It's called "punative damages". I surely don't cost $10,000 just to pick up the phone (although, there's a goal to strive for...) but the new federal "Do Not Call" list has just that as the penalty for bypassing it.
Fines are usually *not* based on the "cost" but instead of "deterent value". If the fine was a penny, the spammer might just pay it.
I am always surprised how much we can get away with developing web apps. While I wouldn't use Echo simply because of the bandwidth it is eating to pull these tricks off (and the probable breakage with minor browser revisions), I can't tell you how often the recommendations for our app is to "windowize" it more. No thanks: I love the fact we can patch once and all our users are "fixed". New features just release: no downlevel users, no data upgrade problems (on the user side).
If this guy documented the steps he took, I suspect if he was to go to a judge, the judge would consider any agreements past that point unenforable. An "agreement" is just that. If one party is not given even a portion of the agreement's content, the entire agreement can be found to be invalid. If they can't provide agreements after that much work, any legal enforcement of those agreements would be in serious question.
Of course, lots of software has the agreement in the box, and you can only view it after breaking the seals (making the software unreturnable). Most companies try to get around that by saying you can get a refund if you don't agree to the terms, and then fail to provide a channel for such refunds. Again, as they have broken the agreement, I doubt any further terms would be enforcable.
This code is from sys/sys/malloc.c in V7 Unix. It has been widely published; among other things, it can be found in Lion's Commentary on Unix (if you can get a copy). It featured in this 1984 Usenet posting. And, crucially, it has been circulated with the V7 Unix source, which was released by Caldera (now the SCO Group) under the BSD license. SCO would like the world to forget about that release now, but the Wayback Machine remembers.
So how Linux does using BSD licensed code give SCO rights to anything? I would assume the example they would choose would be a strong example of infringment, that people would research and go "good god man, they were right!" Instead they pull out code that is under a license even more permissive than the GPL. Good going guys! Send me an invoice, I'll buy now!
Hate to "me too" on this, but I have to. I enjoy ID's games, but they couldn't write a story and stick to it if someone strapped John into his rocket this morning and threatened to launch it unless his next game come with a plot less contrived than an A-Team reunion.
Half Life 2 *could* drop the ball, but I haven't seen any signs so far that they have. I look forward to the work of the guys who made the marine AI of grenade flushing, constantly mobile, devious death.
I have noticed that as I have done most of my work remote this last year (remote desktop technologies instead of onsite visits, IM and e-mail instead of phone discussions) that I have become a surly bugger.
It has started to carry into my regular life: people are interruptions not whatever they used to be...
Totally wrong: the right to free speech is not limited to political speech. Political speech gets extra protection *in practice* because of the things you mention, but because the distinction between different forms of speech is difficult, the *First Amendment* held all speech as free. Only later did restrictions get piled on, and those restrictions are only considered "constitutionally permissiable" if they fall within a very narrow set of rules (either because they are content neutral or consist of a "breach of peace"). Lately those rules are broadening, but that does not make any form of speech a "privledge".
The frames considered freedom to be the "natural rights" of all people, and then outlined restrictions *again* the government taking those rights away except in defined situations. If you consider you "natural rights" a "privlege", then you have accepted a completely different government than intended by our founders: the only rights you have are those granted by the government. That is exactly opposite of the original intent.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Where do you see the government granting us a permission there? I see the people restricting the government. I really wish our moderns laws were so clearly stated.
Actually, I do believe "this tripe". I make a decent living putting my foot into the doors of companies by providing inexpensive solutions up front. Over time I have built up a respectable customer base who come back to me for improvements and the like. I also contribute to open source and make a bit of my living by installing, configuring and customizing it.
So if you write your own music and wish to keep it to yourself, that is fine. If you don't think it is good, even better that you keep it to yourself. However, I do believe the "tripe" that an musician who put a composition into open content (remember, attribution is not normally permitted to be removed as copyright is retained by the author) would gain by the ability to be "heard".
If you are good, being heard through your compositions is only going to improve your likelyhood of success. I will leave it as an excersise for the reader in the alternate case.
If I can google up counter examples in 30 seconds, I have a hard time with the phrase "But it aint going to happen". Somebody spends the time to collect, organize and provide the bandwith for these items. There is even more content in the text world (the free Wikipedia was mentioned, but there are other collections such as PlanetMath).
So no, I don't expect the physical world will see a lot of free content, but once content is created, why *not* put some of it out on the net. I find a lot of my computer consulting business results from doing side work to "help out". The "foot in the door" method seems similar to a little fame for "open content". Heck it might even be profitable.
Re:Knuth is only one foundation that won't be lost
on
Software Archaeology
·
· Score: 1
Over time my "abstraction layer" has become higher and higher. My progression looks a bit like this (ignoring the Unix side of my work here, but it is a similar progression):
* Self taught Vic 20 Basic as a 12 year old. * Realized I wasn't getting full use of the machine and programmed in 6502 and direct access to the chips. * Upgrade to C64, hybrid basic and 6502 programming. * Upgrade to the amiga. Begin using C to write software, with a bit of 68000 assembler for graphics routines. * First PC, used C and Turbo Pascal, very little assembler (except for screen updates!) * Windows 3.1: using C++ as "super C". Never again wrote assembly. * Windows 95: Using C++ to write GUI applications sucks, discover VB for interface, C++ for COM objects. * Windows 98: Mostly Access 2000 business applications. * Windows Server 2000: Using VB for business logic, SQL for data acces and ASP for presentation. C++ fading into assembly like past. * Windows Server 2003: VB.NET, even a higher level of abstraction, and SQL for data access.
I can only assume this will continue. Does it make me a bad programmer that I have realized that buisiness customers value low cost/high productivity solutions, even if they are not "optimal" in speed? Looking at my last 5 years work, I wouldn't overlook a good VB/SQL programmer if the problem was in the business space.
I guess the bigger question is: has it really impacted you in a negative way? I use a local business bank that only has one branch and specificially *markets* itself as being a personalized experience. You go in and talk with high ranking bank executives, not a middle man, when you are interested in business loans.
That is the exception however, and I do realize most banks are much more ATM/automation oriented. However, most credit unions are still very people oriented and frankly most people just don't worry that they use an ATM for most transactions. As long as it gets in the account in a timely fashion and they can write checks, why should they care?
Interestingly, because of the automation, there are fewer low level employees, but more *high* level, better paid ones at my main bank. People who know what they are doing. Isn't that a good thing?
In the long run Microsoft will simply license the patent. There is no way that they would allow themselves to be prevented from shipping product, and at the point that it is clear that the legal team has failed, a vast quantity of cash will appear.
Frankly, would wish that Microsoft would win this one, because I would prefer that they come up with a way to make patents less of an issue in the industry than to have the tempo of lame patents increase due to a jackpot payout. However, I suspect a license will be negotiated. It mare come dearly after this legal fumble however.
I work from Tucson, AZ with clients in Irvine California and Phoenix. I have to fly/drive periodically, but the cost of living has allowed me to own a very large home (with it's own pool hall upstairs) whereas in California I would be living in an average home.
Yep, there is something to be said of your strategy.
Of course, another "improvement" is that every packet can be efficently billed to the QOS that it uses. Large companies will be able to "color" packets with green to get good transmission, and everyone else will live on the idle bandwidth left over.
The law of unintended consequences might just come up and bite us on the "hey, I can efficently bill this packet" butt.
How hard was that? Refining a search too much trouble ? Gah, "apple" results in Apple Computer! Somebody sue! I can't possible be bothered to enter a second or third keyword, READ MY FREAKING MIND!
Bah, I'm in a grumpy karma burning "ask a librarian for 'apple' and see what they ask you back" mood I guess.
I find it funny to watch the war between the "why are you suggesting open source crowd" and the "open source is the only way". I have built IIS/ASP/SQL server solutions and I have built Apache/PHP/PostgreSQL solutions. There is a place and time for both solutions.
As an aside, I have to say that I have avoided.NET so far due to the heavy memory footprint it places on a system. Yes, VB.NET is faster than VBScript, but if you were using compiled COM objects in the first place,.NET costs more memory for a slower system. (I do think that.NET's ability to do in place object updates rocks, but I hope you have a devolpment server for bouncing and PLAN your updates...)
But more to the point, your customers don't seem to have the budget to succeed in any domain. If you can't afford more than 20K for a machine and licenses, surely you can't afford to pay the programmers an adequate salary either. So does that mean open source? Heck no... you still have to pay the programmers! I don't think I have *ever* seen a project where the programmers were *cheaper* than the hardware.
I haven't found anything lately, but I still use the following:
UltraEdit - a great lightweight text/hex/programmers editor. Even throw in the upgrade fee every couple years.
WinZip - a looooong time ago, but my code still works in new version.
GetRight - similar functionalty is now everywhere, but at the time was better than dropping a file 90% of the way to completion.
SecondCopy - simple way to back files off of desktops onto a server share where they can then be put on tape.
I have registered others, but some are obsolete these days. This doesn't include a couple of little games I keep on my desktop to kill 10 minutes here and there... (and that don't throw my machine into fullscreen mode).
So far it has been 4 hours since my e-mail... no response whatsoever, not even an autoresponder. I suspect they are becoming overworked trying to handle these by hand, but it sucks knowing that there is a file out there that could fix your problem, but it is up to some guy to answer your begging on his time. Why would a normal download point be so bad?
A whole new generation of gamers were weaned on cards. I'm a second generation D&Der myself (AD&D first printings forward) but I got caught up in the Magic the Gathering thing for a while.
There *is* something about card games that makes sense in a game context: they provide a controlled randomness to the available powers a player has. Building a legal Magic deck is a skill far more subtle than twinking stats, and therefor somewhat more appealing. With a repeat limit on cards, I *can't* simply have my most powerful cards all the time, and so I have to be creative with my lesser cards. In RPGs, you often can build a stat powerhouse that is so unbalanced you need a tripod keep him upright.
I thought they were a fad after Magic started to fade, but I now think they are going to be around for a long time, with varying popularity (just as RPG popularity waxes and wanes). Magic is still fairly popular, Yugioh is obsenely so for how dumbed down it is, and there is a healthy number of alternatives to those two leaders.
Slashdot Mirror
It's called "punative damages". I surely don't cost $10,000 just to pick up the phone (although, there's a goal to strive for...) but the new federal "Do Not Call" list has just that as the penalty for bypassing it.
Fines are usually *not* based on the "cost" but instead of "deterent value". If the fine was a penny, the spammer might just pay it.
I am always surprised how much we can get away with developing web apps. While I wouldn't use Echo simply because of the bandwidth it is eating to pull these tricks off (and the probable breakage with minor browser revisions), I can't tell you how often the recommendations for our app is to "windowize" it more. No thanks: I love the fact we can patch once and all our users are "fixed". New features just release: no downlevel users, no data upgrade problems (on the user side).
If this guy documented the steps he took, I suspect if he was to go to a judge, the judge would consider any agreements past that point unenforable. An "agreement" is just that. If one party is not given even a portion of the agreement's content, the entire agreement can be found to be invalid. If they can't provide agreements after that much work, any legal enforcement of those agreements would be in serious question.
Of course, lots of software has the agreement in the box, and you can only view it after breaking the seals (making the software unreturnable). Most companies try to get around that by saying you can get a refund if you don't agree to the terms, and then fail to provide a channel for such refunds. Again, as they have broken the agreement, I doubt any further terms would be enforcable.
I'm pretty open minded, but interspecies marriage?
So how Linux does using BSD licensed code give SCO rights to anything? I would assume the example they would choose would be a strong example of infringment, that people would research and go "good god man, they were right!" Instead they pull out code that is under a license even more permissive than the GPL. Good going guys! Send me an invoice, I'll buy now!
Hate to "me too" on this, but I have to. I enjoy ID's games, but they couldn't write a story and stick to it if someone strapped John into his rocket this morning and threatened to launch it unless his next game come with a plot less contrived than an A-Team reunion.
Half Life 2 *could* drop the ball, but I haven't seen any signs so far that they have. I look forward to the work of the guys who made the marine AI of grenade flushing, constantly mobile, devious death.
Actually, Richard Bartle wrote the book *without* that assumption, and was being taken to task by the articles author.
Where are rabid carnivous pigs when you need them? (If only they could fly too...)
I have noticed that as I have done most of my work remote this last year (remote desktop technologies instead of onsite visits, IM and e-mail instead of phone discussions) that I have become a surly bugger.
It has started to carry into my regular life: people are interruptions not whatever they used to be...
And here I am posting to slash.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200308/07/eng200 30807_121861.shtml
The frames considered freedom to be the "natural rights" of all people, and then outlined restrictions *again* the government taking those rights away except in defined situations. If you consider you "natural rights" a "privlege", then you have accepted a completely different government than intended by our founders: the only rights you have are those granted by the government. That is exactly opposite of the original intent.
Where do you see the government granting us a permission there? I see the people restricting the government. I really wish our moderns laws were so clearly stated.
Yeah, he can't solder.
Actually, I do believe "this tripe". I make a decent living putting my foot into the doors of companies by providing inexpensive solutions up front. Over time I have built up a respectable customer base who come back to me for improvements and the like. I also contribute to open source and make a bit of my living by installing, configuring and customizing it.
So if you write your own music and wish to keep it to yourself, that is fine. If you don't think it is good, even better that you keep it to yourself. However, I do believe the "tripe" that an musician who put a composition into open content (remember, attribution is not normally permitted to be removed as copyright is retained by the author) would gain by the ability to be "heard".
If you are good, being heard through your compositions is only going to improve your likelyhood of success. I will leave it as an excersise for the reader in the alternate case.
I guess that depends on if you are talking about physical or digital. In the digital realm:
/ links/clipar t.html
(For pictures:)
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad
http://www.pdimages.com/
(For sheet music:)
http://www.sheetmusicarchive.net/
http://www.sheetmusic1.com/new.great.music.html
If I can google up counter examples in 30 seconds, I have a hard time with the phrase "But it aint going to happen". Somebody spends the time to collect, organize and provide the bandwith for these items. There is even more content in the text world (the free Wikipedia was mentioned, but there are other collections such as PlanetMath).
So no, I don't expect the physical world will see a lot of free content, but once content is created, why *not* put some of it out on the net. I find a lot of my computer consulting business results from doing side work to "help out". The "foot in the door" method seems similar to a little fame for "open content". Heck it might even be profitable.
Over time my "abstraction layer" has become higher and higher. My progression looks a bit like this (ignoring the Unix side of my work here, but it is a similar progression):
* Self taught Vic 20 Basic as a 12 year old.
* Realized I wasn't getting full use of the machine and programmed in 6502 and direct access to the chips.
* Upgrade to C64, hybrid basic and 6502 programming.
* Upgrade to the amiga. Begin using C to write software, with a bit of 68000 assembler for graphics routines.
* First PC, used C and Turbo Pascal, very little assembler (except for screen updates!)
* Windows 3.1: using C++ as "super C". Never again wrote assembly.
* Windows 95: Using C++ to write GUI applications sucks, discover VB for interface, C++ for COM objects.
* Windows 98: Mostly Access 2000 business applications.
* Windows Server 2000: Using VB for business logic, SQL for data acces and ASP for presentation. C++ fading into assembly like past.
* Windows Server 2003: VB.NET, even a higher level of abstraction, and SQL for data access.
I can only assume this will continue. Does it make me a bad programmer that I have realized that buisiness customers value low cost/high productivity solutions, even if they are not "optimal" in speed? Looking at my last 5 years work, I wouldn't overlook a good VB/SQL programmer if the problem was in the business space.
What the heck version of Google are you using... that query returns 6 results.
"Compare Prices and Read Reviews on Pirelli P3000..." (x2),
"1999 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Review" (with stuff about Pirelli tires)
"Cheap Tires & Wheels"
"Pirelli World"
and
"Anybody got 15" wheels on a Cooper?"
Where is the spam? Perhaps if you didn't use pornographymonger.google.com...
I guess the bigger question is: has it really impacted you in a negative way? I use a local business bank that only has one branch and specificially *markets* itself as being a personalized experience. You go in and talk with high ranking bank executives, not a middle man, when you are interested in business loans.
That is the exception however, and I do realize most banks are much more ATM/automation oriented. However, most credit unions are still very people oriented and frankly most people just don't worry that they use an ATM for most transactions. As long as it gets in the account in a timely fashion and they can write checks, why should they care?
Interestingly, because of the automation, there are fewer low level employees, but more *high* level, better paid ones at my main bank. People who know what they are doing. Isn't that a good thing?
In the long run Microsoft will simply license the patent. There is no way that they would allow themselves to be prevented from shipping product, and at the point that it is clear that the legal team has failed, a vast quantity of cash will appear.
Frankly, would wish that Microsoft would win this one, because I would prefer that they come up with a way to make patents less of an issue in the industry than to have the tempo of lame patents increase due to a jackpot payout. However, I suspect a license will be negotiated. It mare come dearly after this legal fumble however.
I work from Tucson, AZ with clients in Irvine California and Phoenix. I have to fly/drive periodically, but the cost of living has allowed me to own a very large home (with it's own pool hall upstairs) whereas in California I would be living in an average home.
Yep, there is something to be said of your strategy.
Of course, another "improvement" is that every packet can be efficently billed to the QOS that it uses. Large companies will be able to "color" packets with green to get good transmission, and everyone else will live on the idle bandwidth left over.
The law of unintended consequences might just come up and bite us on the "hey, I can efficently bill this packet" butt.
Good grief people:
Font Arial -"Font=Arial" -"Face=Arial"
How hard was that? Refining a search too much trouble ? Gah, "apple" results in Apple Computer! Somebody sue! I can't possible be bothered to enter a second or third keyword, READ MY FREAKING MIND!
Bah, I'm in a grumpy karma burning "ask a librarian for 'apple' and see what they ask you back" mood I guess.
I find it funny to watch the war between the "why are you suggesting open source crowd" and the "open source is the only way". I have built IIS/ASP/SQL server solutions and I have built Apache/PHP/PostgreSQL solutions. There is a place and time for both solutions.
.NET so far due to the heavy memory footprint it places on a system. Yes, VB.NET is faster than VBScript, but if you were using compiled COM objects in the first place, .NET costs more memory for a slower system. (I do think that .NET's ability to do in place object updates rocks, but I hope you have a devolpment server for bouncing and PLAN your updates...)
As an aside, I have to say that I have avoided
But more to the point, your customers don't seem to have the budget to succeed in any domain. If you can't afford more than 20K for a machine and licenses, surely you can't afford to pay the programmers an adequate salary either. So does that mean open source? Heck no... you still have to pay the programmers! I don't think I have *ever* seen a project where the programmers were *cheaper* than the hardware.
I haven't found anything lately, but I still use the following:
UltraEdit - a great lightweight text/hex/programmers editor. Even throw in the upgrade fee every couple years.
WinZip - a looooong time ago, but my code still works in new version.
GetRight - similar functionalty is now everywhere, but at the time was better than dropping a file 90% of the way to completion.
SecondCopy - simple way to back files off of desktops onto a server share where they can then be put on tape.
I have registered others, but some are obsolete these days. This doesn't include a couple of little games I keep on my desktop to kill 10 minutes here and there... (and that don't throw my machine into fullscreen mode).
So far it has been 4 hours since my e-mail... no response whatsoever, not even an autoresponder. I suspect they are becoming overworked trying to handle these by hand, but it sucks knowing that there is a file out there that could fix your problem, but it is up to some guy to answer your begging on his time. Why would a normal download point be so bad?
A whole new generation of gamers were weaned on cards. I'm a second generation D&Der myself (AD&D first printings forward) but I got caught up in the Magic the Gathering thing for a while.
There *is* something about card games that makes sense in a game context: they provide a controlled randomness to the available powers a player has. Building a legal Magic deck is a skill far more subtle than twinking stats, and therefor somewhat more appealing. With a repeat limit on cards, I *can't* simply have my most powerful cards all the time, and so I have to be creative with my lesser cards. In RPGs, you often can build a stat powerhouse that is so unbalanced you need a tripod keep him upright.
I thought they were a fad after Magic started to fade, but I now think they are going to be around for a long time, with varying popularity (just as RPG popularity waxes and wanes). Magic is still fairly popular, Yugioh is obsenely so for how dumbed down it is, and there is a healthy number of alternatives to those two leaders.