The Germans know that the cause of WW2 was the outcome of WW1. OK, they (or rather the Kaiser and his military elite, the product of the conquest of the rest of the German states by Prussia) made WW1 into a pan-European conflict. But the result is that modern Germans are well placed to understand that aggression and invasion ultimately result in a cycle of violence unless something really intelligent is done afterwards. Like Marshall Aid.
Much like the current conflict in Iraq is the result of the outcome of the First Gulf War and the inadequate resolution it came to. There was too much left undone on both sides for there to be lasting peace (if you think there was peace, ask a pilot who was being shot at daily enforcing terms of Iraq's surrender or the people who were missled in retaliation). I can only hope the final resolution is one that General Marshall would have been proud of.
Restricting (not banning) access to mindless violence and seeking to promote more constructive engagement seems to me like a sensible thing for a government to do.
If you don't like your freedom, then let govenment ban inconsequential items like video games. It's when government intrudes on small liberties that it gains the audacity to oppress on bigger issues. Of course, some people like being told what to do.
Last I looked most of the media outlets (i.e. Disney) were NOT parts of the vast right wing conspiracy. Most right wingers were very disappointed at the passage of the Mickey Mouse Protection Act and are not in favor of chilling or ending free speach. Of course, the left would like the right to be:) Reality is that copyright interests don't fall to the left or the right. In other words, you don't do the cause good when you attempt to lay blame on the wrong demon, ghoul or spectre. I do violently agree that the following are the culprits:
* The market * The Supreme Court * Voter Apathy and Citizen Complacency * Cash
In fact, shareware has been co-opted by many mainstream software vendors! For example Macromedia and Adobe: You can download limited time trial software from their site and pay online to license. Sure, the days of going to the computer store and buying 3.5" floppies with shareware for $3.00 each are gone, but now most software vendors let you try before you buy.
I had a Hyundai 286. It was a great deal when we bought it:
1MB RAM (when used with LIM RAM extension driver) ATI EGA Wonder (800x600 w/16 colors) and fast, too. 30 MB Seagate RLL Hard Drive 5.25 AND 3.6" floppies.
We paid $1899 for it and it came with an EGA monitor and Star NX1000 9 pin printer. The printer rocked - it had a "HQ" mode that could rival most 25 pin printers, did multiple fonts and most importantly lasted about 10 years.
It came with "mosaic suit" which was a rip off of Lotus 1-2-3 with a word processor, database and goofy graphing program.
It ran for about five years - then the RLL drive gave up. We replaced the drive and gave it away to a nursing home.
I think the entire spam situation is getting silly and the people talking about making laws, regulating, etc... haven't advanced a single idea that strikes a ballance that would allow marketeers to do what they do without being a burden on the system. Here's where the provlems really are:
1) the problem is bad, but mostly because there are no central authorities with respect to email. I adminster my own server and control what is delivered and what is not.
2) Voluntary standards are readily ignored by spammers and administrators alike. Whouldn't it be nice if the spammers would use a header to tell us the message was "unsolicited, subscription, or personal" content? Hint they wont because people will filter out unsolicited.
3) The trade off is authenticicity vs. anonymity... to stop spam, emailers need to be authenticated, but that cuts against one of the features that makes the internet so useful. If can't send a message without being identifed, then you could stop spam. Problem is there is no controlling authority and users by and large don't want one for email.
4) Pricing and payments - this is the real problem. What it comes down to is no one really pays for delivering spam except in the form of indirect expense (bandwidth, cpu time, etc)... so it's hard to quantify the damage that spam causes. Regardless, there's no central controling authority on email anyway.
Reality is that spam will exist until there is a central controling authority for email. And frankly, no one likes central controling athorities anyway. SO, filter away.
I suspect this guy will get off the hook either at trial or on appeal. The restriction on mod chips is unconstitutional in every way it can be, and the redirect tactic is bad, too. The only way he won't get off is if this is a plea bargain where they are allowing him to plead guilty to this charge instead of a more severe one.
BTW - I'd stay off related websites... Unless you want to get a formal realtionship with federal athorities. This is like your bookie getting busted.
When this thing gets declared unconstitutional or some offshore company does a FOIA for the list and starts calling it, my phone will never stop ringing....
And if you take out the engine and cut a hole in the floor for "Flintstone power" propulsion, it would get infinate milage... I'll believe a 200MPG car when I can go to the dealer and buy one.
#3) Unbreakable encryption exists, it is called a one time pad. The Vernam method is regarded to be the best method by many experts. Unfortunately it relies 100% on use of a totally random key and the foresight to never use the same random key twice. If you use the same key more than once... it is breakable. If you fail to use a true random pad, it is breakable.
The one-time pad is unbreakable if used properly. The pad must be composed of truly random data, it must never be used more than once and it must be kept secure.
On the car - you could have been a real smart-ass and pointed out that my kid's pedal car gets unlimited miles to the gallon... Did you see the specs on it - no power.
With that attitude, we are doomed to repeat history again.
2) Did it happen to someone you've never met? Of course it did. But the scar from the wound is still there.
You can either be you, SalesGeek, an unique person, who has his own hobbies, his own skills, his own friends, or you can be "An Indian". I am not from India and therefore not an Indian. Do you still refer to people of African decent as "Niggers"? On has to assume so since the term "Indian" is just as insulting and poisonous.
I am both myself and I am Native American, too, just as you come from the culture of your parents. I choose to honor my roots to the extent it is possible. One of those roots is the legacy left by the way my people were virtually wiped out and assimilated into the American culture.
You *can't* have it both ways. What do you want to be, you, or "just another indian"?
I can have it both ways. I am myself, and part of myself comes from my family. To deny who I am and my roots is to deny myself. And you are simply another racist appologist trying to justify your inability to accept diversity.
I can't believe the press falls for the following claims which have a track record of being 100% false:
1) The end of the world is coming... next year. 2) 150MPG Automobile 3) Unbreakable Encryption/Copy Protection/Computer Security (this claim replaced the uncrackable safe and the unpickable lock) 4) We'll run out of food in 10 years! 5) This year, the Cubs will win the World Series
I've always hated the Sun channel - it is considerably more difficult to buy and sell Sun that PC gear. I wonder where Sun would be if they had a really good open channel...
Political Correctness is a problem - sometimes. But in this case, it is at a level higher than PC. Perhaps because we never again want to see another people go through what our people have been through.
To a Native American like myself, to compare a great human tradgedy to your problems with an incomplete piece software is insulting. It trivializes the death of much of my people and the death of our entire way of life and culture. It's just a bad analogy.
C is a tool. The person programming the bomber is a toolmaker. The pilot is alas a soldier following orders, the orders come from a government, and that government exists at the privelidge of the people it serves.
Microsoft use the "repeat until people start to beieve it"
I disagree with this. To accept this position, you have to be in a vaccum, not knowing what the alternatives at the time were. MS has come out with some good stuff, relative to the competition at the time. What they've done exceptionally well is understand the relative value of their product to that of the competition. In other words, they've got the important thing right: what is it that buyers really want, and what is window dressing? Let's go back a little bit:
VisualBasic (or whatever) vs. Borland: VB was easy. VBX controls were easy. Programmers that couldn't deal with the complexity of C and C++ could code real GUI applications. And it was cheap.
WordPerfect, 1-2-3 and dBase dominate the desktop under DOS. MS Strategy: come out with an integrated office suite that includes all three for a lot less money. Reality is that the total cost of WP, 123 and DB was over $1000. MS Office was a cool $395.
NT Server Vs Netware: All FUD aside, NT Server had the advantage of being easier to install, easier to manage and had the advantage of being easier to learn because it worked like Windows. It also let programmers write server applications using tools they knew already. It was a little less expensive than NW in comparable configurations.
NT Workstation vs. Unix: Unix is clearly a superior operating system than NT. You can do more with it. You have to know how to make it go. And, with the exception of the OSS *nix systems, it's expensive. Where MS won is on value: a fast intel box running NT was a better buy (read cost less) than a fast Sun, IBM or Silicon Graphics box running Unix. Of course, if you are an Unix end user and got your beloved Sun replaced with an HP Kayak, you probably feel violated at some level (I did).
SQL Server v. Oracle/DB2: Less money. Less capability, but vastly more capability than most small and midsize corporate customers will ever tap. BTW - SQL Server was inexpensive compared to the competition, too.
You also have to understand that something that is free and is not from a clearly defined competitor is not traditional business competition. It is a new model, and one I think will transform the industry over the next five years. Open Source is just now getting real momentum. Open source development tools are doing for internet applications what VisualBasic did for GUI applciations: making it possible for the non-ninja programmer to get very, very good results. I think tools like PHP, Zope, Postgress, MySQL and the open scripting languages (perl, python, ruby, etc...) are transforming the way software is created. And they run best on open source operating systems.
What will be interesting is the appearance of a viable model for the open development and extension of applications that don't adhere to standards or protocols (most network software, browsers, databases and development tools are implementations of a standard). This is where MS has had an advantage: they have not been afraid to create new standards or to extend them to get new functionality. This has been to the chagrin of competitors ("embrace and extend") but has lead to great leaps forward in functionality for their software.
I just have no sympathy for whiny, rich people who are desperate to "find themselves," which is the meme it seems that this book is enamored with.
Maybe you are not pursuing your own dreams and desires. Possibly your resent these people because they have achieved what you aspire to and do not want it. Believe it or not, you may be richer in their eyes that they are in yours.
Think about it. Money and possessions are a small part of life, and in the end they don't matter much. Friendships matter. Relationships with others matter. Using the limited time you have on this world to pursue what you want to matters.
* $20 to rent an $8 table.
* $25 for access to an electrical outlet. Don't plug anything in yourself, though, or some teamster will break your fingers.
* $200 for access to a fractional T1 (a very small fraction, most times).
* $10 to rent a $4 chair. * Want carpet? That'll be $100. Want that carpet unrolled?...
Man, you got a good deal. My table at the last itec was #80 and the electic was $90.
You'd rather have 1 talented guy with a big ego that (can) drive(s) other developers away or 10-15 developers a little less talented, but who can actively work together? Just remember: There is no "i" in team, but half of team is "me."
What if we had an open-source codec, which was capable of operating with or without DRM
The reason that I get up in arms over DRM is it's a waste of time and money: it will be cracked and probably sooner than later. This whole excercise is pointless and a waste of everyone's time. And BTW - hardware based does not mean uncrackable.
When they start fining people $250,000 for downloading a song worth $1.20 if you bought it, it won't take long for the people to assert their rights. I'd be surprised if the courts let the law stand anyway because punishment is unusually severe.
I know very few people who would switch server platforms for a security product.
Maybe not for a product, but they will switch for security. I've replaced many a server because of constant security issues. Funny thing happens when you count money with a computer...
After reading the whitepapers and all, I'm kind of impressed with TCPA. It's a new capability that really could be used to make a system more secure and stable. Kudos to IBM and the guy for AMI for attempting to explain it.
So the question is how will we use this new capability?
I agree that stealing is wrong. I think the problem with the record business (or the ink cartridge business) is that we have the victim and thief backwards. BTW - stealing ink cartridges isn't a good idea. We don't need shoplifters making the $40 cartridge for my $35 printer more expensive!
Slashdot Mirror
Much like the current conflict in Iraq is the result of the outcome of the First Gulf War and the inadequate resolution it came to. There was too much left undone on both sides for there to be lasting peace (if you think there was peace, ask a pilot who was being shot at daily enforcing terms of Iraq's surrender or the people who were missled in retaliation). I can only hope the final resolution is one that General Marshall would have been proud of.
If you don't like your freedom, then let govenment ban inconsequential items like video games. It's when government intrudes on small liberties that it gains the audacity to oppress on bigger issues. Of course, some people like being told what to do.
$G
Last I looked most of the media outlets (i.e. Disney) were NOT parts of the vast right wing conspiracy. Most right wingers were very disappointed at the passage of the Mickey Mouse Protection Act and are not in favor of chilling or ending free speach. Of course, the left would like the right to be:) Reality is that copyright interests don't fall to the left or the right. In other words, you don't do the cause good when you attempt to lay blame on the wrong demon, ghoul or spectre. I do violently agree that the following are the culprits:
* The market
* The Supreme Court
* Voter Apathy and Citizen Complacency
* Cash
$G
In fact, shareware has been co-opted by many mainstream software vendors! For example Macromedia and Adobe: You can download limited time trial software from their site and pay online to license. Sure, the days of going to the computer store and buying 3.5" floppies with shareware for $3.00 each are gone, but now most software vendors let you try before you buy.
I had a Hyundai 286. It was a great deal when we bought it:
1MB RAM (when used with LIM RAM extension driver)
ATI EGA Wonder (800x600 w/16 colors) and fast, too.
30 MB Seagate RLL Hard Drive
5.25 AND 3.6" floppies.
We paid $1899 for it and it came with an EGA monitor and Star NX1000 9 pin printer. The printer rocked - it had a "HQ" mode that could rival most 25 pin printers, did multiple fonts and most importantly lasted about 10 years.
It came with "mosaic suit" which was a rip off of Lotus 1-2-3 with a word processor, database and goofy graphing program.
It ran for about five years - then the RLL drive gave up. We replaced the drive and gave it away to a nursing home.
I think the entire spam situation is getting silly and the people talking about making laws, regulating, etc... haven't advanced a single idea that strikes a ballance that would allow marketeers to do what they do without being a burden on the system. Here's where the provlems really are:
1) the problem is bad, but mostly because there are no central authorities with respect to email. I adminster my own server and control what is delivered and what is not.
2) Voluntary standards are readily ignored by spammers and administrators alike. Whouldn't it be nice if the spammers would use a header to tell us the message was "unsolicited, subscription, or personal" content? Hint they wont because people will filter out unsolicited.
3) The trade off is authenticicity vs. anonymity... to stop spam, emailers need to be authenticated, but that cuts against one of the features that makes the internet so useful. If can't send a message without being identifed, then you could stop spam. Problem is there is no controlling authority and users by and large don't want one for email.
4) Pricing and payments - this is the real problem. What it comes down to is no one really pays for delivering spam except in the form of indirect expense (bandwidth, cpu time, etc)... so it's hard to quantify the damage that spam causes. Regardless, there's no central controling authority on email anyway.
Reality is that spam will exist until there is a central controling authority for email. And frankly, no one likes central controling athorities anyway. SO, filter away.
I suspect this guy will get off the hook either at trial or on appeal. The restriction on mod chips is unconstitutional in every way it can be, and the redirect tactic is bad, too. The only way he won't get off is if this is a plea bargain where they are allowing him to plead guilty to this charge instead of a more severe one.
BTW - I'd stay off related websites... Unless you want to get a formal realtionship with federal athorities. This is like your bookie getting busted.
When this thing gets declared unconstitutional or some offshore company does a FOIA for the list and starts calling it, my phone will never stop ringing....
NOT GOOD.
And if you take out the engine and cut a hole in the floor for "Flintstone power" propulsion, it would get infinate milage... I'll believe a 200MPG car when I can go to the dealer and buy one.
From Protechnix:
On the car - you could have been a real smart-ass and pointed out that my kid's pedal car gets unlimited miles to the gallon... Did you see the specs on it - no power.
1) Did it happen before you were born?
With that attitude, we are doomed to repeat history again.
2) Did it happen to someone you've never met?
Of course it did. But the scar from the wound is still there.
You can either be you, SalesGeek, an unique person, who has his own hobbies, his own skills, his own friends, or you can be "An Indian".
I am not from India and therefore not an Indian. Do you still refer to people of African decent as "Niggers"? On has to assume so since the term "Indian" is just as insulting and poisonous.
I am both myself and I am Native American, too, just as you come from the culture of your parents. I choose to honor my roots to the extent it is possible. One of those roots is the legacy left by the way my people were virtually wiped out and assimilated into the American culture.
You *can't* have it both ways. What do you want to be, you, or "just another indian"?
I can have it both ways. I am myself, and part of myself comes from my family. To deny who I am and my roots is to deny myself. And you are simply another racist appologist trying to justify your inability to accept diversity.
I can't believe the press falls for the following claims which have a track record of being 100% false:
1) The end of the world is coming... next year.
2) 150MPG Automobile
3) Unbreakable Encryption/Copy Protection/Computer Security (this claim replaced the uncrackable safe and the unpickable lock)
4) We'll run out of food in 10 years!
5) This year, the Cubs will win the World Series
I've always hated the Sun channel - it is considerably more difficult to buy and sell Sun that PC gear. I wonder where Sun would be if they had a really good open channel...
Political Correctness is a problem - sometimes. But in this case, it is at a level higher than PC. Perhaps because we never again want to see another people go through what our people have been through.
To a Native American like myself, to compare a great human tradgedy to your problems with an incomplete piece software is insulting. It trivializes the death of much of my people and the death of our entire way of life and culture. It's just a bad analogy.
C is a tool. The person programming the bomber is a toolmaker. The pilot is alas a soldier following orders, the orders come from a government, and that government exists at the privelidge of the people it serves.
I disagree with this. To accept this position, you have to be in a vaccum, not knowing what the alternatives at the time were. MS has come out with some good stuff, relative to the competition at the time. What they've done exceptionally well is understand the relative value of their product to that of the competition. In other words, they've got the important thing right: what is it that buyers really want, and what is window dressing? Let's go back a little bit:
VisualBasic (or whatever) vs. Borland: VB was easy. VBX controls were easy. Programmers that couldn't deal with the complexity of C and C++ could code real GUI applications. And it was cheap.
WordPerfect, 1-2-3 and dBase dominate the desktop under DOS. MS Strategy: come out with an integrated office suite that includes all three for a lot less money. Reality is that the total cost of WP, 123 and DB was over $1000. MS Office was a cool $395.
NT Server Vs Netware: All FUD aside, NT Server had the advantage of being easier to install, easier to manage and had the advantage of being easier to learn because it worked like Windows. It also let programmers write server applications using tools they knew already. It was a little less expensive than NW in comparable configurations.
NT Workstation vs. Unix: Unix is clearly a superior operating system than NT. You can do more with it. You have to know how to make it go. And, with the exception of the OSS *nix systems, it's expensive. Where MS won is on value: a fast intel box running NT was a better buy (read cost less) than a fast Sun, IBM or Silicon Graphics box running Unix. Of course, if you are an Unix end user and got your beloved Sun replaced with an HP Kayak, you probably feel violated at some level (I did).
SQL Server v. Oracle/DB2: Less money. Less capability, but vastly more capability than most small and midsize corporate customers will ever tap. BTW - SQL Server was inexpensive compared to the competition, too.
You also have to understand that something that is free and is not from a clearly defined competitor is not traditional business competition. It is a new model, and one I think will transform the industry over the next five years. Open Source is just now getting real momentum. Open source development tools are doing for internet applications what VisualBasic did for GUI applciations: making it possible for the non-ninja programmer to get very, very good results. I think tools like PHP, Zope, Postgress, MySQL and the open scripting languages (perl, python, ruby, etc...) are transforming the way software is created. And they run best on open source operating systems.
What will be interesting is the appearance of a viable model for the open development and extension of applications that don't adhere to standards or protocols (most network software, browsers, databases and development tools are implementations of a standard). This is where MS has had an advantage: they have not been afraid to create new standards or to extend them to get new functionality. This has been to the chagrin of competitors ("embrace and extend") but has lead to great leaps forward in functionality for their software.
$G
Trek II had great effects for it's time. The thing that made it good is that is was a good story.
Maybe you are not pursuing your own dreams and desires. Possibly your resent these people because they have achieved what you aspire to and do not want it. Believe it or not, you may be richer in their eyes that they are in yours.
Think about it. Money and possessions are a small part of life, and in the end they don't matter much. Friendships matter. Relationships with others matter. Using the limited time you have on this world to pursue what you want to matters.
Don't waste time being bitter. Life is too short.
* $20 to rent an $8 table.
* $25 for access to an electrical outlet. Don't plug anything in yourself, though, or some teamster will break your fingers.
* $200 for access to a fractional T1 (a very small fraction, most times).
* $10 to rent a $4 chair.
* Want carpet? That'll be $100. Want that carpet unrolled?...
Man, you got a good deal. My table at the last itec was #80 and the electic was $90.
Sheesh.
You'd rather have 1 talented guy with a big ego that (can) drive(s) other developers away or 10-15 developers a little less talented, but who can actively work together? Just remember:
There is no "i" in team, but half of team is "me."
$G
When they start fining people $250,000 for downloading a song worth $1.20 if you bought it, it won't take long for the people to assert their rights. I'd be surprised if the courts let the law stand anyway because punishment is unusually severe.
Just because I choose to use a boilerplate letter does not make my opinion any different. Just better written.
$G
After reading the whitepapers and all, I'm kind of impressed with TCPA. It's a new capability that really could be used to make a system more secure and stable. Kudos to IBM and the guy for AMI for attempting to explain it.
So the question is how will we use this new capability?
I agree that stealing is wrong. I think the problem with the record business (or the ink cartridge business) is that we have the victim and thief backwards. BTW - stealing ink cartridges isn't a good idea. We don't need shoplifters making the $40 cartridge for my $35 printer more expensive!