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User: kharchenko

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  1. Re:Victimless on BitTorrent Use Up 24% Since November · · Score: 1

    As far as I am concerned, copyright (at least as practiced in US) is not limited. There are songs/writings/movies that have been created before I was born and will remain in the proprietary hands well after I die. And it's not some "limited" restriction - not only I am not allowed to copy them outright, I can't create based on these works (e.g. infringing on a copyrighted character), I can't even sing something like "Happy Birthday" in a public setting. So from my point of view it seems that the control is nearly absolute in terms of both time and restrictions.

    As broken as the patent system is, it pales in comparison with the copyrights, which are assigned regardless of merit and for much longer terms.

    I am for giving due credit (and money) to people creating the content, but as long as others can get on my case for singing a song I knew as a kid, or playing radio in a public setting, or drawing a cartoon mouse, don't preach to me about the starving artists. They are too removed from my actions in each case - either by time or by corporate middle-men.

  2. Re:Some journals are still milking both ends on Physics Journal May Reconsider Wikipedia Ban · · Score: 2, Informative

    I don't know of any major scientific journal that charges for submitting an article. As far as I know all of them charge you only if the article has been accepted for publication (i.e. deemed to be non-"junk"), which nullifies your argument.

  3. Re:Depends. on Cisco Lawyer Outs Self As "Patent Troll Tracker" · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Can you please explain why running an informative blog on patent reform suddenly renders him unfit for employment. Did he disclose some private information that was trusted to him? Did he undermine the interests of his employer? How come noone would look at this and see a talented layer with a knack for identifying abusive patents?

  4. Re:Well that answers the immunity question... on White House Says Phone Wiretaps Will Resume For Now · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Not that I don't think he deserved it, but I have some qualms about having current VP fill the spot.

  5. Re:Presidential Candidates Votes on US Senate Votes Immunity For Telecoms · · Score: 1

    Not a single Republican senator voted for the amendment. Not A SIGNLE one. I swear it seems to me that these people would sell their mother before breaking away from the cabal. And nothing like passing an law that forgives your own fuckups. Way to go, esteemed senators!

    I wonder .. can another congress just as well revoke the immunity in a subsequent vote? Or is that a no-no (as opposed to breaking the law in a first place) ?

  6. Re:yes, you can refuse to give the passphrase on U.S. Confiscating Data at the Border · · Score: 1

    I think this just shows how far we've come. I don't actually have anything to hide, but would enrcypt, hide partitions and jump through all sorts hoops to hide perfectly legal but clearly private information from your own government. Now you'll be standing there in front of a customs agent with a guilty look that any trained professional will recognize, even though you obviously did nothing wrong. Great!

  7. let me see if I get this ... on Microsoft Confirms IE8 Has 3 Render Modes · · Score: 5, Insightful

    to be standards compliant, web pages have to incorporate a non-standard tag?

  8. Re:Public Libraries on Netflix and iTunes Rentals Aiming At Different Crowds · · Score: 1

    >Because most people's libraries weren't lucky enough to have a failed video store to acquire a collection from
    Oh, but they will very soon. These businesses are doomed. Just in my neighborhood one closed a month ago, and another just put up going-out-of-business sale signs. That's progress!

  9. Re:why Android will push out the iPhone on iPhone 1.1.3 Update Confirmed, Breaks Apps and Unlocks · · Score: 1

    Exactly. Played with an iPhone at the Apple store yesterday - it's a fantastic piece of hardware and has a number of cool apps. But there's no way I'll buy something that I have no right to change. If they opened up the platform (including GSM locks), I'd purchase it. Otherwise I'll wait. For Android or whatever else - it's not like there aren't enough competition coming up.

  10. Re:Ok, I get it now... on Verizon Embraces Google's Android · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Bull .. they load their own software on the phones, screw up the menus, put up locks, restrictions, etc. They better answer support calls. Of course I would switch to an open platform phone and dump their "support" in a second if there was a choice.

  11. obligatory clip on Where Are the Flying Cars? · · Score: 2, Funny

    Here is an interview asking the same question.

  12. Re:report from the field on The Dying PC Market · · Score: 1

    I live in Japan as an English teacher ..snipOut of my middle school students, many of them don't use PCs on a regular basis and many of the high school students I know don't either

    So how do they write the English essays? I understand how PC is loosing out in terms of playing music, IM and other trivial stuff, but it seems to me that heavy PC utilization is unavoidable for school and work. Basically it's on every office workers' desk, and I don't see any real alternative emerging.

  13. lean Enlightment .. ha! on $200 Linux PCs On Sale At Wal-Mart · · Score: 1

    By using the fast Enlightenment desktop manager (instead of heavier-duty alternatives

    I remember when Enlightment was taking heat for being a resource hog, compared to normal window managers such as WindowMaker.
    But Gnome and (to a lesser degree) KDE managed to make it look lean. Not only they are bloated, but the feature set, flexbility and graphics quality is complete crap. They're rapidly approaching locked-down, dumbed-down level of XP or Vista as far as window manager functionality is concerned. Way to compete with "the man" by copying the most annoying aspects! Oh, and kudos to aforementioned PC manufacturer for recognizing this.

  14. Re:Do you hear that Charter? on Verizon Offers 20/20 Symmetrical FiOS Service · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They only look good on paper. Two years ago they set up a FIOS service in a town next door (under a mile away from my home). I still can't get FIOS at my house and they don't know when I might. Pathetic.

  15. illegal? on Comcast Charges $1000 Per Wiretap · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It talks about FISA-court approved wiretaps ... how come the title says illegal?

  16. link on High-Res Scan of Mona Lisa Reveals Its History · · Score: 3, Funny

    240 megapixels and you link to a CNN article? Show me the pixels!

  17. Improvement on LA Airport Uses Random Numbers To Catch Terrorists · · Score: 1

    It used to be that they would tell you at the ticket counter that you've been selected for extra screening at the security checkpoint.

    First time they told me that I couldn't believe it. I told the lady that she just turned potential security measure into a total waste of my time, because any potential bad guys would be warned well in advanced. She honestly looked surprised - she never thought about that. So I say even the mere fact that they're thinking about making their actions less predictable is already a huge step forward.

  18. Re:And this took how long? on Parts of the Patriot Act Ruled Unconstitutional · · Score: 1

    Laffer curve is an idealistic approximation which may well cover the extreme cases, but has almost no predictive capacity in the range of tax rate differences we're discussing here. It's actually mentioned in the wikipedia article you're quoting (see neo-Laffer curve).

    Anyhow, there are enough economic theories out there to justify any particular action. The point is that the aforementioned tax cuts were a political ploy aimed at appeasing the population, whereas instead they predictably helped increase economic disparity and placed more strain on the majority of the population.

  19. Re:hmmmmmm on The Soldier of the Future · · Score: 1

    It's my understanding that the electronics they use in these is largely outdated. For instance, the reason the integrated gun scope appears to be useless, is because autofocus function is much slower than in modern cameras.

  20. Re:The letter I've written to my two senators... on US Senate Fails To Reinstate Habeas Corpus · · Score: 1

    You're naive to think you're protected. You will have no way to challenge your detention (with subsequent shipment to an overseas detention facility) even if you are a US citizen. Also, the law may be interpreted directly to designate US citizens as "enemy combatants".
    But hey, I am sure a government would never abuse their powers.

  21. Re:Habeas Corpus not "revoked" on US Senate Fails To Reinstate Habeas Corpus · · Score: 1

    So when you get arrested and shipped to some "outside detention facility" without access to lawyers, how are you going to prove that you are a US citizen? And exactly how are you going to make your voice heard if you are wrongfully detained?
    Habeas Corpus isn't just a fancy right, it's a cornerstone justice - remove it and you open the door to numerous abuses.

  22. Re:Profit margins are irrelevant on Inside the Third Gen iPod Nano · · Score: 1

    > Each person needs to decide ... Thus is the nature of freedom.

    You make it sound like an obligation, whereas freedom of choice means exactly the opposite. I may choose, for instance, to purchase XBox to make myself a DVR just because I know that it costs more MS to produce it than the retail price :P

  23. Re:Taze Them All! on University of Florida Student Tasered At Political Rally · · Score: 1

    wish I had some points to mod you up!

  24. Re:Why is it on TV Viewing Linked to Attention Problems · · Score: 1

    I think that the style of TV cinematography contributes to that. Modern TV changes the scene every few seconds.

    You get used to that when you watch a lot of TV, but I stopped watching TV regularly a few years back, and every time I see it now it's highly annoying how each scene is yanked from under my eyes as soon as I get comfortable with it.

  25. Re:why should broadband be a special case? on The US Rural Broadband Crisis · · Score: 1

    if you can, give me one, just one example of a situation where you cannot survive in this world without internet access.

    So I suppose if you had to heat your house with coal, go to the toilet in the woods, and wash pots without soap you'd just say you're missing a few "luxury" items? To quote GP - bullshit indeed.
    As far as I am concerned internet access is on a par with TV and radio, and rivals the telephone in terms of its importance, usefulness and necessity.