How inteligent are these people that represent us? Or does it vary from person to person? I mean we see some really stupid stuff come out of that city, and of course, assume a total lack of inteligance on the part of our law makers. Is it just ignorance of the whole issue that creates horrors like the DMCA?
Maskirovka
(feel free to rephrase my question, if I'm not making any sense)
a bill drafted by Senators Ernest Hollings (SC) and Ted Stevens (AL).
Your letter would be a lot more credible if you listed Ted Stevens as comming from Alaska (AK), not Alabama (AL). Otherwise, you have a pretty good letter.
Maskirovka
Better yet, take a few hours out of your life, reserve a library or other public confrence room, and offer a simple 'napster class'. Ie, demonstrate and compare various file sharing clients, mp3 ripping apps and cd burners. Run people through the basics and turn 'em loose. Maybe even burn a selection of p2p clients, mp3s, and documentation onto CDs and hand 'em out. Not only would you being doing a public service, but you'd be stickin it to the man!
liable. That Ashcroft guy is smoking some really bad shit. Does anyone remember that he lost mississippy gubernatorial election to a DEAD man? That's how popular he is at home. Excuse my while I go out and puke:P
It's too easy to read it like this. "You may not use the Software in connection with any site that disparages Microsoft, MSN, MSNBC, Expedia, or their products or services, infringe any intellectual property or other rights of these parties, violate any state, federal or international law, or promote racism, hatred of pornography."
it's a rare combination to find an american (much less >4) who would be both suicidal, and intelectually competent to operate an airplane.
AND, Genocide is by definition mass exterminations of people. What genocide have we funded in the past 100 years? If you want to be modded up, maybe you shouldn't write in such a fanatical fashion:P
Maskirovka
I guess my coment above about suicidal americans is a bit overbroad. That statement applies to most cultures and nationalities, though a few cultures seem to encourage this sort of thing more than others.
The problem here with these people is ignorance. 'Internet' in their terms means WWW or AOL, which is plenty enough for their purposes, and they see no need to go beyond that. "Why do you think every INTERNET ADDRESS starts with 'WWW'?" says George Bush, which pretty well sums it up. The problem with this is that until our generation matures to the point of taking some serious power, legislation will more than likely be for the worse, out of ignorance, rather than malice.
I guess what I'm getting at is that since the only parts of the internet that are a threat to them are largely ignored by mainstream society, eliminating them shouldn't pose too much of a political problem. The current mp3s sharing situation has them scared. Really scared.
It took them 15 months and tens of millions of dollars to shut down Napster, and now their back at 'Go', with several PR debacles under their belt. They now understand that no matter what they do, they can't hope to keep up with the free software development, and therefore, can't keep pirated material off the 'net that way. The problem for us is that software requires a highly expensive hardware infrastructure to run it. They know this too. Now, they'll try their hand at controlling it, through legislation. This won't work either for a variety of reasons, the simplest of which is "while there is demand, there will always be a supply". They will only cause more trouble for all involved.
The amount of trouble will be inversely proportional to how long it will be before this legislation is attempted to be implemented. Why? About a year or so from now, linux will be viable on the desktop. It will grow in popularity in enterprise environments, and as it does, more and more commercial software will be made for it. The effect will snowball, and in about 18 months to two years we'll start to see the first off the shelf linux PCs in best buy and circuit city. Linux is one thing that I think is immune to that kind of regulation, because it is too decentralized in terms of who controls it. Getting linux on the desktop is they key to this whole mess. I think.
I think they should get into the business of crashing space stations into the Pacific, and bringing tourists on boats to watch the fireworks.
It would be a hell of a lot cheaper to fudge it with a few old ICBMs. And with the added accuracy, they oculd bring them down anywhere they want! Just think of the possibilities- they could have themed space station-crash cruises all over the world, not to mention all the murchandising rights, etc. And when someone blows it, they could find a way to sue them under the DMCA.
I guess that should have been worded differently, as it might conjure images some kind of pain inflicting bondage toys. As much as Lego is shooting itself in the foot now, that's nothing like it would be if it were manufacturing sex toys.
I'd be a lot more impressed if I could control 20 or 30 motors at variable speeds from Mindstorms. There should be some kind of 'Adult Lego Mindstorms' with metal parts as opposed to plastic, gas engines, 802.11 control, etc. Places like design firms and engineering schools would certainly buy it. I sure as hell would, if it was up to the quality Lego's were seven years ago. Maybe someday...
"The only way to beat bullies is to stand up to them."
I like this Tom Clany quote better:
There are two ways you can deal with bullies You can shock them; or you can kill them.
Needless to say there are at least 50000 bullies (ie, industry lobiests) in washington alone, so killing is out. Any great ideas on how to collectively shock them? The sheer logistics are mind bogling, but it would be fun to try 8)
Take 30 seconds out of your day and send them a quick email. Seriously.
To:
public_relations@tridentmicro.com
I'm writing to register my displeasure for trident's new policy
towards open source. Making your documentation available is not a whole
lot to ask, and in the process of not working with us, you are
alienating a large group of people and technologies. Thanks for
lissening.
Toby
The opinions expressed in this email are mine, and are not necessarily
those of my employer.
As an 'unschooler' I had a a large amount of time on my hands. My friends and I built whole worlds spanning the neighborhoods. That was so much fun...building 12-foot long USS Enterprises...dropping them on my brother's head...rebuilding them...star battles (where a kid would hold a spaceship and try and nock the other guy's out of his hand). Then the technic's from which we built catapults, robots, and race cars (that worked). Ah, and then we all discovered computers and here I am now. Who says the golden years are after retirment? That was the best time in my life. Now...well, going through the toy department at K-mart makes me want to puke for lack of creativity.
Maskirovka
My poor grammer and lack of sentance fluency show a distinct caffine defficieny.
Just who do you think would replace the congress critters, eh? That scenario (Executive Orders) would require having a real MAN in office, not some pot-headed, DWI convicted, playboy like dUHbya. Dream on.
Slashdot Mirror
How inteligent are these people that represent us? Or does it vary from person to person? I mean we see some really stupid stuff come out of that city, and of course, assume a total lack of inteligance on the part of our law makers. Is it just ignorance of the whole issue that creates horrors like the DMCA?
Maskirovka
(feel free to rephrase my question, if I'm not making any sense)
If you could give one piece of advice to this group, what would it be?
How much of your data loss from the 60gb were mp3s? Maybe IBM is implementing CPRM technology without telling us!
Your talking about MCSEs here :P
Great....now porn will be even more interactive! I don't even want to know what implications this will have more Freddie Got Fingered 2.
Maskirovka
Your letter would be a lot more credible if you listed Ted Stevens as comming from Alaska (AK), not Alabama (AL). Otherwise, you have a pretty good letter.
Maskirovka
Better yet, take a few hours out of your life, reserve a library or other public confrence room, and offer a simple 'napster class'. Ie, demonstrate and compare various file sharing clients, mp3 ripping apps and cd burners. Run people through the basics and turn 'em loose. Maybe even burn a selection of p2p clients, mp3s, and documentation onto CDs and hand 'em out. Not only would you being doing a public service, but you'd be stickin it to the man!
Maskirovka
So it's terroristic to provide advice to a hacker. Hmm. So that would make
:P
Comp-sci professors/students
Entire IT departments
Teachers
Parents
publishers
bookstores
helpdesk services
etc
liable. That Ashcroft guy is smoking some really bad shit. Does anyone remember that he lost mississippy gubernatorial election to a DEAD man? That's how popular he is at home. Excuse my while I go out and puke
Maskirovka
Eye no i cant spill:P
"You may not use the Software in connection with any site that disparages Microsoft, MSN, MSNBC, Expedia, or their products or services, infringe any intellectual property or other rights of these parties, violate any state, federal or international law, or promote racism, hatred of pornography."
if they really can control them, then this might have some potenial for swallowing up balistic missiles. just a thought.
maskirovka
it's a rare combination to find an american (much less >4) who would be both suicidal, and intelectually competent to operate an airplane.
:P
AND, Genocide is by definition mass exterminations of people. What genocide have we funded in the past 100 years? If you want to be modded up, maybe you shouldn't write in such a fanatical fashion
Maskirovka
I guess my coment above about suicidal americans is a bit overbroad. That statement applies to most cultures and nationalities, though a few cultures seem to encourage this sort of thing more than others.
Poll: Should Lego Sue?
No: -------------------%95
Don't Know ---------%3.7
Yes ------------------%1.3
Slashdotted for sure 8)
The problem here with these people is ignorance. 'Internet' in their terms means WWW or AOL, which is plenty enough for their purposes, and they see no need to go beyond that. "Why do you think every INTERNET ADDRESS starts with 'WWW'?" says George Bush, which pretty well sums it up. The problem with this is that until our generation matures to the point of taking some serious power, legislation will more than likely be for the worse, out of ignorance, rather than malice.
I guess what I'm getting at is that since the only parts of the internet that are a threat to them are largely ignored by mainstream society, eliminating them shouldn't pose too much of a political problem. The current mp3s sharing situation has them scared. Really scared.
It took them 15 months and tens of millions of dollars to shut down Napster, and now their back at 'Go', with several PR debacles under their belt. They now understand that no matter what they do, they can't hope to keep up with the free software development, and therefore, can't keep pirated material off the 'net that way. The problem for us is that software requires a highly expensive hardware infrastructure to run it. They know this too. Now, they'll try their hand at controlling it, through legislation. This won't work either for a variety of reasons, the simplest of which is "while there is demand, there will always be a supply". They will only cause more trouble for all involved.
The amount of trouble will be inversely proportional to how long it will be before this legislation is attempted to be implemented. Why? About a year or so from now, linux will be viable on the desktop. It will grow in popularity in enterprise environments, and as it does, more and more commercial software will be made for it. The effect will snowball, and in about 18 months to two years we'll start to see the first off the shelf linux PCs in best buy and circuit city. Linux is one thing that I think is immune to that kind of regulation, because it is too decentralized in terms of who controls it. Getting linux on the desktop is they key to this whole mess. I think.
Anyway, that's my five bucks.
Maskirovka
Because it looks damned good on a resume. Maskirovka
It would be a hell of a lot cheaper to fudge it with a few old ICBMs. And with the added accuracy, they oculd bring them down anywhere they want! Just think of the possibilities- they could have themed space station-crash cruises all over the world, not to mention all the murchandising rights, etc. And when someone blows it, they could find a way to sue them under the DMCA.
Maskirovka
if they ever got in trouble for performing 'test flights' over nude beaches?
I guess that should have been worded differently, as it might conjure images some kind of pain inflicting bondage toys.
As much as Lego is shooting itself in the foot now, that's nothing like it would be if it were manufacturing sex toys.
I'd be a lot more impressed if I could control 20 or 30 motors at variable speeds from Mindstorms. There should be some kind of 'Adult Lego Mindstorms' with metal parts as opposed to plastic, gas engines, 802.11 control, etc. Places like design firms and engineering schools would certainly buy it. I sure as hell would, if it was up to the quality Lego's were seven years ago. Maybe someday...
Maskirovka.
Pack some crackers around it, and present it as a snack tray at a Handspring developer's confrence.
Lunch for my highschool gym teacher
Pack a dozen m80s in the middle during the M$ presentation at comedex...
Leave it in the hotel lobby at Defcon. Nuff said.
Tell Condit there's a cute intern in the middle.
Carve a Windows CE startup screen on it, and sacrifice at in a satanic ritual by slowly lowering it into the fire
Feed it to the neighbor's rotweiler- Give em diarrea for life.
It's for the children!
Tell Micheal Jackson theres a little boy in the middle.
Cowboy Neal
I like this Tom Clany quote better:
There are two ways you can deal with bullies
You can shock them; or
you can kill them.
Needless to say there are at least 50000 bullies (ie, industry lobiests) in washington alone, so killing is out. Any great ideas on how to collectively shock them? The sheer logistics are mind bogling, but it would be fun to try 8)
Maskirovka
I don't care that my spelling stinks.
Maskirovka
To: public_relations@tridentmicro.com
I'm writing to register my displeasure for trident's new policy towards open source. Making your documentation available is not a whole lot to ask, and in the process of not working with us, you are alienating a large group of people and technologies.
Thanks for lissening.
Toby
The opinions expressed in this email are mine, and are not necessarily those of my employer.
Maskirovka
My poor grammer and lack of sentance fluency show a distinct caffine defficieny.
Maskirovka
But I always thought DCS1000 was a Sony digital camera. Isn't this infringing on Sony's intelectual property?
Maskirovka
Ok...bad joke.