And I'm someone who would seriously have a use for some products, and would be prepared to pay (and have), and yet will not give out my e-mail address.
Me too. I have a partial solution: My ISP allows me six email addresses, and I'm free to add/discard them as I see fit. If you're in a similar situation (most folks with cable or DSL), you can do what I do: create throw-away accounts. I give the account a generic name (usually the name of the product involved, or "ebay" or somesuch), the system tells me it's used and suggests an alternate ("ebay983726"), which I then accept. I use it to order the product and for support for the first 30 days or so, then I ask the ISP to please forget that email address.
If I really need product support, and they prove themselves worthy (they don't spam the throwaway account), then I'll give them my real address. If you can't accept email address changes from licensed customers, you have a customer support problem.
A small independent *can't* compete with the big houses in quality
I disagree. Maybe they can't compete in quantity, but they can and often do excel in quality -- if only because they cater to a niche market that they understand better than the big guys. Most of the small guys started out filling a need they had which the big guys overlooked because the market was too small. They're experts in that field, and turn out better stuff than anyone else (maybe only because they are the only ones:-)
Look at Myst -- there was nothing like it and it defined a new niche. There's still little enough like it, in the sense of a first-person game suitable for the whole family. Quality: high; quantity: low (just the one; all the sequils were done by a "big guy").
Ah, but what if it works the other way, too? What if those smaller game houses port their stuff to DirectX and make their wares available to the Windows market? It could be a two-way street.
Yeah, I know what you mean. The good news is that Microsoft has decided to continue to extend their monopoly onto the Mac, thus breathing life into their sole "legitimate" competitor; the bad news -- well, you know.
Reminds me of the auto industry of the 1970's, when GM, Ford, and Chrysler would sell parts to AMC below cost to keep them alive, for fear they'd be blamed if AMC ever failed. We used to go to the AMC showrooms and try to identify the parts ("there's a GM power steering pump, a Ford alternator, a Dodge air conditioner...")
I am way impressed with this work. At first I thought it would be something totally beyond the means of anyone outside a university physics lab, but this looks do-able at the high school level! Way cool, very impressive, can't praise it enough.
I run OpenBSD on two boxes -- does that make me one user or two? But wait! One box is the firewall, the other the server -- does that make every user on the network an OpenBSD user? Even the ones with Window$ on their workstations?
Plus, I downloaded OpenBSD 3.0 to try it. I like it, and will now buy the 3.1 disks, but for now at least Theo knows nothing of me or my two boxes or the others on the network, so we are not counted in the "7000."
Given that any freely downloaded OS will have un-reported users, and few if any reported users are not actually using it (unlike Window$, where I know at least two licenses that are unused, because I posses them) the numbers reported will always be low. This is true for *BSD, Linux, AtheOS, whatever.
You damage your case by not citing your source for Theo's statement -- I'm sure he's sold more than 7000 CD sets. Oh, and please provide the address of Anonymous Coward's Slashdot weblog, so we can check your other sources;-)
Apparantly not. Judging by the dozens if not hundreds of follow-ups to your off-topic post, I hereby request a new feature for Slash:
If you can give us a button (that I don't care for and didn't ask for) so we label people "friends" or "foes," then please give us a button that lets us hide individual threads, like this one. One click on the parent and the whole thread disappears! Yippee!
The House held a voice vote, near as I can tell. My search ("digital millennium copyright" in the Word/Phrase search field) returned:
1. H.R.2281 : To amend title 17, United States Code, to implement the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty and Performances and Phonograms Treaty.
Sponsor: Rep Coble, Howard- Latest Major Action: 10/28/1998 Became Public Law No: 105-304. Committees: House Judiciary; House Energy and Commerce; House Ways and Means
A search of the House site found no recorded vote on H.R.2281. So apparantly both stories are true: It was a voice vote, but the Senate recorded theirs.
In some ways they can. Congressmen and women can change anything they say on the floor in open debate before it's published in the Congressional Record. They can even have the Congressional Record print speaches they never made, and remove entire speaches they did make. They can rise on the floor and endlessly support issue A, then edit their remarks so the Congressional Record makes it look like they were against issue A; when opponents try to find juicy quotes to run in campaign ads, there are none.
Thank God they still can't hide their voting record, but they sure try to obscure it, with bills and amendments named the exact opposite of what they do. My favorite example: the "Privacy Act" of 1974 requires banks to keep a photocopy of every check you write. How this protects my privacy is beyond me, but would you want to hear that your Senator voted against the "Privacy Act"?
Do you think they'll be happy when they go to site X with Netscape-based AOL 9 (or whatever) and find they must use IE to view it? Just because they have IE doesn't mean they'll enjoy cutting the address from AOL and pasting it into IE to reach that site. We're talking AOL users here -- if AOL doesn't open IE for them when it finds an IE "enhanced" web site, many of these people will be upset that they have to do it themselves. (then they'll be proud that they learned something new about 'puters)
The Shuttle's main engines are canted at "that funny angle" so the thrust vector is through the center of mass of the combined stack, otherwise the Shuttle's thrust would tend to pitch it 'down'.
What's interesting to me is that the SRB thrust is about equal to the mass of the external tank and fuel, so the Shuttle's engines are lifting it and the payload, while the SRB's are lifting the fuel. The Russian's design is simpler and in some ways better.
What would be really scary is if all the parisoners were identical -- white robes, no hair, maybe with a tub of KoolAid in the corner... (I had no idea Lego made so many different people)
This may be just what we need to make extended stays in space reasonable. I know I wouldn't want to move to the Moon if it meant 6 months physical therapy when I wanted to return to Earth.
On the other hand, we probably won't see these at Walgreen's (over-the-counter or prescription) until they can find it in athlete's pee.
Re:A pebble in the sky - used is theft
on
Simulating Societies
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Why does it matter who sells the used item? By your logic, if I sell you my used Mustang, that's OK, but if I traid my Mustang in on a new Camero, and you then buy the used Mustang from the Chevy dealer, somehow Ford should get a royalty? Sorry, that's not how it works. Amazon is not printing copies of the book, so there is no copyright violation and no theft of royalty.
Do you also support Disney's position that I should have to pay them a royalty every time I watch a DVD that I purchased? I won't buy DVDs or CDs or anything else under that plan, and I won't buy books under your plan. Period. If you want to kill your market, go right ahead -- there's pleanty of other entertainment sources that take a more reasonable view.
Pleading "innocent" when you know you're guilty is not perjury. Sitting on the witness stand and saying "I didn't do it" when you did is perjury, which is why many defendants don't take the stand (and the prosecution can't make them, and they jury's not supposed to hold that against them). But if they do take the stand, and lie (as Microsoft has done), then I think they should be found guilty of perjury and the defendant should not be allowed to appeal that judgement. But I don't run things, so that's not how it works. M$ will get away with lying to the Court -- again.
No, the question is: Will the judge find Microsoft guilty of perjury for lying about their ability to separate the code, or mearly find them in contempt of court?
Slashdot Mirror
If I really need product support, and they prove themselves worthy (they don't spam the throwaway account), then I'll give them my real address. If you can't accept email address changes from licensed customers, you have a customer support problem.
Look at Myst -- there was nothing like it and it defined a new niche. There's still little enough like it, in the sense of a first-person game suitable for the whole family. Quality: high; quantity: low (just the one; all the sequils were done by a "big guy").
Reminds me of the auto industry of the 1970's, when GM, Ford, and Chrysler would sell parts to AMC below cost to keep them alive, for fear they'd be blamed if AMC ever failed. We used to go to the AMC showrooms and try to identify the parts ("there's a GM power steering pump, a Ford alternator, a Dodge air conditioner...")
I am way impressed with this work. At first I thought it would be something totally beyond the means of anyone outside a university physics lab, but this looks do-able at the high school level! Way cool, very impressive, can't praise it enough.
But does it impress women?
Plus, I downloaded OpenBSD 3.0 to try it. I like it, and will now buy the 3.1 disks, but for now at least Theo knows nothing of me or my two boxes or the others on the network, so we are not counted in the "7000."
Given that any freely downloaded OS will have un-reported users, and few if any reported users are not actually using it (unlike Window$, where I know at least two licenses that are unused, because I posses them) the numbers reported will always be low. This is true for *BSD, Linux, AtheOS, whatever.
You damage your case by not citing your source for Theo's statement -- I'm sure he's sold more than 7000 CD sets. Oh, and please provide the address of Anonymous Coward's Slashdot weblog, so we can check your other sources ;-)
If you can give us a button (that I don't care for and didn't ask for) so we label people "friends" or "foes," then please give us a button that lets us hide individual threads, like this one. One click on the parent and the whole thread disappears! Yippee!
 
 
[yes, i know that last link is "broken" -- i intended to not link to the clams]
The Senate passed it 99-0.
The House held a voice vote, near as I can tell. My search ("digital millennium copyright" in the Word/Phrase search field) returned:
A search of the House site found no recorded vote on H.R.2281. So apparantly both stories are true: It was a voice vote, but the Senate recorded theirs.Thank God they still can't hide their voting record, but they sure try to obscure it, with bills and amendments named the exact opposite of what they do. My favorite example: the "Privacy Act" of 1974 requires banks to keep a photocopy of every check you write. How this protects my privacy is beyond me, but would you want to hear that your Senator voted against the "Privacy Act"?
What's interesting to me is that the SRB thrust is about equal to the mass of the external tank and fuel, so the Shuttle's engines are lifting it and the payload, while the SRB's are lifting the fuel. The Russian's design is simpler and in some ways better.
What would be really scary is if all the parisoners were identical -- white robes, no hair, maybe with a tub of KoolAid in the corner... (I had no idea Lego made so many different people)
On the other hand, we probably won't see these at Walgreen's (over-the-counter or prescription) until they can find it in athlete's pee.
Lots to read here.
Or maybe you'd prefer some free and legal MP3s.
You know, the Cult of the Singing Cow.
   
   
   
Ow! Stop hitting me!
It was just a joke. Geeze.
Ow!
Do you also support Disney's position that I should have to pay them a royalty every time I watch a DVD that I purchased? I won't buy DVDs or CDs or anything else under that plan, and I won't buy books under your plan. Period. If you want to kill your market, go right ahead -- there's pleanty of other entertainment sources that take a more reasonable view.
Perhaps Python Puzzles People?
No, the question is: Will the judge find Microsoft guilty of perjury for lying about their ability to separate the code, or mearly find them in contempt of court?