Vague? Well, as an unconvinced person, perhaps you can understand telemarketers. You know... call you up while you're eating dinner, trying to sell you their cheap do-hickeys. You tell them to take your name off their list, but by the time they do that, they've already sold your name to a new company. Or your phone company selling your call lists to their "business partners." Which they do now. There's a lot more information in that list than meets the eye. Times you're most likely to be home (and not home.) Who you call and when. Collate that information with other call logs and you've got graphs of who your friends and aquaintances are, and who they're friends with.. etc.
No, I'm not wearing my tinfoil hat right now. But all that information adds up, and keeps adding up, and eventually you can get some detailed life information. "So what, only criminals would fear that." Well, you don't have to fear it to be creeped out by it. And aggravated when you get those damn calls no matter how many times you tell them "Take me off your damn list."
Naming naming naming... How do we find and name resources on the network, or advertise our own services? DNS is a hierarchical system, you have a group of root servers, and that will be a weak point in a distributed system such as ad-hoc networks. The network might be free, but resolving objects will still rely on a centralized system. ANd the telcos, or whatever enemies of the ad-hoc network, can attack that.
Hmmmm, I wish I was that optimistic about the "free" market. It doesn't matter whether they respond to customer demand or not. It's whether they can CREATE a demand, possibly one the customer didn't even know he wanted.
First, DMCA is just ONE of the many copyright/intellectual property laws that didn't work. What about the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act? The idea that ideas can be owned isn't a natural law. It's something we put in place, and over the years it's turned into a way for the old industries to exploit the consumers AND artists.
The DMCA isn't the only bill that needs to be challenged, it's just the start. As a producer of creative works myself, I can see the reason for having a limited copyright. But as a person who sees the benefits of scientific exploration on society, I can also see how the idea of owning "intellectual property" is not only dangerous, but pretty damn bizarre.
Your metaphor of Catholicism and pedophilla is interesting, but don't forget, just because I think that pedophillia is bad, doesn't mean I can't question the institution of the Catholic Church, and whether it's rules for priests may actually contribute to pedophillia among it's ranks. Just because it's Holy and established doesn't make it right.
*laugh* Reminds me of a story of a friend of mine. He used to call up the operator and just chat away. Social engineering, or just boredom, I don't know. But according to him, one MCI operator said, "You know what AT&T stands for? Assholes That Trace." And MCI? Money Comin' In.
Heh, I find the name "mobbing" even more appropiate considering the tactics the company is using.
It just screams mafia type intimidation and extortion Seriously, of course it worked intimidating all those people, it's been working for the mob for decades.
1. There are more UNIX variants then Windows 2. UNIX systems have been around longer, so there may be more because of this. 3. Traditionally, in much of the UNIX community, security problems are well publicized.
And there's always the claim that OpenBSD hasn't had a remote root exploit in two years is it? Can Windows claim this?
And when you throw out the extra services, and just compare services that Windows systems and UNIX systems have in common, are there still as many vulnerabilities?
Would it seem reasonable to say, "well, whatever, we'll remove some links to avoid the mess"?
Yeah.. yeah it would. Because, if they cave in to the first few cases, then it could potentially open a floodgate of other people submitting arbitrary legal threats to Google because somebody has a webpage they don't like.
On the other hand, if they went to court, and won, then companies would think twice about that kind of crap.
I'd rather pay for some good lawyers than customer support people and all the other support costs required to maintain a "bad" link list.
Josh
Next you could add a parallel port interface to a stepper motor controlling the treasure chest.. Or a little diver or whatever. Then you could provide sensors to detect the status of the tank.. provide status updates through a webserver.
Ok,, I'm sure there are plenty of ideas I'm not even thinking of...
I should think admitting delight at reading Robert Heinlein would automatically disqualify you from the "get it" list. I know, ripping on Henlein is just begging for punishment:).
Other then that, it's actually a really cool article. As an aside, anyone ever notice the linkage between messianic SF stories and desert planets?
America's nutsack workers have brought this upon themselves. You state that America's nutsacks are the most skilled in the world? If they were, they wouldn't need assistance.
I look down upon these workers... There are other ways to stimulate the economy. The government definitely isn't one of them.
Slashdotters, I plead with you to ignore the parent article. The idea of the government playing around with this area is a scary one indeed. Let the free market decide decide the rise and fall of this.
There used to be a display system called NeWS or News I tthink. It was based on PostScript. But I heard that because Sun controlled it, that X was agreed on, even though NeWS was superior in many ways.
I'm a youngun', so I don't know much about it. Does anyone know if there is any renewed interest in it?
Yeah, PayPal are doing some fairly shitty things. Locking people's accounts and what not. But two things, when I said PayPal I meant the spirit of PayPal. An online banking system that's easy and cheap for people to use. That perhaps draws a small fee from transactions.
And in PayPal's support, I used to work for a Voice over IP telecom. software company that provided voice mail over the web and what not. A large percent of our accounts was actually fraud, most of it international professional crime groups. It got so expensive that our fraud group was a large part of our expenses. I'm sure they're experiencing something similiar.
I'm still pissed they removed support for the Palm Pilot app.
You are right, the initial letter shouldn't have taken on such a condescending andrude manner.
But the point is, there are a lot of pricks in the world. We should recognize that prickishly responding to pricks will only provoke the proliferation of pricks.
It will be a perpetual prick paradise.
We must stop this annoying arms race. I would have expected more from a professional political prick.
Sure, he used ideas from others.. Then he combined these ideas and built something new. And had somebody like Jobs to market and push the idea.
Sounds like a great thing thing to me. Almost ALL ideas are built from other ideas. That's the reason so many are pissed at the intellectual property laws.
The Japanese kicked our ass in the auto market because they offered what customers wanted. Small fuel efficent cars. Which the big three were VERY slow to respond to.
Slashdot Mirror
Vague? Well, as an unconvinced person, perhaps you can understand telemarketers. You know... call you up while you're eating dinner, trying to sell you their cheap do-hickeys. You tell them to take your name off their list, but by the time they do that, they've already sold your name to a new company. Or your phone company selling your call lists to their "business partners." Which they do now. There's a lot more information in that list than meets the eye. Times you're most likely to be home (and not home.) Who you call and when. Collate that information with other call logs and you've got graphs of who your friends and aquaintances are, and who they're friends with.. etc.
No, I'm not wearing my tinfoil hat right now. But all that information adds up, and keeps adding up, and eventually you can get some detailed life information. "So what, only criminals would fear that." Well, you don't have to fear it to be creeped out by it. And aggravated when you get those damn calls no matter how many times you tell them "Take me off your damn list."
Josh
mmmm... merzbow.
Naming naming naming... How do we find and name resources on the network, or advertise our own services? DNS is a hierarchical system, you have a group of root servers, and that will be a weak point in a distributed system such as ad-hoc networks. The network might be free, but resolving objects will still rely on a centralized system. ANd the telcos, or whatever enemies of the ad-hoc network, can attack that.
Josh
Sounds like you like the trance sound. Others already mentioned these, but check out Paul Oakenfold, BT and Paul Van Dyk.
If you want to branch out, check out DJ Shadow (Entroducing), Plastikman, and Autechre. All different styles, but all great.
Josh
Hmmmm, I wish I was that optimistic about the "free" market. It doesn't matter whether they respond to customer demand or not. It's whether they can CREATE a demand, possibly one the customer didn't even know he wanted.
Josh
First, DMCA is just ONE of the many copyright/intellectual property laws that didn't work. What about the Sonny
Bono Copyright Term Extension Act? The idea that ideas can be owned isn't a natural law. It's something we put in place, and over the years it's turned into a way for the old industries to exploit the consumers AND artists.
The DMCA isn't the only bill that needs to be challenged, it's just the start. As a producer of creative works myself, I can see the reason for having a limited copyright. But as a person who sees the benefits of scientific exploration on society, I can also see how the idea of owning "intellectual property" is not only dangerous, but pretty damn bizarre.
Your metaphor of Catholicism and pedophilla is interesting, but don't forget, just because I think that pedophillia is bad, doesn't mean I can't question the institution of the Catholic Church, and whether it's rules for priests may actually contribute to pedophillia among it's ranks. Just because it's Holy and established doesn't make it right.
Josh
*laugh* Reminds me of a story of a friend of mine. He used to call up the operator and just chat away. Social engineering, or just boredom, I don't know. But according to him, one MCI operator said, "You know what AT&T stands for? Assholes That Trace." And MCI? Money Comin' In.
Josh
Heh, I find the name "mobbing" even more appropiate considering the tactics the company is using.
It just screams mafia type intimidation and extortion Seriously, of course it worked intimidating all those people, it's been working for the mob for decades.
Josh
Just a few factors to take into account:
1. There are more UNIX variants then Windows
2. UNIX systems have been around longer, so there may be more because of this.
3. Traditionally, in much of the UNIX community, security problems are well publicized.
And there's always the claim that OpenBSD hasn't had a remote root exploit in two years is it? Can Windows claim this?
And when you throw out the extra services, and just compare services that Windows systems and UNIX systems have in common, are there still as many vulnerabilities?
Josh
Yeah, Google is a fucking bitch to use.. All that confusing text.
Where are the ads? I feel so disoriented without advertisements bombarding me.
Jesus, I'm getting defensive about a frickin' search engine. I guess it does have a cult following.
Josh
Yeah.. yeah it would. Because, if they cave in to the first few cases, then it could potentially open a floodgate of other people submitting arbitrary legal threats to Google because somebody has a webpage they don't like. On the other hand, if they went to court, and won, then companies would think twice about that kind of crap. I'd rather pay for some good lawyers than customer support people and all the other support costs required to maintain a "bad" link list. Josh
That could just be the start of it..
Next you could add a parallel port interface to a stepper motor controlling the treasure chest.. Or a little diver or whatever. Then you could provide sensors to detect the status of the tank.. provide status updates through a webserver.
Ok,, I'm sure there are plenty of ideas I'm not even thinking of...
Josh
I should think admitting delight at reading Robert Heinlein would automatically disqualify you from the "get it" list. I know, ripping on Henlein is just begging for punishment :).
Other then that, it's actually a really cool article. As an aside, anyone ever notice the linkage between messianic SF stories and desert planets?
Josh
Music sharing? Check out today's Doonesbury for a great summary on the use of that term :).
On the other hand, I still think the IP laws are bad.. for many reasons.
Josh
Or perhaps, Forbes is more believable to you.
America's nutsack workers have brought this upon themselves. You state that America's nutsacks are the most skilled in the world? If they were, they wouldn't need assistance.
I look down upon these workers... There are other ways to stimulate the economy. The government definitely isn't one of them.
Slashdotters, I plead with you to ignore the parent article. The idea of the government playing around with this area is a scary one indeed. Let the free market decide decide the rise and fall of this.
I must have missed that channel on cable. Oh wait, is that it? Nope, nevermind, Jerry Springer..
Josh
Thank you.. I don't think I've seen a better or more hilarious argument against intellectual property laws than this.
Josh
Here's some critical analysis of it
There used to be a display system called NeWS or News I tthink. It was based on PostScript. But I heard that because Sun controlled it, that X was agreed on, even though NeWS was superior in many ways.
I'm a youngun', so I don't know much about it. Does anyone know if there is any renewed interest in it?
Josh
Yeah, PayPal are doing some fairly shitty things. Locking people's accounts and what not. But two things, when I said PayPal I meant the spirit of PayPal. An online banking system that's easy and cheap for people to use. That perhaps draws a small fee from transactions.
And in PayPal's support, I used to work for a Voice over IP telecom. software company that provided voice mail over the web and what not. A large percent of our accounts was actually fraud, most of it international professional crime groups. It got so expensive that our fraud group was a large part of our expenses. I'm sure they're experiencing something similiar.
I'm still pissed they removed support for the Palm Pilot app.
Josh
I thought it looked like hot chocolate with a half melted deformed marshmallow blob.
Insert paranoid conspiracy rant about Java not really being what it seems...
Josh
You are right, the initial letter shouldn't have taken on such a condescending andrude manner.
But the point is, there are a lot of pricks in the world. We should recognize that prickishly responding to pricks will only provoke the proliferation of pricks.
It will be a perpetual prick paradise.
We must stop this annoying arms race. I would have expected more from a professional political prick.
Josh
Sure, he used ideas from others.. Then he combined these ideas and built something new. And had somebody like Jobs to market and push the idea.
Sounds like a great thing thing to me. Almost ALL ideas are built from other ideas. That's the reason so many are pissed at the intellectual property laws.
Josh
The Japanese kicked our ass in the auto market because they offered what customers wanted. Small fuel efficent cars. Which the big three were VERY slow to respond to.
Not because they used foreign workers.
Josh