It's because more people at Microsoft blog about how the latest comments on slashdot have hit the nail on the head: They ARE an evil monopoly hell bent on world dominiation, and by golly, Anonymous Coward has spilled the beans!
The key to preventing your fans from publishing your copyrighted material is to sue them, of course. Failing that, you need to sing in a very unintelligible manner.
I was originally going to reply to this with a link to a google search for "sound," and then common audio file extensions. Then I realised a search feature similar to GIS would be fucking wicked. I suspect such a thing would quickly be attacked by the RIAA (as a video search would be attacked by the MPAA), regardless that there are tonnes of free (public domain, permissive licenses, etc) audio out there.
Even before I installed Firefox (Firebird, Phoenix, whatever), I didn't have Spyware, or if I did, it was minimal.
The key is being aware of your environment. Turn things off that you don't need, don't use, or are harmful. If you must use cookies, set them to only accept from the originating site (bye bye DoubleClick cookies). Turn off Javascript. If a website REQUIRES Javascript, don't use it. There are certainly alternatives out there. Browse only sites you know and trust (this goes back to my pornography statement).
The next step is to use alternative software, like Firefox, Thunderbird, OO.org, and whatever else. If not to support the Open Source community, but to use programs which won't automatically start running code because you received a file that told it to.
Use a goddamned Firewall. You can pick up a SOHO hardware firewall for $20 these days. There's no excuse to not have one.
To conclude, I have one thing left to say, keeping in mind that the following sentence is completely true:
I have not had a virus infection on any of my computers (and I have dozens of computers) since 1996, and I got that by using a floppy disk in a public DOS6/WFW computer without virus protection. This virus ended up on a computer I had for no more than a week. This was my lesson in using virus protection.
You can't in one sentence claim free speech is lacking and allude to wanting better laws, and then in the next sentence clearly approve of the behaviour by propagating it.
n : a group of people working together temporarily until some goal is achieved;
It seems clear that a terrorist organisation (or ANY organisation, for that matter) is a working party. You have successfully proven that either you have no idea what Free Speech means, or you have been successfully led to believe you aren't being controlled.
To sum up: Putting people in jail because they called a tomato a fruit is ludicrous.
This is why you should stick to only threatening him in your rap lyrics, instead of writing them down where the whole world can see them, and more importantly, are INDEXED, by Google.
They think this because the government has lead the way with speculative projects in general. Most citizens and companies don't have close to the amount of money the government has to spend on figuring shit out. That said, in a way, the government is where citizens can pool their money together and tackle huge projects.
The trouble is (just like in corporate environments), people don't give a shit what sort of system is used, as long as in the end, it works.
Now, most of the people on slasdot do care, because this is the sort of shit we live for. I'm sure the government gets a similar deal to what the piraters get (close to, or free), only they don't have to download ISOs, but rather get CDs shipped to them. This fact removes the "Linux is cheaper" stigma that most people will shout whenever someone dares to consider Windows as a solution. Support contracs probably come cheap too, or whatever.
As you mentioned, they'll standardize on Windows, since chances are, the majority of outside contacts use this as well. Plus, it sounds like they already use Windows on their desktops, which means they are giving Microsoft the ultimatum: Give us a working system, or we walk. Even with all those potentially cheap licenses and support contracts, it's probably a very large chunk of change, something that ideall Microsoft wouldn't want to lose. The Air Force is probably banking on the idea that Microsoft will get it's shit together and deliever a wicked fucking system.
This also gives them a choice to see how alternatives have come along during this do or die period of time.
I'm not sure why you listed those computer specs. I've done all those things with a Pentium processor (as in Pentium. No bloody MMX, II, III, 4) running at 100 MHz, 32 MB of RAM and Windows 98. If this is a workout for your system, then something is wrong. I've used the same system in Linux (which is what it runs now) to do this as well, without any sort of workout.
I use Windows XP on a daily basis on no less than 3 different machines. None of them have spyware. Not a jot. They all run Firefox, and I do my pr0ning on legitimate sites which do not try to infect me (a broken computer = less visits and more fixing). In fact, I could do all my regular browsing in IE, and I still wouldn't get infected (now, going to unreputable sites would be another story).
My uptime is measured in weeks too. Back when I ran Windows 95, the only time I had to reboot was after the 49.7 day uptime bug. With XP, my uptime is in the months. So are my Linux boxes. I do have a UPS, which is probably why the uptime is high.
Windows has bugs, Linux has bugs. As mentioned time and time again, bad software, bad hardware, bad drivers, bad users, these are the things which result in the most problems. If you have any doubt -- at all -- get a job as a desktop support tech. Most of your calls will be related to fixing the unbeliveably stupid things users do. I'm not saying they're stupid, but in their world, they have better things to learn -- computers aren't up there.
The fact that you're comparing Mandrake 9.1 to Windows Millenium shows either you have no idea Windows (good for you), or you're purposely trying to prove a point using a piece of software that even Microsoft admits is a piece of shit.
I don't think they are planning on using Windows as the flight control OS, nor would they even consider such a thing. Flight control systems are customly tailored programs, unique for every type of plane.
You can't get a Canadian passport now unless you can prove you plan to leave the country (with the obvious exception of travelling to the USA). The BYID card is not available to people under the age of 19, so if you're 17 (M) or 18 (AO), you're out of luck.
I've never heard of the Canadian citizenship card, though when I was a teenager, this would have certainly been a card I would have gotten.
The G1 is the last resort I would think. Though, chances are, if you can afford buying video games, you can probably find the money to pay for it. No insurance to pay, and hey, you might as well get it anyways so you can eventually get a real license. On a completely unrelated note, the G1 written and exit tests used to cost $100, before DriveTest stepped into their nice little monopoly.
It's based on a rating system, though I'm not sure if it's the ESRB, the Canadian equivalent (which may or may not be the ESRB, I really don't know, though the boxes in Canada do have the ESRB printed on them), or some other law.
As far as I can tell from experience and the "did you hear!" stories from others, it's only for Mature or Adults Only games. I doubt they bother carding for the lower levels, as I'm sure not many 8 year olds visit the store to buy Teen games.
So no, it doesn't apply to Everyone games. I mean, if Everyone can play it, how would you check if they aren't eligible?
The law is fine. I'll agree with it, sure. Don't let children under the age buy a game that someone has determined is unsuitable for them.
Most children will get their parents to buy the game anyways, especially since most children don't have the $60-$90 for the game in the first place. This law is different from the law preventing children getting into R rated movies, since there is usually someone checking ID at the door. This law is different than the law preventing children from buying alcohol, as it's illegal for them to have it (or illegal to buy it for them, or give it to them).
I mean, whatever. They're under the legal age, so it's not like this is one of those laws that could get out of control and somehow prevent me from buying video games. Or is it? The trouble with Ontario is it's lack of photo ID. You can't use the government-issued photo ID health card, and if you were born here, and don't drive, you don't have any photo ID.
It's not uncommon for 18, 19, or 20-somethings to not have a driver's license.
As someone who rarely gets carded, except in expected places such as the casino or liqor store (even this is pretty rare, and The Beer Store has never, ever carded me), it bothered me when I was carded buying GTA:SA. I looked at the clearly not of age girl at EB requesting of me, the clearly of age person for ID. She told me they were IDing everyone (which, as I then observed, they were).
The obvious joke was when children came in with a parent, ran to the shelf, grabbed the game, handed it to the parent, and then the parent got carded. What's the use, at this point?
Yes, 4.8 yes, it was a mistake. I had written 22 x 13, yet rounded to 22 to 20 in my head. I have no idea why I wrote HOURS, it was the incorrect unit of time, deal with it. Instead of people recognising that I had made a MATH ERROR and moving on with their lives, they instead felt the need to notice said error as if it was the only thing I had said. In the words of Professor Frink, "PI IS EXACTLY THREE!"
Now then, I'm not complaining, and yes, I know this is slashdot so the response is to be expected. I suppose in the future I will do everyone a favour and check my math.
Yes, no one will use it, however the point is that you CAN do this is you want.
If you go to the mall (I suppose this is the modern equivalent of a bazaar) you will see some stores that are less popular than other stores. It doesn't mean they have any less right to be there than other stores -- as long as they pay their bills on time, mall management probably couldn't care less.
None of those shows are on DVD though! I would certainly pay (reasonably though) for the compelete series of each of those (also McGyver, Miami Vice, and most of the cartoons from that decade).
My only hope is that the upcomming A-Team and Miami Vice movies will result in DVDs being released as well (this might also be why they haven't been released all ready -- the studios are biding their time to release things to help feed the marketing hype).
26 hours of TNG for $100? This is much cheaper than the 4 hours and 46 minutes for $40.
$700 is also probably a lot less than you would have to buy for the rights to all those shows, so you should be thankful that DVD brings an otherwise UNATAINABLE creative license to you.
I would wager that if you're willing to spend $100 on season 5 of TNG, you have spend thousands of dollars on an entertainment system. Some of us have disposable income.
While you may think $40 for an entire season or two of a TV show is ludicrous, I find this perfectly acceptable. At a bare minimum, a season of most shows is usually 13 episodes. At around 22 minutes each, you're buying 260 HOURS of programming you probably enjoy (no one buys the Friends DVD if they can't fucking stand the show).
Considering you can buy a lot of 2 hour movies for $30-$40, buying TV episodes is clearly a better use of your money (13 stories vs 1 story, and both usually have the "Special Features," which I must admit, I don't watch since IMDB uses these in the Trivia section).
There are tons of shows that were around during my childhood, or even before that, which would be a PERFECT product to sell on DVD, but they haven't yet, probably due to licensing. Some people would say that the TV producers are waiting for the next medium to come along, but that's silly, as anyone who has multiple copies of the Star Wars trilogy will tell you that chances are, someone is more than happy to shove the movies down their throat on a different media (VHS, Laser Disc, DVD).
Not to mention, that either with the DVD, or downloading the episodes, I get the option to watch as many episodes that I want, when I want instead of becoming a slave to when the TV stations and advertisers feel I should be watching TV.
Slashdot Mirror
It's because more people at Microsoft blog about how the latest comments on slashdot have hit the nail on the head: They ARE an evil monopoly hell bent on world dominiation, and by golly, Anonymous Coward has spilled the beans!
You must be using Internet Explorer with your security settings set to allow ActiveX controls to use the Pest Scan.
So, I must lower my security, so you can test my security? Well, I guess that means I win!
The key to preventing your fans from publishing your copyrighted material is to sue them, of course. Failing that, you need to sing in a very unintelligible manner.
I was originally going to reply to this with a link to a google search for "sound," and then common audio file extensions. Then I realised a search feature similar to GIS would be fucking wicked. I suspect such a thing would quickly be attacked by the RIAA (as a video search would be attacked by the MPAA), regardless that there are tonnes of free (public domain, permissive licenses, etc) audio out there.
Even before I installed Firefox (Firebird, Phoenix, whatever), I didn't have Spyware, or if I did, it was minimal.
The key is being aware of your environment. Turn things off that you don't need, don't use, or are harmful. If you must use cookies, set them to only accept from the originating site (bye bye DoubleClick cookies). Turn off Javascript. If a website REQUIRES Javascript, don't use it. There are certainly alternatives out there. Browse only sites you know and trust (this goes back to my pornography statement).
The next step is to use alternative software, like Firefox, Thunderbird, OO.org, and whatever else. If not to support the Open Source community, but to use programs which won't automatically start running code because you received a file that told it to.
Use a goddamned Firewall. You can pick up a SOHO hardware firewall for $20 these days. There's no excuse to not have one.
To conclude, I have one thing left to say, keeping in mind that the following sentence is completely true:
I have not had a virus infection on any of my computers (and I have dozens of computers) since 1996, and I got that by using a floppy disk in a public DOS6/WFW computer without virus protection. This virus ended up on a computer I had for no more than a week. This was my lesson in using virus protection.
Well, I don't know about you, but Google doesn't index the words that come out of my mouth. It does index the words I type on web pages.
You can't in one sentence claim free speech is lacking and allude to wanting better laws, and then in the next sentence clearly approve of the behaviour by propagating it.
Working party:
n : a group of people working together temporarily until some goal is achieved;
It seems clear that a terrorist organisation (or ANY organisation, for that matter) is a working party. You have successfully proven that either you have no idea what Free Speech means, or you have been successfully led to believe you aren't being controlled.
To sum up: Putting people in jail because they called a tomato a fruit is ludicrous.
This is why you should stick to only threatening him in your rap lyrics, instead of writing them down where the whole world can see them, and more importantly, are INDEXED, by Google.
They think this because the government has lead the way with speculative projects in general. Most citizens and companies don't have close to the amount of money the government has to spend on figuring shit out. That said, in a way, the government is where citizens can pool their money together and tackle huge projects.
The trouble is (just like in corporate environments), people don't give a shit what sort of system is used, as long as in the end, it works.
Now, most of the people on slasdot do care, because this is the sort of shit we live for. I'm sure the government gets a similar deal to what the piraters get (close to, or free), only they don't have to download ISOs, but rather get CDs shipped to them. This fact removes the "Linux is cheaper" stigma that most people will shout whenever someone dares to consider Windows as a solution. Support contracs probably come cheap too, or whatever.
As you mentioned, they'll standardize on Windows, since chances are, the majority of outside contacts use this as well. Plus, it sounds like they already use Windows on their desktops, which means they are giving Microsoft the ultimatum: Give us a working system, or we walk. Even with all those potentially cheap licenses and support contracts, it's probably a very large chunk of change, something that ideall Microsoft wouldn't want to lose. The Air Force is probably banking on the idea that Microsoft will get it's shit together and deliever a wicked fucking system.
This also gives them a choice to see how alternatives have come along during this do or die period of time.
I'm not sure why you listed those computer specs. I've done all those things with a Pentium processor (as in Pentium. No bloody MMX, II, III, 4) running at 100 MHz, 32 MB of RAM and Windows 98. If this is a workout for your system, then something is wrong. I've used the same system in Linux (which is what it runs now) to do this as well, without any sort of workout.
I use Windows XP on a daily basis on no less than 3 different machines. None of them have spyware. Not a jot. They all run Firefox, and I do my pr0ning on legitimate sites which do not try to infect me (a broken computer = less visits and more fixing). In fact, I could do all my regular browsing in IE, and I still wouldn't get infected (now, going to unreputable sites would be another story).
My uptime is measured in weeks too. Back when I ran Windows 95, the only time I had to reboot was after the 49.7 day uptime bug. With XP, my uptime is in the months. So are my Linux boxes. I do have a UPS, which is probably why the uptime is high.
Windows has bugs, Linux has bugs. As mentioned time and time again, bad software, bad hardware, bad drivers, bad users, these are the things which result in the most problems. If you have any doubt -- at all -- get a job as a desktop support tech. Most of your calls will be related to fixing the unbeliveably stupid things users do. I'm not saying they're stupid, but in their world, they have better things to learn -- computers aren't up there.
The fact that you're comparing Mandrake 9.1 to Windows Millenium shows either you have no idea Windows (good for you), or you're purposely trying to prove a point using a piece of software that even Microsoft admits is a piece of shit.
I don't think they are planning on using Windows as the flight control OS, nor would they even consider such a thing. Flight control systems are customly tailored programs, unique for every type of plane.
Besides, mouse-controlled GUIs do not a HUD make.
It's not stealing if the design is open and available to all.
In fact, this is the very point of such a project. If a company comes along and wants to use it for a product they want to develop, then they can!
Holy shit, I stand corrected!
You can't get a Canadian passport now unless you can prove you plan to leave the country (with the obvious exception of travelling to the USA). The BYID card is not available to people under the age of 19, so if you're 17 (M) or 18 (AO), you're out of luck.
I've never heard of the Canadian citizenship card, though when I was a teenager, this would have certainly been a card I would have gotten.
The G1 is the last resort I would think. Though, chances are, if you can afford buying video games, you can probably find the money to pay for it. No insurance to pay, and hey, you might as well get it anyways so you can eventually get a real license. On a completely unrelated note, the G1 written and exit tests used to cost $100, before DriveTest stepped into their nice little monopoly.
It's based on a rating system, though I'm not sure if it's the ESRB, the Canadian equivalent (which may or may not be the ESRB, I really don't know, though the boxes in Canada do have the ESRB printed on them), or some other law.
As far as I can tell from experience and the "did you hear!" stories from others, it's only for Mature or Adults Only games. I doubt they bother carding for the lower levels, as I'm sure not many 8 year olds visit the store to buy Teen games.
So no, it doesn't apply to Everyone games. I mean, if Everyone can play it, how would you check if they aren't eligible?
If I found my kids playing GTA, I'd ask them for the locations of the hidden packages I couldn't find.
The law is fine. I'll agree with it, sure. Don't let children under the age buy a game that someone has determined is unsuitable for them.
Most children will get their parents to buy the game anyways, especially since most children don't have the $60-$90 for the game in the first place. This law is different from the law preventing children getting into R rated movies, since there is usually someone checking ID at the door. This law is different than the law preventing children from buying alcohol, as it's illegal for them to have it (or illegal to buy it for them, or give it to them).
I mean, whatever. They're under the legal age, so it's not like this is one of those laws that could get out of control and somehow prevent me from buying video games. Or is it? The trouble with Ontario is it's lack of photo ID. You can't use the government-issued photo ID health card, and if you were born here, and don't drive, you don't have any photo ID.
It's not uncommon for 18, 19, or 20-somethings to not have a driver's license.
As someone who rarely gets carded, except in expected places such as the casino or liqor store (even this is pretty rare, and The Beer Store has never, ever carded me), it bothered me when I was carded buying GTA:SA. I looked at the clearly not of age girl at EB requesting of me, the clearly of age person for ID. She told me they were IDing everyone (which, as I then observed, they were).
The obvious joke was when children came in with a parent, ran to the shelf, grabbed the game, handed it to the parent, and then the parent got carded. What's the use, at this point?
I have the opposite problem. People carding me keep telling me I look older than I do in my picture (imagine that).
Has happened at restaraunts, liquor store, and the casino.
Yes, 4.8 yes, it was a mistake. I had written 22 x 13, yet rounded to 22 to 20 in my head. I have no idea why I wrote HOURS, it was the incorrect unit of time, deal with it. Instead of people recognising that I had made a MATH ERROR and moving on with their lives, they instead felt the need to notice said error as if it was the only thing I had said. In the words of Professor Frink, "PI IS EXACTLY THREE!"
Now then, I'm not complaining, and yes, I know this is slashdot so the response is to be expected. I suppose in the future I will do everyone a favour and check my math.
Awesome. Amazon has season one, along with the Dukes of Hazard, Magnum P.I. and Knight Rider.
Now I know what to get for Christmas.
Yes, no one will use it, however the point is that you CAN do this is you want.
If you go to the mall (I suppose this is the modern equivalent of a bazaar) you will see some stores that are less popular than other stores. It doesn't mean they have any less right to be there than other stores -- as long as they pay their bills on time, mall management probably couldn't care less.
None of those shows are on DVD though! I would certainly pay (reasonably though) for the compelete series of each of those (also McGyver, Miami Vice, and most of the cartoons from that decade).
My only hope is that the upcomming A-Team and Miami Vice movies will result in DVDs being released as well (this might also be why they haven't been released all ready -- the studios are biding their time to release things to help feed the marketing hype).
For the sake of all the people who focus on a single spelling error:
For the sake of all the people who focus on a single arithmetic error
For the sake of all the people who focus on a single aritmetic error:
At around 22 minutes each, you're buying more than 260 minutes (or, more precisely 286 minutes, or 4 hours, 46 minutes) of programming.
26 hours of TNG for $100? This is much cheaper than the 4 hours and 46 minutes for $40.
$700 is also probably a lot less than you would have to buy for the rights to all those shows, so you should be thankful that DVD brings an otherwise UNATAINABLE creative license to you.
I would wager that if you're willing to spend $100 on season 5 of TNG, you have spend thousands of dollars on an entertainment system. Some of us have disposable income.
While you may think $40 for an entire season or two of a TV show is ludicrous, I find this perfectly acceptable. At a bare minimum, a season of most shows is usually 13 episodes. At around 22 minutes each, you're buying 260 HOURS of programming you probably enjoy (no one buys the Friends DVD if they can't fucking stand the show).
Considering you can buy a lot of 2 hour movies for $30-$40, buying TV episodes is clearly a better use of your money (13 stories vs 1 story, and both usually have the "Special Features," which I must admit, I don't watch since IMDB uses these in the Trivia section).
There are tons of shows that were around during my childhood, or even before that, which would be a PERFECT product to sell on DVD, but they haven't yet, probably due to licensing. Some people would say that the TV producers are waiting for the next medium to come along, but that's silly, as anyone who has multiple copies of the Star Wars trilogy will tell you that chances are, someone is more than happy to shove the movies down their throat on a different media (VHS, Laser Disc, DVD).
Not to mention, that either with the DVD, or downloading the episodes, I get the option to watch as many episodes that I want, when I want instead of becoming a slave to when the TV stations and advertisers feel I should be watching TV.