The current round of saber-rattling coming from the RIAA is nothing but the precursor to the coming end of the world as the recording industry knows it. They've successfully segmented their market to the point that they can't profitably sell most of their artist's products. They've sliced the pie to the point they can't sell the whole pie any more. Now they can't compete with small time distribution. LOL - idiots.
increasingly obvious fact that the French were right
No such fact. There is an opinion that could be proven correct in about ten years... As international politics go, the whole Iraq thing was overhyped by everyone, Chirac included. Anyhow - I'm not sure how French Bashing relates to Linux advocacy other than the French are as easy a target as MS for Americans (I'm sure it works in reverse if you are French).
hold my nose and vote for Bush in 2004
Let's see who the dem's put up next time around. From what I see today, Bush is most certainly the lesser of the two evils we'll have to select from...
Wouldn't it be great if we could have a mesh radio network,
It's coming. Low frequency digital spread spectrum. Fast, carrier-optional, longer range, works through dense walls and is about four years from hitting the market.
The Destruct-O-DVD will only encourage more copying. The main reason many people copy is for backup purposes. This plays right to the instinct most consumers have to get their money's worth and not be ripped off.
The popularity of the internet is built on four major components. Two of the four are most definately at risk:
* The Web
* Email & Messaging - Under attack by spammers, and even under worse attack by anti-spammers. The trend is towards central control of email to eliminate spam. The antispam camp should take note of the failure of the Instant Messenging networks to stop spam on their centrally controlled services.
* Peer to Peer Services - Tools that allow the exchange of information between two nodes like NFS, Gnutella, Windows File Sharing, Telnet, etc... These tools are under attack at the fringe, but how different is getting a file off Gnutella than an anonymous FTP or a windows share? Not very.
* Usenet - The surprising survivor. I can't believe that Usenet is still kicking and popular after all these years.
The key to the Internet's success has and will be:
* Easy and inexpensive access to information and easy and inexpensive publication of information. (web, usenet, file sharing, etc...)
* Easy,inexpensive and fast communication. (email, usenet, IRC, IM, etc...
The good news is that the market is too powerful to be co-opted. People don't want the internet to turn the clock back to the days of Prodigy, AOL and CompuServe.
Re:Why reliable electronic voting will not happen
on
Doubting Electronic Voting
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Elections would be hundreds of times cheaper because of lesser staff and organization costs.
And less democratic and trustworthy. Personally, I like the fact that the polls are run by ordinary citizens, not by the state's IT department. There's a whole level of abuse that this system makes difficult. The more centralized the voting process becomes the easier it is to corrupt.
As a result it would become possible to have people vote for many more issues than just who is going to be a president
I'm for this. Who wouldn't like to be able to pass unlimited spending and cut taxes to 0? Representative government prevents a lot of this. Look at California and Arizona where ballot initiatives have totally hosed their state budgets.
As a result it would become possible to have people vote for many more issues than just who is going to be a president
Actually, the rich would like this because it would be easier to influence, corrupt and control it.
particular to US elections: poll results should be considered classified information until the polls are closed in all fifty states
This wouldn't help the problem we have here at all because the pre-close information the media use is based on "exit polls" where voters are asked how they voted. Actual counting in most states begins when the polls close.
I don't think that the SCSI vs IDE situation was really one that was decided by Apple - SCSI devices are substantially more expensive and Apple had to make a move to be competitive.
I like what RedHat did - and what Fujitsu did even more. Looks like buyers of Fujitsu servers can expect good hardware support on Linux-based systems. I'm impressed that Fujitsu hired RedHat to do the work, and I'm equally impressed that RedHat had the brains to seek out a new revenue source.
I'm not sure this article has much to do with the SCO situation though.
If the summary is indicative of the report (and I'm hoping it's not), let me say: Bullshit.
The report is typical Gartner. Most Gartner reports are written for executives (not IT workers) and deal with strategic issues. Unfortunately I think they are way off on their assessment of Linux because they are stuck in the traditional desktop paradigm. Linux implementations I've seen tend to emphasize enterprise functionality and do not necessarily over emphasize productivity software like windows does. Of course, that gives analysts room to attack because the status quo must be protected at all costs!
I'm not sure I like the debts part of your solution very much because it's actually worse than the current system. In the current system you get sick, go to the hospital, owe $130,000. If you can afford, you pay in installments after fighting with the collection people. If you can't afford, you declare bankruptcy and the court orders you to pay what you can afford that is fair and just (which is usually $0.00). Unfortunately, the provider gets stuck holding the bag and jacks costs for everyone as a result.
Federal debts are in my opinion a bad thing as they are immune to bankruptcy in many cases. Bankruptcy is a protection that allows people to reset their lives and to prevent predatory practices by lendors. Without this much of the class mobility in American society would go away.
Raiders was one of the few films that could have been made any time in Hollywood history and been a huge hit. It was simply a great film in all respects - and it was original.
The best movies are original fiction, most often not a movie version of a great book.
Funny how everyone is quick to bash MPAA, yet just about everyone here will fork over $50 for some pieces of plastic... Because these movies, unlike most are actually good.
I'm not sure socialized health care is the right either, I just think we need (at least in the US) something that:
* Ensures that I'm not killed because I don't have enough cash for treatment.
* Prevents people from falling to the bottom of maslow's needs heirarchy when they have a complicated delivery of a baby or fall and break their legs because they don't have the cash or coverage.
* Prevents the use of durress as a negotiation method by doctors and care providers.
I think in the US our system is better than most, but it still has some flaws that really destroy people's lives.
Industry is held back from attacking open source is the following two reasons:
* Fear of prior art. Very few software patents are new ideas. Very, very few represent a novel use of an existing idea. The last thing someone wants to do is invalidate their patent and have to deal with 50 people with licenses for said patent. * The GIF patent is not a template for how to use your intellectual property for gain and profit. * Bad Press reduces ROI on good marketing.
As much of a capitalist as i am, i think there are a couple of things wrong with medicine in the US:
* Contracts are always under durress. No surgery = you die is not different than give me your wallet or i shoot.
* % of $ spent on fancy buildings vs patient care
* right to live (not the same as right to life/pro abortion) - all people deserve to have their most basic right secured and not be killed or tortured due to lack of cash. Medical pros won't admit this happens, but it does. Example - i had to pay for anesthesia out of pocket for my best friend when he had a compound fracture of his arm. They would treat the wound but no anesthesia.
* I pay about $350/month for health insurance for my family. If your employer picks up the tab, they pay about the same. Ouch.
Since I've been developing or selling software for most of my adult life, I'd like to share a little of what I've learned:
* The industry is not dead. It's evolving. Enterprise apps like Oracle SAP and Siebel have tapped their markets. Typically, this happens every 4-6 years. When the next big technology change occurs (PCs, LANs, 32 Bit GUI Apps, Web, etc), the big guys will get another chance. Right now their trying to add functionality to their products and cross-sell into their account base.
* Small and midsize companies are buying, but they are cheapskates in comparison to large enterprises.
* To compete in the software marketplace you need to have the ability to develop custom software.
* Right now, there is tremendous demand for integration. Portals, EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) and so on are all doing ok. The problem is that this is not sexy work or big $$ work. This is also great space for open source.
I think Larry's off his rocker except for one thing: the days of companies buying everything from Oracle are probably numbered.
Slashdot Mirror
There's enough blame to go around to everyone in the enterprise software rip-off game:
* Buyers for not even applying common sense to outrageous claims
* Software companies for overselling and underdelivering
* The press for pandering to the software companies for ad $$$ a the risk of their readers
* Consultants and IT managers for using buggy implementations as job security
Shame on all of us.
The current round of saber-rattling coming from the RIAA is nothing but the precursor to the coming end of the world as the recording industry knows it. They've successfully segmented their market to the point that they can't profitably sell most of their artist's products. They've sliced the pie to the point they can't sell the whole pie any more. Now they can't compete with small time distribution. LOL - idiots.
SG
No such fact. There is an opinion that could be proven correct in about ten years... As international politics go, the whole Iraq thing was overhyped by everyone, Chirac included. Anyhow - I'm not sure how French Bashing relates to Linux advocacy other than the French are as easy a target as MS for Americans (I'm sure it works in reverse if you are French).
Let's see who the dem's put up next time around. From what I see today, Bush is most certainly the lesser of the two evils we'll have to select from...
$G
I always got a kick out of how the lizards could have a whole platoon with laser rifles and somehow be picked off one by one by Martin with a pistol.
In this respect, V borrowed from the A*Team.
Wouldn't it be great if we could have a mesh radio network,
It's coming. Low frequency digital spread spectrum. Fast, carrier-optional, longer range, works through dense walls and is about four years from hitting the market.
The Destruct-O-DVD will only encourage more copying. The main reason many people copy is for backup purposes. This plays right to the instinct most consumers have to get their money's worth and not be ripped off.
The popularity of the internet is built on four major components. Two of the four are most definately at risk:
* The Web
* Email & Messaging - Under attack by spammers, and even under worse attack by anti-spammers. The trend is towards central control of email to eliminate spam. The antispam camp should take note of the failure of the Instant Messenging networks to stop spam on their centrally controlled services.
* Peer to Peer Services - Tools that allow the exchange of information between two nodes like NFS, Gnutella, Windows File Sharing, Telnet, etc... These tools are under attack at the fringe, but how different is getting a file off Gnutella than an anonymous FTP or a windows share? Not very.
* Usenet - The surprising survivor. I can't believe that Usenet is still kicking and popular after all these years.
The key to the Internet's success has and will be:
* Easy and inexpensive access to information and easy and inexpensive publication of information. (web, usenet, file sharing, etc...)
* Easy,inexpensive and fast communication. (email, usenet, IRC, IM, etc...
The good news is that the market is too powerful to be co-opted. People don't want the internet to turn the clock back to the days of Prodigy, AOL and CompuServe.
Elections would be hundreds of times cheaper because of lesser staff and organization costs.
And less democratic and trustworthy. Personally, I like the fact that the polls are run by ordinary citizens, not by the state's IT department. There's a whole level of abuse that this system makes difficult. The more centralized the voting process becomes the easier it is to corrupt.
As a result it would become possible to have people vote for many more issues than just who is going to be a president
I'm for this. Who wouldn't like to be able to pass unlimited spending and cut taxes to 0? Representative government prevents a lot of this. Look at California and Arizona where ballot initiatives have totally hosed their state budgets.
As a result it would become possible to have people vote for many more issues than just who is going to be a president
Actually, the rich would like this because it would be easier to influence, corrupt and control it.
particular to US elections: poll results should be considered classified information until the polls are closed in all fifty states
This wouldn't help the problem we have here at all because the pre-close information the media use is based on "exit polls" where voters are asked how they voted. Actual counting in most states begins when the polls close.
I don't think that the SCSI vs IDE situation was really one that was decided by Apple - SCSI devices are substantially more expensive and Apple had to make a move to be competitive.
It's easy for us to say those are good odds -- but if your butt was in the pilot's seat you'd see that quite differently.
It's time to invest in something new that can give us better odds that I have a 2% chance of blowing up spectacularly on this trip!
I like what RedHat did - and what Fujitsu did even more. Looks like buyers of Fujitsu servers can expect good hardware support on Linux-based systems. I'm impressed that Fujitsu hired RedHat to do the work, and I'm equally impressed that RedHat had the brains to seek out a new revenue source.
I'm not sure this article has much to do with the SCO situation though.
I find open source tools like perl, bash, grep, emacs and so on integrate well. I can process any text file I want!
If the summary is indicative of the report (and I'm hoping it's not), let me say: Bullshit.
The report is typical Gartner. Most Gartner reports are written for executives (not IT workers) and deal with strategic issues. Unfortunately I think they are way off on their assessment of Linux because they are stuck in the traditional desktop paradigm. Linux implementations I've seen tend to emphasize enterprise functionality and do not necessarily over emphasize productivity software like windows does. Of course, that gives analysts room to attack because the status quo must be protected at all costs!
Give to the EFF and not the ACLU please. EFF will more directly use the funds for the intent you have.
I'm not sure I like the debts part of your solution very much because it's actually worse than the current system. In the current system you get sick, go to the hospital, owe $130,000. If you can afford, you pay in installments after fighting with the collection people. If you can't afford, you declare bankruptcy and the court orders you to pay what you can afford that is fair and just (which is usually $0.00). Unfortunately, the provider gets stuck holding the bag and jacks costs for everyone as a result.
Federal debts are in my opinion a bad thing as they are immune to bankruptcy in many cases. Bankruptcy is a protection that allows people to reset their lives and to prevent predatory practices by lendors. Without this much of the class mobility in American society would go away.
$G
I think that we've established this with welfare, social security and other entitlements.
It's called a saftey net and most modern western nations have one of some kind.
Raiders was one of the few films that could have been made any time in Hollywood history and been a huge hit. It was simply a great film in all respects - and it was original.
The best movies are original fiction, most often not a movie version of a great book.
Funny how everyone is quick to bash MPAA, yet just about everyone here will fork over $50 for some pieces of plastic...
Because these movies, unlike most are actually good.
I'm not sure socialized health care is the right either, I just think we need (at least in the US) something that:
* Ensures that I'm not killed because I don't have enough cash for treatment.
* Prevents people from falling to the bottom of maslow's needs heirarchy when they have a complicated delivery of a baby or fall and break their legs because they don't have the cash or coverage.
* Prevents the use of durress as a negotiation method by doctors and care providers.
I think in the US our system is better than most, but it still has some flaws that really destroy people's lives.
$G
Industry is held back from attacking open source is the following two reasons:
* Fear of prior art. Very few software patents are new ideas. Very, very few represent a novel use of an existing idea. The last thing someone wants to do is invalidate their patent and have to deal with 50 people with licenses for said patent.
* The GIF patent is not a template for how to use your intellectual property for gain and profit.
* Bad Press reduces ROI on good marketing.
As much of a capitalist as i am, i think there are a couple of things wrong with medicine in the US:
* Contracts are always under durress. No surgery = you die is not different than give me your wallet or i shoot.
* % of $ spent on fancy buildings vs patient care
* right to live (not the same as right to life/pro abortion) - all people deserve to have their most basic right secured and not be killed or tortured due to lack of cash. Medical pros won't admit this happens, but it does. Example - i had to pay for anesthesia out of pocket for my best friend when he had a compound fracture of his arm. They would treat the wound but no anesthesia.
* I pay about $350/month for health insurance for my family. If your employer picks up the tab, they pay about the same. Ouch.
* Scams like HealthSouth.
Since I've been developing or selling software for most of my adult life, I'd like to share a little of what I've learned:
* The industry is not dead. It's evolving. Enterprise apps like Oracle SAP and Siebel have tapped their markets. Typically, this happens every 4-6 years. When the next big technology change occurs (PCs, LANs, 32 Bit GUI Apps, Web, etc), the big guys will get another chance. Right now their trying to add functionality to their products and cross-sell into their account base.
* Small and midsize companies are buying, but they are cheapskates in comparison to large enterprises.
* To compete in the software marketplace you need to have the ability to develop custom software.
* Right now, there is tremendous demand for integration. Portals, EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) and so on are all doing ok. The problem is that this is not sexy work or big $$ work. This is also great space for open source.
I think Larry's off his rocker except for one thing: the days of companies buying everything from Oracle are probably numbered.
While I usually like Lessig's ideas, this one is not good. Why? It's an expensive tax:
* Enforcement costs = expen$ive
* Requires central authority over email
* It's a tax, and in general taxes get bigger over time.
What is really needed to control spam is people that don't respond to it.
Actually, if they did release the code under the GPL, their a substantial ammount of thier claim will be bogus. SCO is up a creek.