However, if the content industry gets its way, we're looking at legislation mandating DRM [...]. Our best hope, I'm surprised at myself to say, is in a Free Market
...will win in the end: when content is issued with unreasonable restrictions on it don't buy it! DRM will go the way of the dodo bird if people don't put up with it, regardless of legislation.
The silly translucent station logos are bad enough, as is squishing the credits to unreadability, and the line of text that pops up at the bottom to continue a commercial break a little longer for the station is starting to cross the line, but if they really start interfering with the show itself, I'll turn it off and wait for it to come out on DVD and watch it then. I don't mind non-intrusive product placement, but what they really need to do is make commercials worth watching. I wish I had a Tivo when Tasters Choice was running their serial commercial, as I missed several of them, and I don't like coffee! But I'd rather start paying directly for my tv shows, or do without entirely, than put up with intrusive advertising.
Don Dorsey also did one called Beethoven or Bust that was quite good, and I would add Isao Tomita and Jean-Michel Jarre to the list, though I'm sure Tomita offends pure classical lovers by doing electronic renditions. His Snowflakes Are Dancing album is especially quite good however, and is what (showing my age) turned me on to electronic music originally.
...and too many bells. What I've been wanting for some time is a Tivo for radio. A real tivo for radio. This is a vcr for radio, as you have to program the timer. I want something that I can say "record Radio Reader" and "Weird DJs in the Morning" etc.
Then, a recent addition to the wishlist, is to say "copy the latest recordings onto cdr" (or cdrw if my car player will read them) so I can play them in the car.
The fact is when you're paying $20-30/mo for a high speed connection and bandwidth alone costs hundreds, up to thousands (though that's rare these days) per month, and that's not counting the cost of equipment, upgrades, customer support and living wages, you're not buying a dedicated connection. You're buying the right to occasionally get fast downloads and fast intermittent usage. You're more than welcome to use 802.11 for your own computers, you're just not welcome to share it with everyone else. If you want to do that, spend the big bucks for a real dedicated connection instead of sponging off the people that are.
This script does not dictate anything, nor does it block any browsers. It simply suggests that there are alternatives to people who might not otherwise be aware, and the message can be tailored to suit your taste...
I loved my sparrow...when it was working. A number of them have had short-lived belts --- it's a belt drive and not field replaceable. It's not hard to replace, but does require taking apart the drive train. There have been a number of other problems, and indications of problems at Corbin that make this an unwise choice. And I really wanted to take passengers along also...
As long as a large enough percentage of users are using IE, complaining won't help much. You can help educate them with a variation of the following stuck in your <head></head> section:
<script language="JavaScript"> <!-- Hide the script from old browsers that don't recognize scripts
var browser_name = navigator.appName; var browser_version = parseFloat(navigator.appVersion);
if (browser_name == "Microsoft Internet Explorer") { document.write("<font face=\"Futura, Kudos, Helvetica, Arial\">"); document.write("<center>\n"); document.write("My condolences! "); document.write("You appear to be running Internet Explorer.<br>\n"); document.write("I highly recommend checking out "); document.write("<a href=\"http://www.opera.com\">Opera</a>\n"); document.write("as an alternative...\n"); document.write("</center>\n"); document.write("</font>\n"); document.write("<p>\n"); }// --> </script>
I think the whole UnitedLinux thing is lame- the distros that want to be compatible already are.
Being a FreeBSD user, and thus to some extent part of the problem;-), I'm only peripherally aware of what's going on here, but an attempt to unify the operating environment of the various Unices can only help. Unifying Linux would be a great start. The inability to do this in the late 80's, combined with a refusal to make a user interface the mere mortals could use, handed the PC market to Microsoft in the first place. Unix was going gangbusters back then and was on the verge of standardizing, but everyone had to do their own thing, and Billy jumped in. And it's taken another 10-15 years for Apple to put a pretty face on Unix. The Open Source version still has a long ways to go yet to match it.
"There are just some places man was never meant to go..."
FreeBSD: a background of flames with the Berkeley Daemon flying past. Random traditionally demonic figures fading in and out of the flames, all with the face of Bill Gates.
Linux: a bunch of penguins nudging each other at the edge of an ice cliff. As we fly past, we see sharks in the water, all with Bill Gates' face on them.
It's easier to vandalize a Web site than to program a remote control.
This article just lost all credibility.
Re:currency tracking hardly needs rfids
on
Greenbacks No More
·
· Score: 2
I know smart cards are quite common in Europe, but I didn't see any computers with readers when I was there. I would also want to make sure the protocols were safe, yet didn't leave tracks. I would like to see PDA's with readers also, so say we're at lunch and you all pay my pda, then I put it in my card (or maybe it has a dual reader and you do the transfer direct into my card), then I pay the bill --- simplifies the waiter(ess)'s job. Though I could also see them leaving a terminal with the bill at the table and each person checks off their menu items and enters a tip amount.
Still, you folks "across the pond" are way ahead of us and I'd first like to figure a way to get us jump started. American Express tried, but their software sucks so bad, it isn't useful as anything but a regular credit card.
Re:currency tracking hardly needs rfids
on
Greenbacks No More
·
· Score: 2
It's definitely time for a good smart-card based cash system. We need a good incentive for people to get smart card readers on their computers and then someone can start up a Paypal-esque system to use them...
Videophones never caught one because there's no point in sending a continuous video stream of your face (unless, of course, you're getting naked, and then it's pointed elsewhere).
That's exactly why I don't want a camera in my phone, though it's more an issue at home than mobile for obvious reasons: I don't always answer the phone in a state where the person on the other end wants a picture... if there's a camera attached, there are going to be any number of embarrassing incidents where pictures get sent by accident...
I picked up a Sipix for $50 at Fry's a few weeks that's got basically the same specs and a lot cheaper. Albeit 640x480, but the picture quality is quite good... And if you're really cheap, Polaroid has a $35 320x240 digital camera...
Or rather, imagine if a tag on the underside of the bed read "You agree to the agreement on our website just by laying on this bed."
That's not the way these work. I think even when you buy a windoze pre-installed, you have to click on it when the machine fires up the first time.
Even if not, the real issue is that people put up with this crap because it rarely impacts them. They simply click and go on, and then when Kazaa uses it (or more likely, a hacker who figures out how to take it over), they'll scream "they shouldn't have been allowed to do that! Pass a law!" Well, if people would Just Say No in the first place, there wouldn't be a problem. But apathy rules, and as a result, there isn't any commercial software out there that doesn't have an egregious EULA.
I would support a law that required a plain english version in front of the legalese, and that the whole thing had to be less than a page.
It does help both quality and security, but it's impractical. The primary time I want it is for hands free use, particularly driving, and don't want to hassle with digging out the headset, plugging it in and putting it on when I think of something --- I want it spontaneously and immediately before I forget it.
Yup, though it will need to be speaker dependent for security reasons, as noted. I want three specific things:
Open calendar Calendar open New item meeting with joe tuesday at three thirty for two hours New item entered for tuesday june eighteenth two thousand three at three thirty for two hours - meeting with joe end calendar calendar closed
open todo list todo list open new item get latest phaser mark... new item entered in todo list priority one uncategorized get latest phaser mark extend last item extending mark eight with enhanced disruptor last item now reads get latest phaser mark eight with enhanced disruptor categorize last item fry's shopping list last item placed in fry's shopping list category close todo list todo list closed
voice recorder on recording blah de blah de slash who? de blah blah end recording... recording off playback blah de blah de slash who? de blah blah store as text memo slashblah converted to text and stored as memo slashblah
Although it's a little verbose, I think at least the first versions will require the confirmations so you learn to trust it (or not, depending on whether it works).
And it needs to have wireless and a long battery life. There's an empire the likes of which Microsoft only dreams of having awaiting the inventor of a good hi-capacity, quick recharge battery.
Arguing that larger-than-life characters such as Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, and Dorothy Parker were the rock stars of their time, Wolff points out that 'where before you'd be happy only at gold and platinum levels, soon you'll be grateful if you have a release that sells 30,000 or 40,000 units -- that will be your bread and butter.
And it's all because libraries let people share books at will, depriving book pub...er authors of their just rewards! Not to mention those people reading magazines in the bathroom! It's your moral obligation to buy books to read in the other "library"!
...then the product is designed badly. As with all rules, there are exceptions, but for most consumer products and gui software I think there are very few.
I went there to get it, and admittedly, it's not as bad as some I could mention (and start a flame war;-) ), but couldn't they offer up something good?
Slashdot Mirror
Wasn't the 68000 asynchronous?
The silly translucent station logos are bad enough, as is squishing the credits to unreadability, and the line of text that pops up at the bottom to continue a commercial break a little longer for the station is starting to cross the line, but if they really start interfering with the show itself, I'll turn it off and wait for it to come out on DVD and watch it then. I don't mind non-intrusive product placement, but what they really need to do is make commercials worth watching. I wish I had a Tivo when Tasters Choice was running their serial commercial, as I missed several of them, and I don't like coffee! But I'd rather start paying directly for my tv shows, or do without entirely, than put up with intrusive advertising.
Don Dorsey also did one called Beethoven or Bust that was quite good, and I would add Isao Tomita and Jean-Michel Jarre to the list, though I'm sure Tomita offends pure classical lovers by doing electronic renditions. His Snowflakes Are Dancing album is especially quite good however, and is what (showing my age) turned me on to electronic music originally.
...I think they should call them Terminators.
Then, a recent addition to the wishlist, is to say "copy the latest recordings onto cdr" (or cdrw if my car player will read them) so I can play them in the car.
I'd almost pay a kilobuck for that...
The fact is when you're paying $20-30/mo for a high speed connection and bandwidth alone costs hundreds, up to thousands (though that's rare these days) per month, and that's not counting the cost of equipment, upgrades, customer support and living wages, you're not buying a dedicated connection. You're buying the right to occasionally get fast downloads and fast intermittent usage. You're more than welcome to use 802.11 for your own computers, you're just not welcome to share it with everyone else. If you want to do that, spend the big bucks for a real dedicated connection instead of sponging off the people that are.
This script does not dictate anything, nor does it block any browsers. It simply suggests that there are alternatives to people who might not otherwise be aware, and the message can be tailored to suit your taste...
Any business that requires a passport login can be sure that it won't get any business from me...
I loved my sparrow...when it was working. A number of them have had short-lived belts --- it's a belt drive and not field replaceable. It's not hard to replace, but does require taking apart the drive train. There have been a number of other problems, and indications of problems at Corbin that make this an unwise choice. And I really wanted to take passengers along also...
As long as a large enough percentage of users are using IE, complaining won't help much. You can help educate them with a variation of the following stuck in your <head></head> section:
// -->
<script language="JavaScript">
<!-- Hide the script from old browsers that don't recognize scripts
var browser_name = navigator.appName;
var browser_version = parseFloat(navigator.appVersion);
if (browser_name == "Microsoft Internet Explorer") {
document.write("<font face=\"Futura, Kudos, Helvetica, Arial\">");
document.write("<center>\n");
document.write("My condolences! ");
document.write("You appear to be running Internet Explorer.<br>\n");
document.write("I highly recommend checking out ");
document.write("<a href=\"http://www.opera.com\">Opera</a>\n");
document.write("as an alternative...\n");
document.write("</center>\n");
document.write("</font>\n");
document.write("<p>\n");
}
</script>
Asimov discussed this idea decades ago...
Being a FreeBSD user, and thus to some extent part of the problem ;-), I'm only peripherally aware of what's going on here, but an attempt to unify the operating environment of the various Unices can only help. Unifying Linux would be a great start. The inability to do this in the late 80's, combined with a refusal to make a user interface the mere mortals could use, handed the PC market to Microsoft in the first place. Unix was going gangbusters back then and was on the verge of standardizing, but everyone had to do their own thing, and Billy jumped in. And it's taken another 10-15 years for Apple to put a pretty face on Unix. The Open Source version still has a long ways to go yet to match it.
..."FreeBSD" and "Linux" to come out:
"There are just some places man was never meant to go..."
FreeBSD: a background of flames with the Berkeley Daemon flying past. Random traditionally demonic figures fading in and out of the flames, all with the face of Bill Gates.
Linux: a bunch of penguins nudging each other at the edge of an ice cliff. As we fly past, we see sharks in the water, all with Bill Gates' face on them.
This article just lost all credibility.
I know smart cards are quite common in Europe, but I didn't see any computers with readers when I was there. I would also want to make sure the protocols were safe, yet didn't leave tracks. I would like to see PDA's with readers also, so say we're at lunch and you all pay my pda, then I put it in my card (or maybe it has a dual reader and you do the transfer direct into my card), then I pay the bill --- simplifies the waiter(ess)'s job. Though I could also see them leaving a terminal with the bill at the table and each person checks off their menu items and enters a tip amount.
Still, you folks "across the pond" are way ahead of us and I'd first like to figure a way to get us jump started. American Express tried, but their software sucks so bad, it isn't useful as anything but a regular credit card.
It's definitely time for a good smart-card based cash system. We need a good incentive for people to get smart card readers on their computers and then someone can start up a Paypal-esque system to use them...
That's exactly why I don't want a camera in my phone, though it's more an issue at home than mobile for obvious reasons: I don't always answer the phone in a state where the person on the other end wants a picture... if there's a camera attached, there are going to be any number of embarrassing incidents where pictures get sent by accident...
I picked up a Sipix for $50 at Fry's a few weeks that's got basically the same specs and a lot cheaper. Albeit 640x480, but the picture quality is quite good... And if you're really cheap, Polaroid has a $35 320x240 digital camera...
That's not the way these work. I think even when you buy a windoze pre-installed, you have to click on it when the machine fires up the first time.
Even if not, the real issue is that people put up with this crap because it rarely impacts them. They simply click and go on, and then when Kazaa uses it (or more likely, a hacker who figures out how to take it over), they'll scream "they shouldn't have been allowed to do that! Pass a law!" Well, if people would Just Say No in the first place, there wouldn't be a problem. But apathy rules, and as a result, there isn't any commercial software out there that doesn't have an egregious EULA.
I would support a law that required a plain english version in front of the legalese, and that the whole thing had to be less than a page.
It does help both quality and security, but it's impractical. The primary time I want it is for hands free use, particularly driving, and don't want to hassle with digging out the headset, plugging it in and putting it on when I think of something --- I want it spontaneously and immediately before I forget it.
- Open calendar Calendar open New item meeting with joe tuesday at three thirty for two hours New item entered for tuesday june eighteenth two thousand three at three thirty for two hours - meeting with joe end calendar calendar closed
- open todo list todo list open new item get latest phaser mark... new item entered in todo list priority one uncategorized get latest phaser mark extend last item extending mark eight with enhanced disruptor last item now reads get latest phaser mark eight with enhanced disruptor categorize last item fry's shopping list last item placed in fry's shopping list category close todo list todo list closed
- voice recorder on recording blah de blah de slash who? de blah blah end recording... recording off playback blah de blah de slash who? de blah blah store as text memo slashblah converted to text and stored as memo slashblah
Although it's a little verbose, I think at least the first versions will require the confirmations so you learn to trust it (or not, depending on whether it works). And it needs to have wireless and a long battery life. There's an empire the likes of which Microsoft only dreams of having awaiting the inventor of a good hi-capacity, quick recharge battery.And it's all because libraries let people share books at will, depriving book pub...er authors of their just rewards! Not to mention those people reading magazines in the bathroom! It's your moral obligation to buy books to read in the other "library"!
...then the product is designed badly. As with all rules, there are exceptions, but for most consumer products and gui software I think there are very few.
I went there to get it, and admittedly, it's not as bad as some I could mention (and start a flame war ;-) ), but couldn't they offer up something good?