whos to say they werent using sound logic? Perhaps a contamination in the test tube caused problems. cosmic rays from space wreak havoc with electronics all the time. I guarantee your computer (as all electronic devices) is having single bit errors as we speak. But thanks to error correction, it keeps going. There is no such thing as a 100% infallable computer, which is why its the holy grail.
to knock down that which they didnt design. Some kind of inferiority complex i think.
Really though, the fact they can do this at all is quite amazing. Early electronic computers were plagued with similar issues (such as the infamous 'bug', a moth got stuck in a relay). Perhaps a speck of dust in the test tube threw off a few computations...the modern equivalent of that pesky moth.
or averaging. if 2+2=4 10 million times, but 2+2=5 only 20 times, the system could compare... this kind of thing isnt my forte, but I imagine those with more practical computer architecture experience could tell you.
It made programming *fun*. I took examples out of books and tried to change them around...make them a different color, sound different..whatever. That required adding things, taking some out, changing others. After awhile, I knew how to make my own programs from scratch.
With C and its arcane conventions its hardly easy for the complete beginner. Heck, there were times with basic id get really frustrated.
The whole reason I got interested in programming was because I could do neat stuff with it...like make music, little graphics, flashing things, scrolling text. Little amusing things that picqued my curiousity. Basic is great for that.
Scheme, I hate to tell you, is not exciting. And until the world switches to lisp, when students move on to more imperative programming they're going to be confused (or vice versa if coming to scheme from imperative). If you dont make it interesting for the beginners, they're not going to want to continue onto the more 'serious' side of it.
I started out on QBasic when I was 10 or 11. It was good for that age because its: Simple (none of the OO to muck around in like in Java); teaches the fundamental pieces like loops, if statements and so on; and you could do interesting things easily and fast (I remember showing my friends a program that made music and lots of colored shapes to go with it...sure, not impressive today, but when you're 11...it taught me the fundamentals of loops anyway)
And so what if it doesnt encourage good code writing? Thats not the point of it. If you want 'good code writing' you start learning more serious languages and formally learning computer science.
I'll need to look up that case. I've been doing alot of research on this subject for a paper... its a nightmare trying to track down whats legal and whats not given that much of it is defined in court decisions and as amendments to unrelated bills.
And the law is fairly explicit..only the artist has the rights to distribute (or give permission to) as well as other things. Effectively, its blanketed enough to outlaw everything else, except that which is granted in future legislation (or court decisions...)
It is vague and subjective, yet in legalize of course, that means it covers everything thats not explicitly defined...
I'm am simply stating thats the way the current copyright law works. And yes, I think it runs contrary to democratic means.
However, look at it from an artists perspective as well. One can somewhat see why the law is that way... if you own something, and someone else wants to do something with it, there shouldnt be new laws to make it illegal to do something with it if its use is generic. Follow?
The copies by Phillips meet the AHRA specs. They pay royalties, market it for musical copying ONLY and implement a type of copy protection in it to not allow copies from a copy. I believe the protection may only work on other copiers of the same nature however...
Your average CDROM, burner and computer however, do not meet any of these.
There are only certain instances where making a copy of a CD is legal (such as if the original one was about to bite the dust) and a few others explicitly given in the copyright laws. What most people fail to understand about copyright law is that if the legal right is not expressly given, then its illegal. Nowhere has CD ripping been legalized.
It is a gray area, however as factors like "affecting the market" come into play. Ripping a CD for distribution as MP3s 'affects the market' but ripping a CD to put it in your car probably wouldnt.
And its exactly why my company (small) uses windows on its networks. It's easier for the developers to spend some of their time admining the windows machines they're VERY familiar with, rather than the linux ones which while we all know how to use linux, administering them responsibly is another story.
We'd have to hire a linux admin, of whom are not cheap...
those that I want to keep indefinately I print them out. That way I can go back in 20 years or what not and see them. The rest I save on my harddrive and backup to another medium just in case of a crash. So sure, maybe they'll be lost. But the ones I really want are printed..
Does plexiglas have alot of static? Would need to be careful not to fry components. Also...cars tend to create alot of nasty electronic noise..in a plexi case there would be little shielding from this noise (or shielding of the noise generated by the computer) which can cause all sorts of problems.
(and for the record, stupid slashdot decided to timeout on me so I lost this the first time I wrote it..argh..)
Lobbying is good when there are opposing viewpoints. Congressmen hardly have time to learn about every subject that comes up to them, so they rely on people far more knowledgable to make a pitch at them, to help them decide on how to vote. Money has little to do with it (believe it or not..). Campaign financing is a very heavily regulated thing, and its not so simple as a lobbyist or group giving money to the congressman. Most people blame it on that, since they just dont know any better.
What needs to be done is to have pro-fair use lobbying groups in congress. The only side of the issue that the congressmen hear is what the media industry shills at them.
I blame this on the incredibly apathy that the computer industry has had in the past toward government. The pervading belief that the government doesnt affect them and is of little use at all (not surprising from all the libertarian viewpoints you hear from computer professionals)
The reality though is that the government DOES affect your life, and always will. And they will screw you eight ways from sunday if you don't work with them. It's not from malicious intent, but rather they simply dont know better.
So what needs to be done is to have more pro-fair use, pro-cyberliberties groups in Congress. Right now the only one i can think of is the EFF. There should be more. So get out there, support the EFF, mobilize, and work with your government. It can be your friend, if you work with them.
after the litigation started, I fancied a silly (or so I thought at the time...) thought that eventually the RIAA would win, and napster would release for download a new version of their client. However the client would have a "bug" in it that "accidentally" erased all your MP3 files...
Apparently truth really is stranger than fiction.
I'm an American who had Meccano...
on
Erector Set Turns 100
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· Score: 3, Insightful
they sold them at the local toys r us. I had several sets.
I didnt like them as much as my legos though... the nuts frequently came loose and the contraptions just didnt seem as sturdy as legos.
I was one of the kids who liked building things with legos, then knocking them apart and then rebuilding.
Capsela was okay...got bored with them quickly. I still have a capsela hexagonal piece tied to the end of the light string in my old closet.
Slashdot Mirror
Cmon little joey... surely you can optimize that algorithm better. What? GET YOUR VIRTUAL METHODS OUT OF SUZI'S HAIR!!
whos to say they werent using sound logic? Perhaps a contamination in the test tube caused problems. cosmic rays from space wreak havoc with electronics all the time. I guarantee your computer (as all electronic devices) is having single bit errors as we speak. But thanks to error correction, it keeps going. There is no such thing as a 100% infallable computer, which is why its the holy grail.
Really though, the fact they can do this at all is quite amazing. Early electronic computers were plagued with similar issues (such as the infamous 'bug', a moth got stuck in a relay). Perhaps a speck of dust in the test tube threw off a few computations...the modern equivalent of that pesky moth.
or averaging. if 2+2=4 10 million times, but 2+2=5 only 20 times, the system could compare... this kind of thing isnt my forte, but I imagine those with more practical computer architecture experience could tell you.
I guess the next thing is to figure out dna error correction... think of the medical benefits of that one
It made programming *fun*. I took examples out of books and tried to change them around...make them a different color, sound different..whatever. That required adding things, taking some out, changing others. After awhile, I knew how to make my own programs from scratch.
With C and its arcane conventions its hardly easy for the complete beginner. Heck, there were times with basic id get really frustrated.
Scheme, I hate to tell you, is not exciting. And until the world switches to lisp, when students move on to more imperative programming they're going to be confused (or vice versa if coming to scheme from imperative). If you dont make it interesting for the beginners, they're not going to want to continue onto the more 'serious' side of it.
And so what if it doesnt encourage good code writing? Thats not the point of it. If you want 'good code writing' you start learning more serious languages and formally learning computer science.
And what a community it is that will write in. Just view the message threads for the delightfully intelligent banter that accompanies postings.
/sarcasm
A. People who don't know anything about law (99.9999% of slashdot).
B. People who just hate microsoft.
C. Losers with too much time on their hands, crapflooding the mailbox.
Yeah..i'm sure they're going to pay a whole lot of attention to the one or two actual decent messages which get through the noise. Good plan kids.
And the law is fairly explicit..only the artist has the rights to distribute (or give permission to) as well as other things. Effectively, its blanketed enough to outlaw everything else, except that which is granted in future legislation (or court decisions...)
It is vague and subjective, yet in legalize of course, that means it covers everything thats not explicitly defined...
However, look at it from an artists perspective as well. One can somewhat see why the law is that way... if you own something, and someone else wants to do something with it, there shouldnt be new laws to make it illegal to do something with it if its use is generic. Follow?
Your average CDROM, burner and computer however, do not meet any of these.
They're written for the pre-95 days.
ive yet to play a game that does not run on win2k. Even older games who I thought might have troubles work fine.
Of course, if they charged for their software, then there would be no need for ads or spyware.
Dick, lets launch some tomahawks! I like their perdy smoke trails...
It is a gray area, however as factors like "affecting the market" come into play. Ripping a CD for distribution as MP3s 'affects the market' but ripping a CD to put it in your car probably wouldnt.
We'd have to hire a linux admin, of whom are not cheap...
those that I want to keep indefinately I print them out. That way I can go back in 20 years or what not and see them. The rest I save on my harddrive and backup to another medium just in case of a crash. So sure, maybe they'll be lost. But the ones I really want are printed..
Does plexiglas have alot of static? Would need to be careful not to fry components. Also...cars tend to create alot of nasty electronic noise..in a plexi case there would be little shielding from this noise (or shielding of the noise generated by the computer) which can cause all sorts of problems.
I suggest you take a basic college level government course. The mysteries of campaign financing will then be revealed to you.
Tell me, do you know what "soft money" really is, and why its damn near impossible to regulate?
Lobbying is good when there are opposing viewpoints. Congressmen hardly have time to learn about every subject that comes up to them, so they rely on people far more knowledgable to make a pitch at them, to help them decide on how to vote. Money has little to do with it (believe it or not..). Campaign financing is a very heavily regulated thing, and its not so simple as a lobbyist or group giving money to the congressman. Most people blame it on that, since they just dont know any better.
What needs to be done is to have pro-fair use lobbying groups in congress. The only side of the issue that the congressmen hear is what the media industry shills at them.
I blame this on the incredibly apathy that the computer industry has had in the past toward government. The pervading belief that the government doesnt affect them and is of little use at all (not surprising from all the libertarian viewpoints you hear from computer professionals)
The reality though is that the government DOES affect your life, and always will. And they will screw you eight ways from sunday if you don't work with them. It's not from malicious intent, but rather they simply dont know better.
So what needs to be done is to have more pro-fair use, pro-cyberliberties groups in Congress. Right now the only one i can think of is the EFF. There should be more. So get out there, support the EFF, mobilize, and work with your government. It can be your friend, if you work with them.
Apparently truth really is stranger than fiction.
I didnt like them as much as my legos though... the nuts frequently came loose and the contraptions just didnt seem as sturdy as legos.
I was one of the kids who liked building things with legos, then knocking them apart and then rebuilding.
Capsela was okay...got bored with them quickly. I still have a capsela hexagonal piece tied to the end of the light string in my old closet.