...Although you are right that police can enter the domain without judges under certain circumstances, evidence might be forfeit if they did it for the wrong reasons. It is not as easy as you depict it, even if it would apply to our case here (which it does not)...
What most people seem to forget is that winning in court, in criminal cases, is still a loss. You've sat in jail, unless you can bond out and that has a cost. You've had to hire a lawyer, at your expense. And don't get started with a public defender. They are so overworked you're not likely to get more than a "We'll take the plea bargain." defense.
Then there is having your stuff confiscated, and quite possibly being lost or damaged upon return. Will your job still be there while you get all this settled? What effect will have on your family? Your reputation?
I assure you, police can do a lot of damage to your life without ever getting a conviction.
CO burns to CO2 with enough O2. It can be used as fuel, albeit a dangerous one. However, there are ways to deal with that. Gasoline, for instance, isn't a health drink, but we still use it everyday.
And how many doctors, licensed doctors, screw up every day? A license does not guarantee competency, and lack of a license does not guarantee lack of competency.
Since you mentioned doctors, I can tell you a few stories. First, at one point I worked in a medical clinic (as a computer tech). My boss was a med school graduate who was trying to get his license. I walked in on him studying and jokingly asked what he was so worried about since the test was easy. His response, "OK, smart ass, what's the answer to this question?" from his study book. After I got 4 correct in a row I was kicked out his office. He eventually did pass, but not on that try.
I've filed a complaint against one doctor that "treated" me with the state medical board, but that was dismissed for "lack of evidence". Basically it was my word against his and the medical board sides with doctors in all but the most extreme cases. A nurse I knew told me that doctor had lost his license in another state and had come here and gotten re-licensed. A not uncommon practice I hear.
In a more recent story, I did something careless and both broke and dislocated my elbow. The emergency room doctor who "treated" me first overdosed me on general anesthesia. I don't know everything that happened, but I did learn defibrillators hurt, a lot! Then he failed to properly pop my arm back in place, so it had to be popped back in again (by a more competent doctor). Even with a local, it still was extremely painful, even worse that the defibrillator.
In a less recent story, I was in the emergency waiting room with a friend and overheard part of conversation. The guy had been to "multiple specialists" (referring to doctors) who had no idea why he was sick and getting sicker. I pulled the doctor aside and told him to call the police, and what to test for. The police did later talk to me, so I got confirmation I was right. He was suffering from heavy metal poisoning. Whether it was a crime or accidental exposure I never learned. Some of the materials I worked with a couple years earlier required a safety course, and the symptoms of heavy metal poisoning were part of the course.
I can go on with even more stories, but I think I made my point. A license is no guarantee of competency.
The main problem isn't "works exactly like Windows", it's a double standard a great many people have. Windows is judged far less harshly than Linux by many non-techies, and this extends to open source apps as well.
For example, I had one user almost scream at me that Thunderbird wasn't showing linked images in his email messages and to remove Thunderbird and put him back on OE. He couldn't stand that behavior. When I pointed that he didn't have Thunderbird and was using OE, then he told me, "Never mind, it's OK."!
Sadly, this is not an isolated case. A hardware vendor I know tried putting on OpenOffice.org (OOo) on new computers for free when the customer didn't buy MS Office. He quit due to people's double standards. They expect him to support OOo for free and called constantly, but these same people are willing to pay for MS Office support when, on occasion, they do call for support.
Public Storage for one. My wife was happily using Firefox until she rented some storage for her brother. Now Firefox is "broken" in her mind because Public Storage can't use simple javascript. They use some IE only version in their online payment system.
"OpenDocument currently lacks formula definitions for spreadsheets," he wrote. "Many core financial functions in spreadsheets are undefined except for actual Excel output. That output varies by version and service pack of MS Office. What happens if OpenDocument and OpenXML reach different definitions of those functions?"
His big beef is the ODF standard needs to have some formula definitions added??? So add them to the standard! Somehow I think the actual formulas, at least the financial ones, are already defined in some other standard, maybe not an ISO standard, but a standard somewhere. I just can't believe CPA's make up their own formulas. (OK, honest CPA's.) And since these formula's are standard somewhere else already, then OpenXML should have the same formulas.
"But what if there are different standards for the same financial function?" you ask. Well, then have a flag to pick which one is used as part of the function call. If OpenXML doesn't do this then ODF can make claims that Excel is not suitable for financial calculations. Actually, from the comments above, I'd say that is already the case. "...output varies by version and service pack of MS Office." does not inspire confidence in me for one.
The author also seems to think having OpenXML as a standard will provide anyone and everyone the complete specs to the standard. From what I've read, this isn't the case so far, and I doubt MS is anxious for that to happen. Get it approved, yes, but describe it in enough detail that anyone else could fully implement it, no.
I should say that using IE is wrong and stupid enough.
Except some sites require it (ADP is the worst), and I can't convince management it's worth it to switch to a different company. Personally, I've been searching for a better on-line bank and after the passing the initial screening, one of the first questions I ask is, "Does your site support Firefox?". Most of the time I get a no, use IE. My most recent answer, Feb 11, 2008, states, "Apple Bank's website currently supports Mozilla Firefox version 1.0." Version 1.0! How old is that?!?! The search continues.
Considering Firefox's market share is somewhere around 16%, and according to a recent bankrate.com article, "Fierce competition among banks for customers and deposits has helped keep CD rates propped up." You'd think turning away 1 in 6 potential customers would be a bad idea...
I pay school taxes directly. Every January, I write out a check to the local school board as part of my property taxes. But, I don't have kids, and thanks to a poor decision I made several years ago, most likely never will. Therefore, I don't and can't use the schools. By your reasoning, I should be able to withhold payment of my school property taxes, since there is no acceptance.
Sorry, it doesn't work that way. I sort of wish it did, even more so because, from what I see, the schools around me don't do a good job anyway.
Actually, I'm somewhat surprised Jamie mentioned Linux. I have noticed in some (past) shows they show a computer screen in a few camera shots and I recognized AOL. AOL is rarely the choice of the computer literate. Since Mythbusters seems to avoid product placements, I believe the fact I could spot AOL was more an accident than intentional. Haven't seen it lately though.
Still, going from the choice of the not computer literate to talking about Linux as a desktop OS, in a non-computer tech magazine...that's a sign of progress. Is that another crack I hear forming in MS's empire?
The FBI is more interested in tracking down terrorists nowadays. Running down all those false leads from the illegal wiretaps really eats up man power. Aside from that, phishing often crosses national boundaries. Now you have to get cooperation from other governments. Then you have to find, arrest, most likely extradite, then convict them. Not an easy task. The FBI's resources, though vast, are still finite. Phishing doesn't rank very high.
As for banks, they are interested in money only. If it costs more to fight the phishers than to just let them go, the banks will let them go. This, of course, neglects the long term cost of encouraging this behavior. Besides that, the phishers who misuse trademarks aren't the easiest to find and sue. Here for a few days (at most) then gone. It's not like they post addresses for the bank's lawyers to send nasty letters to.
...in most states which are heavily Democratic or Republican you're throwing your vote away no matter what you do...
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.- E. Debs
As I live in Texas, for both Senatorial and Presidential elections at least, the way I figure it, voting third party is the only way my vote will count at all. For those that don't know, Texas is a republican state. At the senate and presidential level, the republican candidate will win no matter what. The presidential republican nominee could take a whiz on the Alamo (a major insult to Texas!) with cameras rolling and still win the state.
The republicans know this and the democrats know this. So neither party really cares about the state other than for fund raising. The republicans can take Texas for granted and the democrats know money and time spent here is wasted. Therefore voting for either party doesn't matter. That leaves third party and independent candidates.
Let third party and independent candidates start getting enough votes, and they qualify for federal campaign funds. Now their message and presence will reach more people. In the meantime, it just might rattle the 2 parties enough to throw the people a few scraps to try and win back the voters who have left them.
For those in states whether either party has a lock, voting third party is the only way to make a difference. For those in toss-up states, you have to weigh you choices more carefully.
...Until enough people vote for a 3rd party that it becomes viable, votes cast for a 3rd party don't matter.
It has to start somewhere. I'm reminded of a story. A woman was walking along a beach after a big storm. The sun was coming out and the beach was covered with starfish that had washed ashore in the storm, dying because they could not get back in the water. She picked one up and tossed it back into the ocean. A man watching her yelled out, "That won't make any difference!" to which the woman replied, "It made a difference to that starfish."
I don't feel comfortable taking such a narrow interpretation of the bill of rights that only things that are literally and directly incriminating are protected.
Sadly, it doesn't matter what you feel comfortable with. It's what a judge feels comfortable with. And lately they seem to be quite comfortable with broad, in some cases overreaching IMHO, interpretations of the bill of rights.
If you get caught driving the Chevy without the license, it will cost you way more than the license fee.
As another has already pointed out, it should be: "If you get caught driving the Chevy without the license or can't find the proper proof you paid for the license...". Remember kiddies, original boxes, certificates of authenticity, and stickers are not proper proof.
passport security is so important, why don't they audit the website BEFORE it goes live?
Because those directly responsible for the bad design have little, if any, liability for screw up. They aren't out any money. Their information isn't public/stolen. They don't face jail time, and it's unlikely their career will take any real hit assuming they can be identified at all.
BTW, it *may* not be the coders that are responsible for the bad design. More than once I've been directly ordered by my past bosses to do something I knew was not a good idea. But, so long as it's not illegal, I have to obey orders.
...all the dumb bastards that decided to rely on a free piece of software from a company with a horrible reputation for customer support and secure coding practices get what they deserve!
Except with the Internet and massive databases floating around, we are all interconnected. Jet DBs may not be massive, but that doesn't mean the company doesn't have access to other real databases. OK, so the stupid company gets owned. Now, if they have any info on me, that's in the criminal's hands, and good luck getting compensation even if the company admitted full responsibility. Their Internet connection can now be used to spam or DOS me. If they go out of business, think about all the employees who had nothing to do with the IT decisions (and those who opposed this particular one). They get to stand in the unemployment line. Vendors might get shafted on unpaid invoices.
Just because your system is secure doesn't mean you don't get affected by someone else's insecure system. And no, I don't know what the solution to that problem is.
...The only things I would consider buying on credit are the more traditional things like houses and real estate. For just about everything else, I'm very reluctant and so are a growing number of enlightened people.
Unfortunately, this style leaves you screwed when you do want to use credit. With little or no history, all you'll get is a "no" or higher than deserved rates when you do need credit.
However, even if they are valid they are **civil** law contracts and not a matter of criminal law.
I've wondered for a while that if those are valid contracts, would wearing a t-shirt with something like, "By selling to me, you agree to give up any rights to search me or my bags." also be a valid contract. How often would the store refuse to sell to you based on that?
Do a good job, let your reputation work for you. Then you can get jobs from recommendations instead of just being another name in the stack.
Not always. I've seen really good, competent people get bad reviews/recommendations and bad people get good ones. Some bosses will resort to dirty tricks to keep good people, and get rid of bad ones. With bad recommendations, the good people can't leave, and with a good recommendation, the bad become someone else's problem.
My University's regulations,..., contained a prominent notice that any work performed at the University's request (e.g. assignments, etc.) would be the University's copyright due to it being a work for hire.
I really wonder if that's truly enforceable if push came to shove. Work for hire implies you get paid. Funny, when I went to college, I paid them, quite handsomely, for my "education". They didn't pay me anything. Now some will argue, "You get college credit, and/or a degree as your payment for the copyright (and the tuition)."
My response is, "Funny how an A+ paper seems to be just as valuable as a D, or even an F paper. If the papers are all equally valuable, then the grade doesn't matter does it? It's also funny how some courses don't have papers, others have lots of them. Obviously then the courses are not of equal value, yet they have the same number of credits. Further, what about the courses, if any, that I dropped or even failed. I don't get credit, and they don't count toward my degree, so where is the payment for a work for hire."
They could maybe claim that by the student sending their work over the unencrypted internet they are effectively making it a public domain work, but that likely wouldn't hold water...
If I were a lawyer representing the students, I wouldn't just welcome such a claim, I'd encourage it. It would guarantee virtually unlimited help and money. Think about it. The MPAA, the RIAA, and many newspapers (and that's just for starters) would jump in and help. Theres no way in hell they would let such a legal precedent happen. If necessary, they would buy a law from Congress blocking that ruling.
...the guy's inspiration for this was an unexpected storm-- but his analysis is limited to only hi and low temps????
Living in Houston as the author of the study does, I can tell you that rain can be rather spotty. There are many times when I've been off and stayed home all day and saw no rain, while my wife, who works about a 15 minute drive away saw torrential downpours. Some areas get rain, others don't. Seems to be the same for other parts of Texas too. Trying to do a rain analysis in Houston would be rather difficult. Do you use a certain location, or just where you are during the day?
Slashdot Mirror
how many people will stand up and piss all over the computer just because a pop-up tells them to?
I think I've got five users that probably would. Seriously.
What most people seem to forget is that winning in court, in criminal cases, is still a loss. You've sat in jail, unless you can bond out and that has a cost. You've had to hire a lawyer, at your expense. And don't get started with a public defender. They are so overworked you're not likely to get more than a "We'll take the plea bargain." defense.
Then there is having your stuff confiscated, and quite possibly being lost or damaged upon return. Will your job still be there while you get all this settled? What effect will have on your family? Your reputation?
I assure you, police can do a lot of damage to your life without ever getting a conviction.
CO burns to CO2 with enough O2. It can be used as fuel, albeit a dangerous one. However, there are ways to deal with that. Gasoline, for instance, isn't a health drink, but we still use it everyday.
And how many doctors, licensed doctors, screw up every day? A license does not guarantee competency, and lack of a license does not guarantee lack of competency.
Since you mentioned doctors, I can tell you a few stories. First, at one point I worked in a medical clinic (as a computer tech). My boss was a med school graduate who was trying to get his license. I walked in on him studying and jokingly asked what he was so worried about since the test was easy. His response, "OK, smart ass, what's the answer to this question?" from his study book. After I got 4 correct in a row I was kicked out his office. He eventually did pass, but not on that try.
I've filed a complaint against one doctor that "treated" me with the state medical board, but that was dismissed for "lack of evidence". Basically it was my word against his and the medical board sides with doctors in all but the most extreme cases. A nurse I knew told me that doctor had lost his license in another state and had come here and gotten re-licensed. A not uncommon practice I hear.
In a more recent story, I did something careless and both broke and dislocated my elbow. The emergency room doctor who "treated" me first overdosed me on general anesthesia. I don't know everything that happened, but I did learn defibrillators hurt, a lot! Then he failed to properly pop my arm back in place, so it had to be popped back in again (by a more competent doctor). Even with a local, it still was extremely painful, even worse that the defibrillator.
In a less recent story, I was in the emergency waiting room with a friend and overheard part of conversation. The guy had been to "multiple specialists" (referring to doctors) who had no idea why he was sick and getting sicker. I pulled the doctor aside and told him to call the police, and what to test for. The police did later talk to me, so I got confirmation I was right. He was suffering from heavy metal poisoning. Whether it was a crime or accidental exposure I never learned. Some of the materials I worked with a couple years earlier required a safety course, and the symptoms of heavy metal poisoning were part of the course.
I can go on with even more stories, but I think I made my point. A license is no guarantee of competency.
The main problem isn't "works exactly like Windows", it's a double standard a great many people have. Windows is judged far less harshly than Linux by many non-techies, and this extends to open source apps as well.
For example, I had one user almost scream at me that Thunderbird wasn't showing linked images in his email messages and to remove Thunderbird and put him back on OE. He couldn't stand that behavior. When I pointed that he didn't have Thunderbird and was using OE, then he told me, "Never mind, it's OK."!
Sadly, this is not an isolated case. A hardware vendor I know tried putting on OpenOffice.org (OOo) on new computers for free when the customer didn't buy MS Office. He quit due to people's double standards. They expect him to support OOo for free and called constantly, but these same people are willing to pay for MS Office support when, on occasion, they do call for support.
Public Storage for one. My wife was happily using Firefox until she rented some storage for her brother. Now Firefox is "broken" in her mind because Public Storage can't use simple javascript. They use some IE only version in their online payment system.
Just because the ports were active does not mean any usernames/passwords were recorded. The server could have simply been set to reject all attempts.
I wouldn't lay money on that scenario mind you, but it is possible.
From the article:
"OpenDocument currently lacks formula definitions for spreadsheets," he wrote. "Many core financial functions in spreadsheets are undefined except for actual Excel output. That output varies by version and service pack of MS Office. What happens if OpenDocument and OpenXML reach different definitions of those functions?"His big beef is the ODF standard needs to have some formula definitions added??? So add them to the standard! Somehow I think the actual formulas, at least the financial ones, are already defined in some other standard, maybe not an ISO standard, but a standard somewhere. I just can't believe CPA's make up their own formulas. (OK, honest CPA's.) And since these formula's are standard somewhere else already, then OpenXML should have the same formulas.
"But what if there are different standards for the same financial function?" you ask. Well, then have a flag to pick which one is used as part of the function call. If OpenXML doesn't do this then ODF can make claims that Excel is not suitable for financial calculations. Actually, from the comments above, I'd say that is already the case. "...output varies by version and service pack of MS Office." does not inspire confidence in me for one.
The author also seems to think having OpenXML as a standard will provide anyone and everyone the complete specs to the standard. From what I've read, this isn't the case so far, and I doubt MS is anxious for that to happen. Get it approved, yes, but describe it in enough detail that anyone else could fully implement it, no.
As it is, Microsoft will not commit to supporting the standard. According to Brian Jones, a Microsoft manager who has worked on OOXML for six years: "It's hard for Microsoft to commit to what comes out of Ecma [the European standards group that has already OK'd OOXML] in the coming years, because we don't know what direction they will take the formats. We'll of course stay active and propose changes based on where we want to go with Office 14. At the end of the day, though, the other Ecma members could decide to take the spec in a completely different direction. ... Since it's not guaranteed, it would be hard for us to make any sort of official statement."
I should say that using IE is wrong and stupid enough.
Except some sites require it (ADP is the worst), and I can't convince management it's worth it to switch to a different company. Personally, I've been searching for a better on-line bank and after the passing the initial screening, one of the first questions I ask is, "Does your site support Firefox?". Most of the time I get a no, use IE. My most recent answer, Feb 11, 2008, states, "Apple Bank's website currently supports Mozilla Firefox version 1.0." Version 1.0! How old is that?!?! The search continues.
Considering Firefox's market share is somewhere around 16%, and according to a recent bankrate.com article, "Fierce competition among banks for customers and deposits has helped keep CD rates propped up." You'd think turning away 1 in 6 potential customers would be a bad idea...
I pay school taxes directly. Every January, I write out a check to the local school board as part of my property taxes. But, I don't have kids, and thanks to a poor decision I made several years ago, most likely never will. Therefore, I don't and can't use the schools. By your reasoning, I should be able to withhold payment of my school property taxes, since there is no acceptance.
Sorry, it doesn't work that way. I sort of wish it did, even more so because, from what I see, the schools around me don't do a good job anyway.
Actually, I'm somewhat surprised Jamie mentioned Linux. I have noticed in some (past) shows they show a computer screen in a few camera shots and I recognized AOL. AOL is rarely the choice of the computer literate. Since Mythbusters seems to avoid product placements, I believe the fact I could spot AOL was more an accident than intentional. Haven't seen it lately though.
Still, going from the choice of the not computer literate to talking about Linux as a desktop OS, in a non-computer tech magazine...that's a sign of progress. Is that another crack I hear forming in MS's empire?
The FBI is more interested in tracking down terrorists nowadays. Running down all those false leads from the illegal wiretaps really eats up man power. Aside from that, phishing often crosses national boundaries. Now you have to get cooperation from other governments. Then you have to find, arrest, most likely extradite, then convict them. Not an easy task. The FBI's resources, though vast, are still finite. Phishing doesn't rank very high.
As for banks, they are interested in money only. If it costs more to fight the phishers than to just let them go, the banks will let them go. This, of course, neglects the long term cost of encouraging this behavior. Besides that, the phishers who misuse trademarks aren't the easiest to find and sue. Here for a few days (at most) then gone. It's not like they post addresses for the bank's lawyers to send nasty letters to.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.- E. Debs
As I live in Texas, for both Senatorial and Presidential elections at least, the way I figure it, voting third party is the only way my vote will count at all. For those that don't know, Texas is a republican state. At the senate and presidential level, the republican candidate will win no matter what. The presidential republican nominee could take a whiz on the Alamo (a major insult to Texas!) with cameras rolling and still win the state.
The republicans know this and the democrats know this. So neither party really cares about the state other than for fund raising. The republicans can take Texas for granted and the democrats know money and time spent here is wasted. Therefore voting for either party doesn't matter. That leaves third party and independent candidates.
Let third party and independent candidates start getting enough votes, and they qualify for federal campaign funds. Now their message and presence will reach more people. In the meantime, it just might rattle the 2 parties enough to throw the people a few scraps to try and win back the voters who have left them.
For those in states whether either party has a lock, voting third party is the only way to make a difference. For those in toss-up states, you have to weigh you choices more carefully.
It has to start somewhere. I'm reminded of a story. A woman was walking along a beach after a big storm. The sun was coming out and the beach was covered with starfish that had washed ashore in the storm, dying because they could not get back in the water. She picked one up and tossed it back into the ocean. A man watching her yelled out, "That won't make any difference!" to which the woman replied, "It made a difference to that starfish."
I don't feel comfortable taking such a narrow interpretation of the bill of rights that only things that are literally and directly incriminating are protected.
Sadly, it doesn't matter what you feel comfortable with. It's what a judge feels comfortable with. And lately they seem to be quite comfortable with broad, in some cases overreaching IMHO, interpretations of the bill of rights.
If you get caught driving the Chevy without the license, it will cost you way more than the license fee.
As another has already pointed out, it should be: "If you get caught driving the Chevy without the license or can't find the proper proof you paid for the license...". Remember kiddies, original boxes, certificates of authenticity, and stickers are not proper proof.
passport security is so important, why don't they audit the website BEFORE it goes live?
Because those directly responsible for the bad design have little, if any, liability for screw up. They aren't out any money. Their information isn't public/stolen. They don't face jail time, and it's unlikely their career will take any real hit assuming they can be identified at all.
BTW, it *may* not be the coders that are responsible for the bad design. More than once I've been directly ordered by my past bosses to do something I knew was not a good idea. But, so long as it's not illegal, I have to obey orders.
Except with the Internet and massive databases floating around, we are all interconnected. Jet DBs may not be massive, but that doesn't mean the company doesn't have access to other real databases. OK, so the stupid company gets owned. Now, if they have any info on me, that's in the criminal's hands, and good luck getting compensation even if the company admitted full responsibility. Their Internet connection can now be used to spam or DOS me. If they go out of business, think about all the employees who had nothing to do with the IT decisions (and those who opposed this particular one). They get to stand in the unemployment line. Vendors might get shafted on unpaid invoices.
Just because your system is secure doesn't mean you don't get affected by someone else's insecure system. And no, I don't know what the solution to that problem is.
Unfortunately, this style leaves you screwed when you do want to use credit. With little or no history, all you'll get is a "no" or higher than deserved rates when you do need credit.
However, even if they are valid they are **civil** law contracts and not a matter of criminal law.
I've wondered for a while that if those are valid contracts, would wearing a t-shirt with something like, "By selling to me, you agree to give up any rights to search me or my bags." also be a valid contract. How often would the store refuse to sell to you based on that?
How come you recommend StarOffice over OpenOffice.org?...
Well, perhaps some policy forbids installing free (as in no invoice) software, or the policy requires a support contract.
Do a good job, let your reputation work for you. Then you can get jobs from recommendations instead of just being another name in the stack.
Not always. I've seen really good, competent people get bad reviews/recommendations and bad people get good ones. Some bosses will resort to dirty tricks to keep good people, and get rid of bad ones. With bad recommendations, the good people can't leave, and with a good recommendation, the bad become someone else's problem.
My University's regulations, ..., contained a prominent notice that any work performed at the University's request (e.g. assignments, etc.) would be the University's copyright due to it being a work for hire.
I really wonder if that's truly enforceable if push came to shove. Work for hire implies you get paid. Funny, when I went to college, I paid them, quite handsomely, for my "education". They didn't pay me anything. Now some will argue, "You get college credit, and/or a degree as your payment for the copyright (and the tuition)."
My response is, "Funny how an A+ paper seems to be just as valuable as a D, or even an F paper. If the papers are all equally valuable, then the grade doesn't matter does it? It's also funny how some courses don't have papers, others have lots of them. Obviously then the courses are not of equal value, yet they have the same number of credits. Further, what about the courses, if any, that I dropped or even failed. I don't get credit, and they don't count toward my degree, so where is the payment for a work for hire."
They could maybe claim that by the student sending their work over the unencrypted internet they are effectively making it a public domain work, but that likely wouldn't hold water...
If I were a lawyer representing the students, I wouldn't just welcome such a claim, I'd encourage it. It would guarantee virtually unlimited help and money. Think about it. The MPAA, the RIAA, and many newspapers (and that's just for starters) would jump in and help. Theres no way in hell they would let such a legal precedent happen. If necessary, they would buy a law from Congress blocking that ruling.
Living in Houston as the author of the study does, I can tell you that rain can be rather spotty. There are many times when I've been off and stayed home all day and saw no rain, while my wife, who works about a 15 minute drive away saw torrential downpours. Some areas get rain, others don't. Seems to be the same for other parts of Texas too. Trying to do a rain analysis in Houston would be rather difficult. Do you use a certain location, or just where you are during the day?
Since the code is under the BSD license, I doubt any lawsuit would be viable.