment for the plaintiff." (ProCD, Inc. v. Zeidenberg)
Here is where things get tricky. The majority of court opinions I've read view software licenses in terms of redistribution of purchased software(piracy), or warrenty disclaimers - I have yet to see a ruling state that such a license could govern HOW you use the software.
Fair use DOES NOT give you the right to redistribute software as you seem to state. Instead fair use gives you the right to A.) use the software as you see fit, B.) take screenshots/publish reviews, etc...
Basically, imagine purchasing a book. You can not legally copy the entire book or sell it as your own. You can however, quote, review, copy pictures from, write in, and research it.
IANAL, blah blah blah blah blah
This is LESS than a 1% difference from the default clock. Given that the Intel chipset does the same with both its RDRAM and DDR-SDRAM configurations, I really don't see your point.
Further, if you compensate for the adjusted clock speed, I think you'll find that the results are still very similar. (Unless my math is wrong, SiS still comes out ahead on the first Q3 benchmark.)
Not to trusting of Tom's Hardware? Have another set of benchmarks.
Stop spreading FUD about DDR chipsets and do a bit of research first. Any set of benchmarks I've seen has shown Intel's i850 w/ RDRAM and SiS 645 chipset in a dead heat - and most of the time SiS comes out on top.
A few years ago my little brother got a pacemaker. While they are not as restricted as the once where, in terms of avoiding certain things, the manufacturers/doctors still recommend avoiding a few things.
One such thing is that while using a cellphone, it should be used on the the side of the head furthest away from the pacemaker. They also recommended avoiding close contact with wireless devices near the area of the PM. - Nothing to the extreme requiring someone to move out to a town far away w/o anything.
More likely, the hospitals are concerned with monitoring equipment or ppl with OLD pacemakers. I get the impression that they only warn off certain activities with the new more advanced ones as insurance.
Fortunately, this is no longer the case. However, when he had the pacemaker put in, we were given a set of rules regarding things he could and could not do, among these were recomendations that he not allow himself get too near to wireless devices. This is not to say no wireless networks in the house at all - but to simply not place himself in a manner where he was extremely close to such a thing. (They actually choose the side of your body to place the PaceMaker, based on your dominant hand - such that you can hold a cell phone in your other hand, having little impact on the pacemaker itself, as well as to reduce the strain on the device during movement.)
Newer devices are even less restricted - and as time goes on, I imagine many of the restrictions above will be reduced or eliminated. (Maybe future versions will actually talk to wireless networks.. hehe.) In any event, this was to simply answer your question about whether or not there were actually people that could be considered sensitive to RF. I can't imagine anybody requiring the extreme that was mentioned in this article.
1. Another 2.4.x kernel will be released with a bug, causing a slashdot story and a flamewar to start on how their isn't enough QA of linux distros.
2. A new stable series of debian will be released/frozen. Immediately after a new stable version of QT and/or GNOME will be released that will not be included. Corel will go bankrupt, and the remains of wordperfect for Linux and other ports will go the way of the dodo. Another company will contract/purchase these products, but will never actually release a product. Debian users, will apt-get dist-update to unstable again, lying about staying with the new stable because it's very decent.
3. Kernel 2.6.0 will be promised to be out in the summer, but in reality, will not hit prerelease stages until December.
4. My friends and I's Linux distribution will finally be released to a massive whoopdie-do from the linux community. Along with this distribution, another 3 distributions will be released and flop.
5. RedHat will finally perfect the 7.x series, only to release a new, and extremely buggy 8.x.
6. Mandrake will inexplicably move to Mandrake 9.x or even Mandrake X in an effort to continue the one-upping versioning of RedHat.
7. ATI will release binary only Linux drivers, but an effort to create an open source Radeon driver will continue. People will claim to use the opensource driver, while really using the binary driver, and making fun of nVidia's proprietary only products.
8. A twisted tape featuring a cartoon Linus and Bill Gates fighting will circulate the internet. The end of this tape will feature Gates and Linus uniting to destroy the Evil clown Steve Balmer, who enters the video shooting, "Windows might give you herpes, but the Linux cancer is fatal".
9. Corel will go bankrupt, and the remains of wordperfect for Linux and other ports will go the way of the dodo. Another company will contract/purchase these products, but will never actually release a product.
10. Borland will release C++ Builder for Linux. As Delphi and C++ shareware apps for Linux are released Linux users will make statements about trash apps. Some will move to *BSD, others will become debian users. Many Mandrake and RedHat users will buy these, say they are decent, but never really use them.
And as a bonus: Linux will move from 0.25%+ total desktop usage to 1.25%. :)
(Yes, I am lame.)
My perception is somewhat similar. But, from what I've seen of the students with these amoral views, trying to look 1337, is that they generally mature, or they crack and become business majors or MCSE's.
Closed file formats are a big problem, and I don't think some profs realize what they are doing. Generally there are way's around this type of crap if you want to put forth the effort: My CS prof asked that all projects be turned in as Window's EXE's. My solution was to install linux mingw32 and setup wine, but I could have just as easily borrowed someone's W2K setup disks, and got a copy VC++. Need a .doc file? Use staroffice. Unsure of the results? Check it in the lab.
I spend roughly 1 and a half hours in the car each day. Listening to a single set of mp3s, even a large one, can get tedious.
Then there is talk radio, which I imagine is going to be a large application of this thing. 24 hour Rush Limbaugh Marathons(...what joy...), still I imagined listened too. More selection, less trouble dealing with media/mp3's. Station not playing what you like, pick another. Then there is news, traffic reports(I don't know about localization, but I imagine it's possible), weather, and such - which just can't be taken with you.
Anyway, just because you don't see applications, doesn't mean that noone is going to buy it. Remember, people still listen to radio, not just CD's.