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User: EllisDees

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Comments · 1,432

  1. Re:Insane but true... on Microsoft: You Need Permission to Sell Our Software · · Score: 3, Insightful

    >Actually he is correct. You are paying for a LICENSE to use the software.

    No, I'm paying for the software itself. If I walk into Best Buy and purchase a copy of office and a copy of the latest Harry Potter book, I have bought the exact same rights to both. A EULA is no more enforcable than a seal over the book saying that if I broke it, I agree not to resell the book.

    >You do not OWN the software.

    Yes, I do. I own exactly one copy of the software to do with as copyright allows.

    >You can only do what the license allows you to do. You cannot do anything you please.

    Says who? Unless there is a signed contract somewhere, I retain *all* of the usual rights of a purchaser of a piece of copyrighted material.

    >It is not like buying a book. You actually buy the book. Whereas, with software, you are merely licensing it.

    I'm sure that software companies would like us to believe that, but it's simply not true. If I lay down my money and walk out of the store with something, I've bought it.

    >Go pull out your EULA that came with the software that you just "licensed" (not bought!)

    I don't care what the EULA says. I didn't agree to it before the purchase, so it's not a binding contract.

  2. Re:Insane but true... on Microsoft: You Need Permission to Sell Our Software · · Score: 2

    >Remember - in most cases, such as Microsoft's Office suite, you own the CD but not necessarily the underlying software or the right to use it, unless you own a license.

    That is not correct. Unless you have entered into a legal, signed contract with Microsoft (as I'm sure K-Mart did in this story), the software is covered only by copyright law. You are free to do with it whatever you please (including selling it) as long as you are not violating Microsoft's copyright. It is no different than buying a book.

  3. Re:Nothing here so far on Suit Up Or Ship Out? · · Score: 1

    >sorry, but I can easily replace any IT person.

    Your IT people must suck then.

    >the market is saturated with lots of very talented people.

    You're joking, right? The market may be saturated, but it's not with the talented people. People who actually know their shit can still name their salary, let alone their clothing.

    >I have at least 4 resumes here on my desk

    Could you tell me what company you work for? I want to dump any of their stock that I might own if they have people like you making hiring decisions.

  4. Re:Gah, no thanks... on Suit Up Or Ship Out? · · Score: 2

    >A tie is a badge which (when flashed in the visual field of a subset of the set of business drones) means "I have some role in the smooth running of this operation"

    Nah. I don't have to wear a tie for people to know that I'm good at a job. My work speaks for itself. There sure are a bunch of fuckups who *do* wear ties, and it doesn't seem to help them one bit when it comes time for our performance evaluations.

  5. Re:Thank you! on Freenet 0.5 Released · · Score: 2

    Congress has already subverted this clause by extending copyrights for an effectively unlimited time.

  6. Re:how about "classic porn" in ascii?? on Flash Version of Adventure · · Score: 2

    Mplayer supports the Ascii-Art library, so you can sit around and watch any movie you like in ascii. :)

  7. Re:Crap on Humans Use 83 Percent of Earth's Surface · · Score: 2

    >Sheesh, how about irrigating the desert?

    Sheesh, how about where the hell are you going to get the water? The fact that Las Vegas is one of the fastest growing cities in the country is a testament to how short-sighted people can be.

  8. Re:Exactly on Congress Members Oppose GPL for Government Research · · Score: 2

    I'm a big supported of the GPL, but in this case they are right. Government funded code should be released under the BSD license so that everyone has an equal shot at using it to their advantage.

  9. Re:turn a 45/55 into a 56/55 on The Free State Project · · Score: 2

    You're forgetting that only about half of the eligible population votes at all. There is little doubt that they could get at least a congressional district with this many people.

  10. Re:it must be a point... on There's a Hole in the Middle of It All · · Score: 2

    It doesn't matter if 'reality' expands faster than the speed of light. Since nothing in our universe can go that fast, the effective border of our universe is as far as light could have travelled since its beginning.

  11. Re:it must be a point... on There's a Hole in the Middle of It All · · Score: 0

    I think you're right. That's what I get for doing one too many "a train leaves Chicago at 12:00" problems in high school. :)

  12. Re:it must be a point... on There's a Hole in the Middle of It All · · Score: 2

    Nope. If the universe began at the big bang, about 15 billion years ago, it would be about 30 billion light years across, no? A black hole doesn't have to be all that dense, actually. All it needs is enough mass in a volume so that the escape velocity of that volume is greater than the speed of light. I guess in a weird way, you could think of our universe as a black hole - after all, it's impossible to get above the escape velocity (speed of light) to get out. ;)

  13. Re:it must be a point... on There's a Hole in the Middle of It All · · Score: 1

    Actually, no. The gravitational attraction is so great that the Pauli exclusion principle is overcome. In other words, things like electrons and neutrons cease to exist. The exlusion principle is what keeps neutron stars from collapsing further.

  14. Re:SSl baby on UC Irvine Cracks Down on P2P · · Score: 2

    Seriously. At this point it is almost trivial to add encryption to any p2p program. I can only wonder why all the big guys haven't started doing this already.

  15. Re:I'll go a step further here... on Ready, Steady, Evolve · · Score: 1

    >Who is to say that God didn't create the mechanism of evolution? It goes along with my belief that God wouldn't create a creature that couldn't adapt.

    That explaination is certainly not in contradiction with any facts we currently know. I would bet that a lot of scientists even share that view. The only people I have a problem with are those who deny reality in order to prop up their own faith. There is really no contradiction between evolution and creation when you view them from the right vantage point.

  16. Re:Hmm... on Ready, Steady, Evolve · · Score: 3, Informative

    >I'm sure that the bombardier beetle's defense mechanism had some sort of intermediate form as well.

    Yup!

    http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/bombardier.html

  17. Re:not even that many on That Link Is Illegal · · Score: 2

    >8th: Cruel and unusual punishment -- such as previous situation

    We don't actually administer the cruel and unusual punishment. We just ship people off to places like Israel or Egypt where they can be interrogated (read: tortured) without that pesky constitution getting in the way.

  18. Re:Life on Earth on New Scientist: Venus' Atmosphere Implies Life · · Score: 2

    The post that I responded to was talking about 'native forms' of life on venus, not transplanted ones.

    Besides, many of those bacteria are extremely hardy. They can withstand both hard vacuum and cosmic rays and still remain viable. We sent some up on a satellite a few years ago and bacteria were able to survive fine with just a little soil for protection.

  19. Re:Life on Earth on New Scientist: Venus' Atmosphere Implies Life · · Score: 3, Informative

    >it could be a native form (at 70C?? I doubt it)

    Why? We have identified thermophiles that can survive in temperatures over 100C here on earth.

  20. Re:I just hope they would... on New Scientist: Venus' Atmosphere Implies Life · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Let's break it down:

    a - prefix meaning lack of.
    theism - belief in a god or gods.

    atheism - lack of belief in a god or gods.

    Atheists do not necessarily claim that there are no gods, only that they have no belief in them.

  21. Re:Killer App on Xiph.org Releases Theora Alpha One · · Score: 2

    You mean like Grip? Well, at least the ripping part.

  22. Wow. Hard. on Xiph.org Releases Theora Alpha One · · Score: 1

    ./configure
    make
    make install

  23. Re:You don't say? on MacArthur Foundation Announces Genius Grants · · Score: 1

    Straight from the department of redundancy department...

  24. Re:Why not? on Court Addresses Legality of Shrinkwrap Licenses · · Score: 2

    > But the software makers claim you never owned anything, you only licensed the use of their property.

    Yes, they claim that. They are wrong. What is it called when you walk into a store, buy something, and leave? A sale. You have bought one copy of whatever it was.

    >Realtors(tm) have a book that they are not allowed to let out of their hands, ever. I don't think they ever "own" the book, it is only licensed for their use by being a Realtor(tm). No, I am not just being paranoid about the trademark thing either. You are either a Realtor(tm), and pay their fees or you are a real estate agent.

    I'm sure there is an actual signed contract to go along with it too.

  25. Re:And? on Court Addresses Legality of Shrinkwrap Licenses · · Score: 2

    A contract is an agreement signed by two parties. If I walk into a store and buy a piece of software, I am doing exactly that - buying it. At that point, you have all of the rights that copyright law gives you to the use of that product. Any restrictions applied after the sale are invalid.