And it's just that easy.
> In an ideal world we'd all have OGG-based players with FM tuner,
I use an iriver, which both plays OGG and has an FM tuner.
> and access to DRM-less music, or at least a universal, compatible format.
Check out magnatunes. An online label with no DRM and you can download in pretty much any format you like when you purchase an album. Of course they don't have as much music as any of the popular online music stores as they only have albums from their own artists. But there's some pretty good stuff there anyhow.
First of all, it's not usually the 'algorithm' that's patented, and that's the problem. Instead it's things like double clicking and other rediculous concepts. If it was an algorithm there wouldn't be a real problem with software patents as it's usually trivial to implement the same thing 1000 different ways.
Second, according to the DMCA reverse engineering is NOT illegal. Breaking copy encryption is.
I mean, there's the whole thing about Eskimos having 5 million words
They actually only have 7 words for snow. There was a study done on it, I think in the 60's. A year after the study a journalist (who was trying to claim that language shapes thought) stated that they had 50, and even referenced that article from the year before. 6 months after that article another was published stating they had 200 words for snow. A few years after that it was 2000.
Basically, you have to take all of these studies claiming this with a grain of salt. Especially until there's been multiple independant studies to support the claim. Like he can say that they had trouble performing tasks on 4's and 5's, but maybe they've just never done any math before and after they learn to multiply they'll be just as proficient as you or I.
Let's extrapolate it, and have gun manufacturers asking gun owners to get safeties for their fingers.
Actually, it would be more like gun manufacturers telling bullet manufacturers not to make defective bullets that will blow up in the gun so that the gun manufacturers don't have to add safety against defective bullets.
they'll just ignore the warning or throw in lip service methods
So because it's generic that makes it somehow less relevant? Seems like even more of a reason to mod it up to me. It's not redundant as far as I can tell.
I agree that it's generic, but it's also quite a good point. Computer Science is still in its infancy in most aspects, security included, and that should be considered in these so called "studies".
Well I guess that makes two of us. My mastercard payment successfully went through for over a grand but somehow disappeared yesterday. My balance is now that much larger than it should be:-). At least I'll get the $0.0002 of interest even when they do correct it;-).
Well that depends on the version of windows you are installing. If its windows 2000, then compare that install with a 4 year old install of linux and you'll start to see you get the same kind of software with both.
Right. So what you're saying is if I were to install windows XP right now I wouldn't have a browser that can't even do tabbed browsing, image resizing, or popup blocking? The media player wouldn't be DRM'd and the webserver wouldn't be vulnerable to say, the "sasser" virus or any other issues. Give me a fucking break.
The reason why linux has to include this in its install is because it doesn't have an easy way for end users to install programs in linux.
No. The reason the distros (not linux) have to include these is to make them different from every other distro. And openning up the add/remove programs tool in fedora which will then allow you to choose from hundreds of different packages, install the package of your choice AND add it to the kde and gnome menus isn't harder then installing software on windows.
If you want it gone, go to add/remove programs, select the program and click on remove, follow the wizard and its done.
Right. Because we all know how well the windows uninstall works. Granted gentoo and debian are the only two distro's that I know of that handle uninstalls very well, at least they can do it. What, a regular windows user is expected to edit the registry to completely remove a program?
what if linux doesn't detect a piece of hardware you have installed while its installing.
If it doesn't then you can almost always find help on the internet. What if, for one reason or another, windows doesn't like a piece of your hardware. Good fucking luck getting it to work, it'll be hell of a lot easier to just go out and buy another. I still have a soundcard that refuses to work with windows (SB Live, btw) but has no problem under linux, I've tried it with win98/NT/2000/XP and no luck with any. Not to mention the fact that my USB doesn't even work under windows. No problems under linux though. So what the fuck am I suppose to do? Nothing. Because if something doesn't work in windows... then it doesn't work in windows, too bad.
This may be modded as funny. But even 2008 seems too early for these kind of specs. Give me a break, 2GB of RAM and 1 terabyte of disk space. It's rediculous. Computer retailer's are still shipping computers with 256MB of RAM and 40GB hard disks.
It probably won't be uncommon for that much RAM to be in a machine by 2008, but 1 Terabyte disk space seems a little rediculous. And longhorn is suppose to by release like early 2006 isn't it?
When was the last time you tried to install fedora, suse, or mandrake? Maybe it's just me, but the last time I tried to install any of these the install was FAR easier and faster then even the XP install.
First, there's no 25 character product key you need to enter (after you find the key hidden on the bottom of the machine already installed under your desk). I honestly find the fedora install much more intuitive then the XP install, and the funny thing is, is that fedora (or any other distro) doesn't just install the OS. It installs pretty much ALL of the applications you will need to use.
The XP install includes the OS, a primitive browser, a DRM'd media player, and a very vulnerable web server. After that you still have to spend 5 hours installing graphics programs, an office suite, anti-virus, security patches, etc.
So I might agree with you on some of your other points. But the windows install is by no means better than the linux install.
Have you ever tried to create a drawing from scratch in the gimp? It's nearly impossible. And that's exactly what MSPaint is used for.
The gimp is NOT competing with mspaint, they're two completely different programs.
The gimp is a photo editor. Photoshop is a photo editor. Because both of these applications are used for the same (or at least very similar) tasks, they are competing with each other.
Whether or not the gimp can do what photoshop can do as well as it does it is what people are arguing. I've never used PS so I don't know if the gimp is nearly as good as it.
It was the CRIA and they were actually denied getting the information from the ISP's at all because the Judge failed to see how putting MP3's in a shared folder on your computer differs from that of having a photo copier in a library surrounded by copyrighted material.
This case doesn't really have anything to do with what happened in Canada though, because Canada doesn't have a PATRIOT act.
So then would you feel better that they get brainwashed with your anti-corporate propaganda? Or is that called teaching? Just out of curiosity, where do you draw the line between teaching and brainwashing? It's all the same it just happens that you want the kids to learn your ideals, not the MPAA's.
I say take the lesser of the two evils. What's better, attempting to brain wash 12 year olds, or suing them? I'd go with the brain washing, then at least the smart ones will survive.
I believe that the parent thinks there are higher priority criminals to hunt than a few losers who pirate mediocre games. Victimless crimes and white collar crimes should never take precidence and resources from the prosecution of violent crimes.
See, now that would mean that individual lives would be more important than a corporations' wallet... we can't have that, can we!?;-)
I'd have to guess that the main reason is because it's always-on. Although the speed increase is nice, unless your going to sites like yahoo.com (or other large sites with large web pages), I've noticed that the speed usually tends to be tolerably slower. After all, the important part of the site is the text, what's the diff if it takes.2 seconds or 2 seconds to load.
Not having to a busy phone line all the time is definately a nice bonus, as well as just being able to sit down at your computer and check your email without having to spend 30 seconds dialing in and the annoying buzz of a modem.
This is exactly the reason for these stats. There's not a single person I know who's used broadband for more than a month that would be willing to switch back to dial-up.
Give all those people 1 or 2 months of free trial broadband, and then force them back to dial-up and I garauntee that those percentage's will change pretty fast.
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And it's just that easy. > In an ideal world we'd all have OGG-based players with FM tuner, I use an iriver, which both plays OGG and has an FM tuner. > and access to DRM-less music, or at least a universal, compatible format. Check out magnatunes. An online label with no DRM and you can download in pretty much any format you like when you purchase an album. Of course they don't have as much music as any of the popular online music stores as they only have albums from their own artists. But there's some pretty good stuff there anyhow.
First of all, it's not usually the 'algorithm' that's patented, and that's the problem. Instead it's things like double clicking and other rediculous concepts. If it was an algorithm there wouldn't be a real problem with software patents as it's usually trivial to implement the same thing 1000 different ways.
Second, according to the DMCA reverse engineering is NOT illegal. Breaking copy encryption is.
It would be "open", just not free (as in speech).
Not exactly. What MS is doing is telling their customers (with extended warranty) in advance, that in a few days they will be issuing a recall.
But, in a few days when the issue it, it will be issued to all of their customers, not just the higher paying ones.
I mean, there's the whole thing about Eskimos having 5 million words
They actually only have 7 words for snow. There was a study done on it, I think in the 60's. A year after the study a journalist (who was trying to claim that language shapes thought) stated that they had 50, and even referenced that article from the year before. 6 months after that article another was published stating they had 200 words for snow. A few years after that it was 2000.
Basically, you have to take all of these studies claiming this with a grain of salt. Especially until there's been multiple independant studies to support the claim. Like he can say that they had trouble performing tasks on 4's and 5's, but maybe they've just never done any math before and after they learn to multiply they'll be just as proficient as you or I.
Let's extrapolate it, and have gun manufacturers asking gun owners to get safeties for their fingers.
Actually, it would be more like gun manufacturers telling bullet manufacturers not to make defective bullets that will blow up in the gun so that the gun manufacturers don't have to add safety against defective bullets.
they'll just ignore the warning or throw in lip service methods
At least they'll get a warning.
No No, see, this time it's a "virus" last time it was a "worm". So in about 9 hours time we should see the first cellphone "trojan". ;-)
So because it's generic that makes it somehow less relevant? Seems like even more of a reason to mod it up to me. It's not redundant as far as I can tell.
I agree that it's generic, but it's also quite a good point. Computer Science is still in its infancy in most aspects, security included, and that should be considered in these so called "studies".
Well I guess that makes two of us. My mastercard payment successfully went through for over a grand but somehow disappeared yesterday. My balance is now that much larger than it should be :-). At least I'll get the $0.0002 of interest even when they do correct it ;-).
Well that depends on the version of windows you are installing. If its windows 2000, then compare that install with a 4 year old install of linux and you'll start to see you get the same kind of software with both.
Right. So what you're saying is if I were to install windows XP right now I wouldn't have a browser that can't even do tabbed browsing, image resizing, or popup blocking? The media player wouldn't be DRM'd and the webserver wouldn't be vulnerable to say, the "sasser" virus or any other issues. Give me a fucking break.
The reason why linux has to include this in its install is because it doesn't have an easy way for end users to install programs in linux.
No. The reason the distros (not linux) have to include these is to make them different from every other distro. And openning up the add/remove programs tool in fedora which will then allow you to choose from hundreds of different packages, install the package of your choice AND add it to the kde and gnome menus isn't harder then installing software on windows.
If you want it gone, go to add/remove programs, select the program and click on remove, follow the wizard and its done.
Right. Because we all know how well the windows uninstall works. Granted gentoo and debian are the only two distro's that I know of that handle uninstalls very well, at least they can do it. What, a regular windows user is expected to edit the registry to completely remove a program?
what if linux doesn't detect a piece of hardware you have installed while its installing.
If it doesn't then you can almost always find help on the internet. What if, for one reason or another, windows doesn't like a piece of your hardware. Good fucking luck getting it to work, it'll be hell of a lot easier to just go out and buy another. I still have a soundcard that refuses to work with windows (SB Live, btw) but has no problem under linux, I've tried it with win98/NT/2000/XP and no luck with any. Not to mention the fact that my USB doesn't even work under windows. No problems under linux though. So what the fuck am I suppose to do? Nothing. Because if something doesn't work in windows... then it doesn't work in windows, too bad.
I'm sooooo sorry. But perhaps before you become a spelling nazi you should examine your own spelling first.
is "retailers"
It's "It's". It is NOT "is". Ass.
This may be modded as funny. But even 2008 seems too early for these kind of specs. Give me a break, 2GB of RAM and 1 terabyte of disk space. It's rediculous. Computer retailer's are still shipping computers with 256MB of RAM and 40GB hard disks.
It probably won't be uncommon for that much RAM to be in a machine by 2008, but 1 Terabyte disk space seems a little rediculous. And longhorn is suppose to by release like early 2006 isn't it?
I'm not convinced that this article is for real.
Compare to Windows- Installation sucks
When was the last time you tried to install fedora, suse, or mandrake? Maybe it's just me, but the last time I tried to install any of these the install was FAR easier and faster then even the XP install.
First, there's no 25 character product key you need to enter (after you find the key hidden on the bottom of the machine already installed under your desk). I honestly find the fedora install much more intuitive then the XP install, and the funny thing is, is that fedora (or any other distro) doesn't just install the OS. It installs pretty much ALL of the applications you will need to use.
The XP install includes the OS, a primitive browser, a DRM'd media player, and a very vulnerable web server. After that you still have to spend 5 hours installing graphics programs, an office suite, anti-virus, security patches, etc.
So I might agree with you on some of your other points. But the windows install is by no means better than the linux install.
Have you ever tried to create a drawing from scratch in the gimp? It's nearly impossible. And that's exactly what MSPaint is used for.
The gimp is NOT competing with mspaint, they're two completely different programs.
The gimp is a photo editor. Photoshop is a photo editor. Because both of these applications are used for the same (or at least very similar) tasks, they are competing with each other.
Whether or not the gimp can do what photoshop can do as well as it does it is what people are arguing. I've never used PS so I don't know if the gimp is nearly as good as it.
It was the CRIA and they were actually denied getting the information from the ISP's at all because the Judge failed to see how putting MP3's in a shared folder on your computer differs from that of having a photo copier in a library surrounded by copyrighted material.
This case doesn't really have anything to do with what happened in Canada though, because Canada doesn't have a PATRIOT act.
they started it in '63, they didn't finish it till '64. rtfa
So then would you feel better that they get brainwashed with your anti-corporate propaganda? Or is that called teaching? Just out of curiosity, where do you draw the line between teaching and brainwashing? It's all the same it just happens that you want the kids to learn your ideals, not the MPAA's.
I say take the lesser of the two evils. What's better, attempting to brain wash 12 year olds, or suing them? I'd go with the brain washing, then at least the smart ones will survive.
I believe that the parent thinks there are higher priority criminals to hunt than a few losers who pirate mediocre games. Victimless crimes and white collar crimes should never take precidence and resources from the prosecution of violent crimes.
;-)
See, now that would mean that individual lives would be more important than a corporations' wallet... we can't have that, can we!?
I'd have to guess that the main reason is because it's always-on. Although the speed increase is nice, unless your going to sites like yahoo.com (or other large sites with large web pages), I've noticed that the speed usually tends to be tolerably slower. After all, the important part of the site is the text, what's the diff if it takes .2 seconds or 2 seconds to load.
;-)
Not having to a busy phone line all the time is definately a nice bonus, as well as just being able to sit down at your computer and check your email without having to spend 30 seconds dialing in and the annoying buzz of a modem.
Now, pr0n's a whole nother story.
This is exactly the reason for these stats. There's not a single person I know who's used broadband for more than a month that would be willing to switch back to dial-up.
Give all those people 1 or 2 months of free trial broadband, and then force them back to dial-up and I garauntee that those percentage's will change pretty fast.
Yup, looks like I'm a moron... whoops.
What I can't believe is that SCO's stock is still almost double sun's... wtf?
That's just what I was thinking! It's been like two months since the last one too, and they just want us to skip it!?
How is this modded as redundant? It's the first frieking post!