In related news Blockbuster Music and Wal-Mart, among others, was issued a ruling today prohibiting them from selling cd's because shoplifting and employee theft kept them from haveing a 100% blockage of stolen music. BMG music club has also been disbanded due to non-payment of royalties due to lost mail and mail fraud.
Note: if you don't understand my post please look up sarcasm in the dictionary... I'll wait.
I've worked at places that provide a base for being on call, for example $50 to be on call this weekend. Then, if a call happens, it was time and a half for the actual hours worked. If they refuse to pay you a base for being on call I would contact a labor lawyer and get guidance. Legally, I don't think they can restrict your off work activities without compensating you in some way. If they make you stay in the area, then you are performing work for them and should be compensated.
He who dies with the most toys...... has one heck of a family battle over the will
I'm having a house built and was offered the option of having a system called OnQ put in. It has a centralized panel (like an electrical breaker box) that all your wiring runs back to. It covers network (cat 5), cable or dss (coax), and telephone wiring. One of the cool things they do is run the telephone wiring over cat 5 also, so you get better quality and up to four lines per cable. You can re-configure at the patch panel so I can turn a phone jack into a network jack in about 10 seconds, and vice-versa.
They offer modules that fit in the panel, but the hub they offered seemed a little behind the times so I'm putting in my own 10/100 switch. They also offer a wide range of video modules, and the one I'm putting in will allow me to put a camera in the baby's room and broadcast the video to the downstairs TV, then with a quick adjustment at the panel I can send cable to that room instead in just a few seconds. I'm not in the house yet so I don't know if it works as advertised, but their site is worth checking out at
OnQ home wiring system .
First of all, it is very feasible. I work for a major telecom company on VoIP, and I've got an ethernet phone. I can unplug it, walk over to another building, find a spare ethernet port, plug it in and my calls will find me. Existing software could be adapted quite easily, and yesterday/. even posted an article about an open source softswitch (which is what manages a VoIP network). The biggest problem you would run into is that while there are a lot of ethernet phones out there, I don't know of any that could be easily converted into belt packs. A small PDA with wireless internet and voice memo recording capabilities might be a good place to start hacking (but rather expensive).
Okay, so it can be done. (although probably not that cheap yet) What benefits would you gain? The biggest benefit would be flexibility. You could assign groupings based on users instead of equipment. Using convential intercom systems (at least a couple of years ago when I still worked in TV) if you wanted to re-configure more than 2 or 4 channels (groups) you had to re-wire accordingly. Plus, simply selecting A, B, C, or D channel didn't provide any security since anyone could flip their headset to any channel. For example, with ethernet intercoms you could easily set up 6 games of 5 users or 2 games of 15 users with a couple of keystrokes, and keep different games from interfering from each other. The staff could listen in on any game, and could use wireless lan technology to be mobile. The same ethernet cables providing the intercom could also be used to share data between the players. So.... is it worth it? Don't know but it's certainly an intersting idea.
Unfortunately this has been going on for some time. MS Office used to have a very nice newsletter template for Word. The first version of Office after they released MS Publisher had no more newsletter template, but Publisher did. Coincedence? I'm guessing no.
It's a shame that companies have quit trying to entice you with a better product and started trying to charge you multiple times for the same thing.
I can currently go check out the new Steven King book for 2 weeks from my local library. They only have 30 of them, so only 30 people at a time can read them. If I'm number 31 I wait. So, it's very simple really. Sell libraries electronic licenses. My library buys 30 licenses and lends 30 electronic copies. The library could set an experation date of 14 days from checkout (done all the time in demoware), at which point they could "lend" out another copy. If I'm number 31 I still have to wait. The best part would be no late fees cause if you forgot about it your book would just expire and you'd merely have to check it out again, assuming one of the 30 licenses was free.
The argument has always been that I don't purchase the rights to a copyrighted song, movie, etc., but the right for personal enjoyment of that work. (licensing). Great, I agree.
Two problems.
1) If I'm not paying for the media, but the license, what does it matter what media I play it on? It doesn't- that's why "fair use" allows for personal copies.
2) If my VHS copy of Star Wars bites the dust, why must I pay to license the movie again? I should be able to replace the media (tape) at cost without re-licensing the work.
Copyright protects the creator, as it should, but I see a dangerous trend towards neglecting to protect the consumer as well. When I buy a copyrighted work I agree to the terms, but by the same token when a content provider applies for a copyright they also agree to the copyright terms. If I don't like the terms I don't have to buy, and if they don't like the terms they never have to release their work. Either way, neither one of us has the right to break the terms of copyright. It's like me deciding I want to keep my car but don't want to be held to those pesky payments I agreed to. You can't have it both ways.
If we're talking about specialized search engines, then don't we need some way to know which sites to search? What is the feasability of creating a system where meta data about a site is entered in a database tied with domain registration? When I go register widgets.com I can specify that I'm commercial, serve north and central america, manufacture widgets, etc. Meta data about my individual pages could provide more detail, but the meta data at the domain level would direct the specialized search engine to my site in the first place. It just seems to me that even if a search engine is specialized it needs some way to find appropriate sites without brute force searching the net, or they will still have the same problems unless they have the manpower to filter the results.
1) DirecTV has two things- customers and potential customers. When you pirate their signal you deny them a potential customer- obviously the person pirating is interested in satellite tv- thus meeting your criteria of the person(company) no longer poessing it.
2) By your logic I have every right to intercept your cell phone call since you are sending it across EVERYONE'S airspace. Hope you don't mind Federal Agents not needing a warrant anymore to easedrop on you. I also have the right to read your e-mail since you send it across EVERYONE'S shared network. If you encrypt it and I have the means to decrypt it, then it's not stealing? Right? Big Brother can't wait for this Utopia.
3) They have a valid business model and are defending it with their brains and not their lawyers. We should be applauding this. Digital Convergence are you paying attention?
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In related news Blockbuster Music and Wal-Mart, among others, was issued a ruling today prohibiting them from selling cd's because shoplifting and employee theft kept them from haveing a 100% blockage of stolen music. BMG music club has also been disbanded due to non-payment of royalties due to lost mail and mail fraud. Note: if you don't understand my post please look up sarcasm in the dictionary... I'll wait.
I've worked at places that provide a base for being on call, for example $50 to be on call this weekend. Then, if a call happens, it was time and a half for the actual hours worked. If they refuse to pay you a base for being on call I would contact a labor lawyer and get guidance. Legally, I don't think they can restrict your off work activities without compensating you in some way. If they make you stay in the area, then you are performing work for them and should be compensated.
He who dies with the most toys...... has one heck of a family battle over the will
I'm having a house built and was offered the option of having a system called OnQ put in. It has a centralized panel (like an electrical breaker box) that all your wiring runs back to. It covers network (cat 5), cable or dss (coax), and telephone wiring. One of the cool things they do is run the telephone wiring over cat 5 also, so you get better quality and up to four lines per cable. You can re-configure at the patch panel so I can turn a phone jack into a network jack in about 10 seconds, and vice-versa.
They offer modules that fit in the panel, but the hub they offered seemed a little behind the times so I'm putting in my own 10/100 switch. They also offer a wide range of video modules, and the one I'm putting in will allow me to put a camera in the baby's room and broadcast the video to the downstairs TV, then with a quick adjustment at the panel I can send cable to that room instead in just a few seconds. I'm not in the house yet so I don't know if it works as advertised, but their site is worth checking out at OnQ home wiring system .
First of all, it is very feasible. I work for a major telecom company on VoIP, and I've got an ethernet phone. I can unplug it, walk over to another building, find a spare ethernet port, plug it in and my calls will find me. Existing software could be adapted quite easily, and yesterday /. even posted an article about an open source softswitch (which is what manages a VoIP network). The biggest problem you would run into is that while there are a lot of ethernet phones out there, I don't know of any that could be easily converted into belt packs. A small PDA with wireless internet and voice memo recording capabilities might be a good place to start hacking (but rather expensive).
Okay, so it can be done. (although probably not that cheap yet) What benefits would you gain? The biggest benefit would be flexibility. You could assign groupings based on users instead of equipment. Using convential intercom systems (at least a couple of years ago when I still worked in TV) if you wanted to re-configure more than 2 or 4 channels (groups) you had to re-wire accordingly. Plus, simply selecting A, B, C, or D channel didn't provide any security since anyone could flip their headset to any channel. For example, with ethernet intercoms you could easily set up 6 games of 5 users or 2 games of 15 users with a couple of keystrokes, and keep different games from interfering from each other. The staff could listen in on any game, and could use wireless lan technology to be mobile. The same ethernet cables providing the intercom could also be used to share data between the players. So.... is it worth it? Don't know but it's certainly an intersting idea.
Unfortunately this has been going on for some time. MS Office used to have a very nice newsletter template for Word. The first version of Office after they released MS Publisher had no more newsletter template, but Publisher did. Coincedence? I'm guessing no.
It's a shame that companies have quit trying to entice you with a better product and started trying to charge you multiple times for the same thing.
I can currently go check out the new Steven King book for 2 weeks from my local library. They only have 30 of them, so only 30 people at a time can read them. If I'm number 31 I wait. So, it's very simple really. Sell libraries electronic licenses. My library buys 30 licenses and lends 30 electronic copies. The library could set an experation date of 14 days from checkout (done all the time in demoware), at which point they could "lend" out another copy. If I'm number 31 I still have to wait. The best part would be no late fees cause if you forgot about it your book would just expire and you'd merely have to check it out again, assuming one of the 30 licenses was free.
So, to recognize an idiot you have to have been one? Makes you think twice about flaming :)
The argument has always been that I don't purchase the rights to a copyrighted song, movie, etc., but the right for personal enjoyment of that work. (licensing). Great, I agree. Two problems. 1) If I'm not paying for the media, but the license, what does it matter what media I play it on? It doesn't- that's why "fair use" allows for personal copies. 2) If my VHS copy of Star Wars bites the dust, why must I pay to license the movie again? I should be able to replace the media (tape) at cost without re-licensing the work. Copyright protects the creator, as it should, but I see a dangerous trend towards neglecting to protect the consumer as well. When I buy a copyrighted work I agree to the terms, but by the same token when a content provider applies for a copyright they also agree to the copyright terms. If I don't like the terms I don't have to buy, and if they don't like the terms they never have to release their work. Either way, neither one of us has the right to break the terms of copyright. It's like me deciding I want to keep my car but don't want to be held to those pesky payments I agreed to. You can't have it both ways.
If we're talking about specialized search engines, then don't we need some way to know which sites to search? What is the feasability of creating a system where meta data about a site is entered in a database tied with domain registration? When I go register widgets.com I can specify that I'm commercial, serve north and central america, manufacture widgets, etc. Meta data about my individual pages could provide more detail, but the meta data at the domain level would direct the specialized search engine to my site in the first place. It just seems to me that even if a search engine is specialized it needs some way to find appropriate sites without brute force searching the net, or they will still have the same problems unless they have the manpower to filter the results.
1) DirecTV has two things- customers and potential customers. When you pirate their signal you deny them a potential customer- obviously the person pirating is interested in satellite tv- thus meeting your criteria of the person(company) no longer poessing it. 2) By your logic I have every right to intercept your cell phone call since you are sending it across EVERYONE'S airspace. Hope you don't mind Federal Agents not needing a warrant anymore to easedrop on you. I also have the right to read your e-mail since you send it across EVERYONE'S shared network. If you encrypt it and I have the means to decrypt it, then it's not stealing? Right? Big Brother can't wait for this Utopia. 3) They have a valid business model and are defending it with their brains and not their lawyers. We should be applauding this. Digital Convergence are you paying attention?