I'd use it WITH XBMC once the Myth backend is a bit easier to configure. As it stands now I'm more than happy to DL my TV content - and yes I still have a damned cable sub with premiums and a TIVO attached to it. I just find that torrenting a show is easier and quicker. This is no more "theft" than running Myth with an ad removal program IMO.
Anyway, I understand the pain of setting up a Myth box having TRIED to do it myself. Maybe time to try again? Many folks I know are using Windows for much the same thing and it seems easier once you hurdle the DRM crap - they even remove commercials too. If Myth has gotten better terrific, I'll look again and figure out how to tie it to my XBMC system. Sadly I'll be stuck with OTA stuff but that's better than nothing. Overseas Myth is probably more popular because they can apparently hook it into SAT systems and get more content than we're stuck with here...
Makes sense to me, wondered about that actually. It's off on my machine! Well at least I hope so, the app prevents me from contacting it at least. I'd agree that killing the daemon is a good idea for batt life reasons...
Nah, I checked my phone and no SSHD running on it. I had to install cydia and then OpenSSH to get it installed and the instructions to CHANGE THE PASSWORD are pretty clearly right there. This shouldn't be a big deal...
Umm except I just did this with no problems? I logged out and back in with new password, no issues. This is on 3.12. what loop issue did you have and how do you go about triggering it? I will test...
My phone is Jailbroken but Cydia wasn't on it. I fired up Putty and nope, connection rejected. Tried to install SSH with Rock, it failed claiming that it didn't have Superuser privs. I fired up blacKra1n and installed Cydia. During the install Cydia appeared to install SSH but still no connection. I went in and reinstalled SSH, now I got a connection with the default password. But wait, at the bottom of the SSH install screen where it tells you how to use it they TELL YOU TO CHANGE THE PASSWORD! they also provide you a link to an article detailing HOW TO DO THAT. At this point I already had an SSH connection so I issued a passwd and changed it. TaDa, that hard to do - sheesh! I also installed an interesting little tool called Toggle SSH, gee guess what that does very well? Yup, blocks SSH connections at the press of a button - like a toggle;-)
So, I had to jump through hoops to install the damned thing, then I received CLEAR instructions on how to change the default password, AND there's a simple to use FREE program out there that disables it. Obviously it might get installed as part of other things depending upon how you jailbroke but come on, they could not have made this too much easier to fix! If people are getting spanked by this well, perhaps they should have been a little more cognizant when they jailbroke? It's not hard to fix via any computer with SSH on it and you can even load a terminal program local to the phone to fix it....
Take a look at the ASROCK ION box. Dual core ION, low ower draw, easy to get into, laptop drive, size of a Wii, very quiet, and a danged bright ass blue power LED. No front USB is another downside but for the price with memory, drive, CPU, and optical drive I like it! Oh, HDMI video out with sound rox for XBMC...
The man said 30Watts, this box does 40Watts overclocked at full throttle. You CAN underclock it or simply not overclock it. Have you checked your laptop at the wall for how much it draws? I have a laptop with similar specs - C2D and ATI - and it's brick is rated for 90watts though I've not ever put a meter on it. Gets pretty warm though, this is a ThinkPad T60. I wouldn't use it for a server that's for sure...
Ah, but my machine does NOT spend all sorts of time at 100% usage. In fact I am using it to watch 1080P content now, CPU usage is 10%. The ONLY time it hits 100% is during a compile process when I use -j4 to load all 4 cores. I play MKV files with H.264 compression ripped from BD that I compress myself - I use some pretty serious settings too. Obviously I rip\compress on another box - an I7. This box pushes out 5.1 audio via HDMI too.
The reason why my CPU usage is so far below yours is because it's an ION. No shitty Intel graphics here, this is an NVIDIA 9400m (as in mobile). It supports VC-1, H.264, and MPEG acceleration via VDPAU in XBMC under Linux. I've never run Windows on this one but other ATOM I've used were pretty snappy with XP.
Frankly, this box works WAY better than the C2D I had that also had a 9400m on it. Quieter, WAY less power usage, smaller, and looks great. You sure you're using one of these? I wouldn't expect a CNC machine to require tons of CPU, mostly I/O. For a nettop or small server these boxes are pretty ideal save for their lack of space for many disks.
I too am using one for an XBMC machine. 2 real cores, 2 hyperthreaded cores, decent price, good performance. NOT the fastest at compiling XBMC but it gets by:-) Overclocked and 100% usage it hits just 40watts.
I too am pondering the old electric bill. My new I7 machine may only be powered up as needed, I'll move my torrent client to this box instead soon I think. Just need to get a WEB client working for it. My unRAID servers all spin drives down and use 80+ PSU for efficiency.
Sunbelt Security had a video posted of what occurs when you got hit by the old WMF bug awhile back. You could see software being installed, icons appearing on the desktop, and the desktop background being modified as this thing went to town and began popping fake AV warnings. It was one of THE most extreme and informative examples I can think of for this.
Here's a copy of it I found on Youtube. A search for "WMF exploit" on YouTube will get you plenty of hits:-)
Good that they're doing this, do it again and again! Keep doing it until people begin to see just how greedy, sleazy, and utterly ridiculous these people are! Let them keep putting the screws to the public until finally they wake up and see these crooks for what they are. Finally one day people will get a clue - it needs to happen. Sooner rather than later would make me happy...
I can tell you that with TWO Kindle side by side using different fonts the "page numbers" did NOT match up. This with a pair of K1. I and a woman I was seeing were both trying to read a self help book and when we would try to compare notes we found it impossible because we would both end up in different parts of the book. I read at smallest font, she read closer to largest.
There have been too many rigged\screwed up elections both in this country and in others to NOT be paranoid. The amount of power bestowed upon the election winner is such that we cannot be too careful. This CAN be done properly.
I was under the impression that only the bottom portion was a touchscreen. One of the Kindle's biggest design issues is that taking notes or annotating passages is a PITA. In addition the silly thing "renumbers" pages when you change font size. The page numbers it DOES use have NO relation to the paper copy either.
These are the things that make reading self-help books with others or using it in the classroom a failure. These things could be changed with a simple firmware update. Speaking of which - to my knowledge the firmware on my Kindle has NEVER been updated, I have NO idea what these "experimental" features are for if they never come out of "beta".
The Kindle ain't perfect but the improvements that this new thing are touting simply don't knock my socks off. I'm happy to see competition of course but it's going to take many more features before I'll be switching. Kindle still rules this roost IMO.
I've used my iPhone and prefer my Kindle. Battery life, ease of reading and display size are all good reasons why I don't like reading on the iPhone. You might like it but for me it's like trying to watch p0rn through a keyhole - still entertaining but I'd much rather have a front seat!
Okay, so I own an older Kindle, here's my POV...
on
The Kindle Killer Arrives
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
I can read PDF just fine - the conversion process can be done in multiple ways and costs me a few pennies down to nothing for the Kindle. So that's no biggie. The MP3 player? I have that on my multiple year old Kindle too - I have YET to EVER use it so that's no biggie. The expandable memory? I have that on mine too but it's SD and they killed it on the new version - stupid of them IMO. That said the new Kindle has more base memory and quite frankly if it's just books you're putting on there it will hold a metric shit-ton of books! The average paperback book I get is under a meg and I have gigs of storage on my device. So, while a nice touch this advantage isn't that big a deal to me.The color touch screen for nav I don't get, what's the advantage? If it uses more power then I don't want it - make the device like the Energizer Bunny and last a long long time and I'm happy. Things like refresh rate changing pages are a bigger deal to me than this gimmick, honestly refresh on my old unit is okay by me.
Having owned and used an eBook reader for a good long time now I can tell you that capacity, battery life, and coverage for the radio are big concerns for ME. My very biggest concern is availability of BOOKS at decent prices - more magazines would be nice. That's what I am buying the thing for and if it cannot give me a ton of access to books then it's worthless. Right now Amazon gives me all the books I can absorb, with rare exception, at somewhat decent discount rates. Lending is nice but 14 days isn't long enough for most - I've seen how slow some people are with reading! Give it a full screen that does color I might be more interested but not at the expense of most of the battery life.
Really for me this is a yawner unless it starts a price war on content. I know I'm locked in with Amazon DRM but I also know how to break it if I really wanted to - I've got the tools. If I had NO eReader then yeah sure this would be more interesting but their past with eBooks would give me pause . Anyway, nice to see more entries into this realm. Perhaps with more and more readers coming out someone will make the breaking of Amazon DRM a little bit easier and more automated? That would be helpful!!
Ding Ding! Right there with you on the.asoundrc issue! Thing is I think that this config file is for ALSA and not PA. I had to update ALSA on my system just to SUPPORT HDMO sound with my NVIDIA chipset. This has driven me NUTZ on FOUR different XBMC installs. thankfully some folks have put together files to work on many of the most popular pieces of hardware and posted them to the support forums for XBMC. This stuff IS slowly maturing but man it's painful sometimes!
Who knew sound could be some complicated to setup? I swear in Windows if you've got the right drivers it's EASY. Not so Linux and if it weren't for the folks out there helping I'd have been forced to give up too:-(
Well, I now know what those big silly plastic balls are mid span on high tension wires down South of me! Some of their estimates seem reaching when they span anywhere from the ten thousands to millions but the problem certainly seems larger than I would have guessed. As it happens I live near high tension wires but have never seen a bird have issue with them. Seems many of the larger less maneuverable birds have issues and Raptors that are large enough to actually have the power jump the air gap - ouchie!
I have to ask - how in the world are the high tension wires killing birds? The separation between wire and ground ought to be pretty decent, for a bird to close that circuit is pretty amazing. It doesn't surprise me at all that these towers become nesting habitats so long as they turn slowly enough. Tip speed will be high though!
People really need to get past this "kills birds" thing. There was ONE specific wind setup that used high speed mills in an area filled with birds that YES killed lots of birds. And bats too as I recall. Newer mills spin more slowly and while tip speed is quite high birds avoid them, they can see them spinning. A number I've seen quoted is something like 1-2 birds per YEAR per big mill.
Anyway, the problem isn't nearly as severe as opponents would like you to believe, not with larger mills anyway. It will be interesting to see how the larger mills fare long term. Your point stands though, none of this removes the need for power transmission. Generation that isn't constant is especially going to require the need to shuffle power all over the place.
Sorry, I don't buy it. Sure, you might be able to cause a widespread blackout but it won't last nearly as long as you think. You underestimate the effort that would go into repairing such a failure. Yes, some equipment is long lead but in the case of such a catastrophe it would be all hands on deck and stuff would get done.
You've never suffered a BSA "audit' have you? They make the Spanish Inquisition look fairly sane as they shut down your business and demand access to your network...
I'm looking to setup some hypervisor VM type software at home (VirtualBox or ESX maybe both) so that I can learn about them for work use in our lab. I will use trials and free versions to do so but I'd use a pirated version if I couldn't use a trial. What I find works best will be purchased, in bulk, by my customer. To hear the BSA tell it this is madness and surely billions and billions of dollars worth of sales being lost. However the truth of the matter is that what geeks find works at home will often leverage a far larger sale or increase their ability to support that software in the workplace. . I'd also point out that software like OpenOffice is "free", works just fine, and I see no sign of it's ceasing to be developed, apparently that model works despite your assertion? Your assertions pretty much fly in the face of many Open Source projects but then I think you realized that. When exactly do expect Linux to no longer be free? . Lastly, if I goto an auction site and purchase software it's NOT illegal if the media is legit. I believe that AutoDesk recently learned this lesson the hard way. While software may be "licensed" First Sale Doctrine prevailed. When I recently needed a copy of Quicken I purchased it, with an original hologram blah blah, off of eBay for HALF of what it would retail for in a store. Boo Hoo cry me a river BSA - that was a legit sale no matter what they wish to claim. Hell yes I want to save money - deal.
Yes, that IS what happened -> http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2005/02/25/005398.html and it was pretty seedy. He actually demonstrated to each of the companies his technology, they stopped responding to his calls, they released cars with HIS functionality. He had a years long battle to win compensation as a result. I may be wrong but I believe that Ford in particular thought themselves too big for the little guy to take down and tried to steamroll him. This came out in the proceedings if memory serves. . This is but ONE example that sprung to mind immediately. Simply getting "credit" for being first isn't good enough IMO. Of course it is possible for two different people to be completely disconnected and have the same idea. However the chances of this are becoming pretty slim. Simply giving the first guy a footnote if the second guy makes billions is pathetic and unfair. I do not see properly compensating the first person to slow progress at all, in fact I think just the opposite. If people are fairly compensated for innovative ideas then perhaps ideas will be shared more readily. If you didn't have to fear someone stealing the idea, as the wiper story demonstrates, then perhaps you will be more likely to be open about it. Suppose all of the money and time Robert spent fighting was put back into developing new ideas - what might he have created? . I've just remembered - they made a movie about his story! I haven't seen it but it ought to prove enlightening to you and perhaps interesting. Adding it to my NetFlix now:-) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1054588/
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I'd use it WITH XBMC once the Myth backend is a bit easier to configure. As it stands now I'm more than happy to DL my TV content - and yes I still have a damned cable sub with premiums and a TIVO attached to it. I just find that torrenting a show is easier and quicker. This is no more "theft" than running Myth with an ad removal program IMO.
Anyway, I understand the pain of setting up a Myth box having TRIED to do it myself. Maybe time to try again? Many folks I know are using Windows for much the same thing and it seems easier once you hurdle the DRM crap - they even remove commercials too. If Myth has gotten better terrific, I'll look again and figure out how to tie it to my XBMC system. Sadly I'll be stuck with OTA stuff but that's better than nothing. Overseas Myth is probably more popular because they can apparently hook it into SAT systems and get more content than we're stuck with here...
Makes sense to me, wondered about that actually. It's off on my machine! Well at least I hope so, the app prevents me from contacting it at least. I'd agree that killing the daemon is a good idea for batt life reasons...
Nah, I checked my phone and no SSHD running on it. I had to install cydia and then OpenSSH to get it installed and the instructions to CHANGE THE PASSWORD are pretty clearly right there. This shouldn't be a big deal...
Umm except I just did this with no problems? I logged out and back in with new password, no issues. This is on 3.12. what loop issue did you have and how do you go about triggering it? I will test...
My phone is Jailbroken but Cydia wasn't on it. I fired up Putty and nope, connection rejected. Tried to install SSH with Rock, it failed claiming that it didn't have Superuser privs. I fired up blacKra1n and installed Cydia. During the install Cydia appeared to install SSH but still no connection. I went in and reinstalled SSH, now I got a connection with the default password. But wait, at the bottom of the SSH install screen where it tells you how to use it they TELL YOU TO CHANGE THE PASSWORD! they also provide you a link to an article detailing HOW TO DO THAT. At this point I already had an SSH connection so I issued a passwd and changed it. TaDa, that hard to do - sheesh! I also installed an interesting little tool called Toggle SSH, gee guess what that does very well? Yup, blocks SSH connections at the press of a button - like a toggle ;-)
So, I had to jump through hoops to install the damned thing, then I received CLEAR instructions on how to change the default password, AND there's a simple to use FREE program out there that disables it. Obviously it might get installed as part of other things depending upon how you jailbroke but come on, they could not have made this too much easier to fix! If people are getting spanked by this well, perhaps they should have been a little more cognizant when they jailbroke? It's not hard to fix via any computer with SSH on it and you can even load a terminal program local to the phone to fix it....
Take a look at the ASROCK ION box. Dual core ION, low ower draw, easy to get into, laptop drive, size of a Wii, very quiet, and a danged bright ass blue power LED. No front USB is another downside but for the price with memory, drive, CPU, and optical drive I like it! Oh, HDMI video out with sound rox for XBMC...
The man said 30Watts, this box does 40Watts overclocked at full throttle. You CAN underclock it or simply not overclock it. Have you checked your laptop at the wall for how much it draws? I have a laptop with similar specs - C2D and ATI - and it's brick is rated for 90watts though I've not ever put a meter on it. Gets pretty warm though, this is a ThinkPad T60. I wouldn't use it for a server that's for sure...
Ah, but my machine does NOT spend all sorts of time at 100% usage. In fact I am using it to watch 1080P content now, CPU usage is 10%. The ONLY time it hits 100% is during a compile process when I use -j4 to load all 4 cores. I play MKV files with H.264 compression ripped from BD that I compress myself - I use some pretty serious settings too. Obviously I rip\compress on another box - an I7. This box pushes out 5.1 audio via HDMI too.
The reason why my CPU usage is so far below yours is because it's an ION. No shitty Intel graphics here, this is an NVIDIA 9400m (as in mobile). It supports VC-1, H.264, and MPEG acceleration via VDPAU in XBMC under Linux. I've never run Windows on this one but other ATOM I've used were pretty snappy with XP.
You can learn more about all of this here -> http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=54705
Frankly, this box works WAY better than the C2D I had that also had a 9400m on it. Quieter, WAY less power usage, smaller, and looks great. You sure you're using one of these? I wouldn't expect a CNC machine to require tons of CPU, mostly I/O. For a nettop or small server these boxes are pretty ideal save for their lack of space for many disks.
Ding Ding ding!!!
I too am using one for an XBMC machine. 2 real cores, 2 hyperthreaded cores, decent price, good performance. NOT the fastest at compiling XBMC but it gets by :-) Overclocked and 100% usage it hits just 40watts.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000003&Description=asrock&name=Barebone%20Systems
I too am pondering the old electric bill. My new I7 machine may only be powered up as needed, I'll move my torrent client to this box instead soon I think. Just need to get a WEB client working for it. My unRAID servers all spin drives down and use 80+ PSU for efficiency.
That vid is a bit overblown, the vid I posted is pretty much exactly what happens when you click on the wrong thing and get owned.
Sunbelt Security had a video posted of what occurs when you got hit by the old WMF bug awhile back. You could see software being installed, icons appearing on the desktop, and the desktop background being modified as this thing went to town and began popping fake AV warnings. It was one of THE most extreme and informative examples I can think of for this.
Here's a copy of it I found on Youtube. A search for "WMF exploit" on YouTube will get you plenty of hits :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTBcDJ9kJH4
IMO, I think this answers your question!
Good that they're doing this, do it again and again! Keep doing it until people begin to see just how greedy, sleazy, and utterly ridiculous these people are! Let them keep putting the screws to the public until finally they wake up and see these crooks for what they are. Finally one day people will get a clue - it needs to happen. Sooner rather than later would make me happy...
I can tell you that with TWO Kindle side by side using different fonts the "page numbers" did NOT match up. This with a pair of K1. I and a woman I was seeing were both trying to read a self help book and when we would try to compare notes we found it impossible because we would both end up in different parts of the book. I read at smallest font, she read closer to largest.
There have been too many rigged\screwed up elections both in this country and in others to NOT be paranoid. The amount of power bestowed upon the election winner is such that we cannot be too careful. This CAN be done properly.
I was under the impression that only the bottom portion was a touchscreen. One of the Kindle's biggest design issues is that taking notes or annotating passages is a PITA. In addition the silly thing "renumbers" pages when you change font size. The page numbers it DOES use have NO relation to the paper copy either.
These are the things that make reading self-help books with others or using it in the classroom a failure. These things could be changed with a simple firmware update. Speaking of which - to my knowledge the firmware on my Kindle has NEVER been updated, I have NO idea what these "experimental" features are for if they never come out of "beta".
The Kindle ain't perfect but the improvements that this new thing are touting simply don't knock my socks off. I'm happy to see competition of course but it's going to take many more features before I'll be switching. Kindle still rules this roost IMO.
I've used my iPhone and prefer my Kindle. Battery life, ease of reading and display size are all good reasons why I don't like reading on the iPhone. You might like it but for me it's like trying to watch p0rn through a keyhole - still entertaining but I'd much rather have a front seat!
I can read PDF just fine - the conversion process can be done in multiple ways and costs me a few pennies down to nothing for the Kindle. So that's no biggie. The MP3 player? I have that on my multiple year old Kindle too - I have YET to EVER use it so that's no biggie. The expandable memory? I have that on mine too but it's SD and they killed it on the new version - stupid of them IMO. That said the new Kindle has more base memory and quite frankly if it's just books you're putting on there it will hold a metric shit-ton of books! The average paperback book I get is under a meg and I have gigs of storage on my device. So, while a nice touch this advantage isn't that big a deal to me.The color touch screen for nav I don't get, what's the advantage? If it uses more power then I don't want it - make the device like the Energizer Bunny and last a long long time and I'm happy. Things like refresh rate changing pages are a bigger deal to me than this gimmick, honestly refresh on my old unit is okay by me.
Having owned and used an eBook reader for a good long time now I can tell you that capacity, battery life, and coverage for the radio are big concerns for ME. My very biggest concern is availability of BOOKS at decent prices - more magazines would be nice. That's what I am buying the thing for and if it cannot give me a ton of access to books then it's worthless. Right now Amazon gives me all the books I can absorb, with rare exception, at somewhat decent discount rates. Lending is nice but 14 days isn't long enough for most - I've seen how slow some people are with reading! Give it a full screen that does color I might be more interested but not at the expense of most of the battery life.
Really for me this is a yawner unless it starts a price war on content. I know I'm locked in with Amazon DRM but I also know how to break it if I really wanted to - I've got the tools. If I had NO eReader then yeah sure this would be more interesting but their past with eBooks would give me pause . Anyway, nice to see more entries into this realm. Perhaps with more and more readers coming out someone will make the breaking of Amazon DRM a little bit easier and more automated? That would be helpful!!
Ding Ding! Right there with you on the .asoundrc issue! Thing is I think that this config file is for ALSA and not PA. I had to update ALSA on my system just to SUPPORT HDMO sound with my NVIDIA chipset. This has driven me NUTZ on FOUR different XBMC installs. thankfully some folks have put together files to work on many of the most popular pieces of hardware and posted them to the support forums for XBMC. This stuff IS slowly maturing but man it's painful sometimes!
Who knew sound could be some complicated to setup? I swear in Windows if you've got the right drivers it's EASY. Not so Linux and if it weren't for the folks out there helping I'd have been forced to give up too :-(
Well, I now know what those big silly plastic balls are mid span on high tension wires down South of me! Some of their estimates seem reaching when they span anywhere from the ten thousands to millions but the problem certainly seems larger than I would have guessed. As it happens I live near high tension wires but have never seen a bird have issue with them. Seems many of the larger less maneuverable birds have issues and Raptors that are large enough to actually have the power jump the air gap - ouchie!
Good document, thanks!
I have to ask - how in the world are the high tension wires killing birds? The separation between wire and ground ought to be pretty decent, for a bird to close that circuit is pretty amazing. It doesn't surprise me at all that these towers become nesting habitats so long as they turn slowly enough. Tip speed will be high though!
People really need to get past this "kills birds" thing. There was ONE specific wind setup that used high speed mills in an area filled with birds that YES killed lots of birds. And bats too as I recall. Newer mills spin more slowly and while tip speed is quite high birds avoid them, they can see them spinning. A number I've seen quoted is something like 1-2 birds per YEAR per big mill.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/04/common_misconce.php
http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~insrisg/nature/nw04/0509Windmills.htm
Anyway, the problem isn't nearly as severe as opponents would like you to believe, not with larger mills anyway. It will be interesting to see how the larger mills fare long term. Your point stands though, none of this removes the need for power transmission. Generation that isn't constant is especially going to require the need to shuffle power all over the place.
Sorry, I don't buy it. Sure, you might be able to cause a widespread blackout but it won't last nearly as long as you think. You underestimate the effort that would go into repairing such a failure. Yes, some equipment is long lead but in the case of such a catastrophe it would be all hands on deck and stuff would get done.
You've never suffered a BSA "audit' have you? They make the Spanish Inquisition look fairly sane as they shut down your business and demand access to your network...
I'm looking to setup some hypervisor VM type software at home (VirtualBox or ESX maybe both) so that I can learn about them for work use in our lab. I will use trials and free versions to do so but I'd use a pirated version if I couldn't use a trial. What I find works best will be purchased, in bulk, by my customer. To hear the BSA tell it this is madness and surely billions and billions of dollars worth of sales being lost. However the truth of the matter is that what geeks find works at home will often leverage a far larger sale or increase their ability to support that software in the workplace.
.
I'd also point out that software like OpenOffice is "free", works just fine, and I see no sign of it's ceasing to be developed, apparently that model works despite your assertion? Your assertions pretty much fly in the face of many Open Source projects but then I think you realized that. When exactly do expect Linux to no longer be free?
.
Lastly, if I goto an auction site and purchase software it's NOT illegal if the media is legit. I believe that AutoDesk recently learned this lesson the hard way. While software may be "licensed" First Sale Doctrine prevailed. When I recently needed a copy of Quicken I purchased it, with an original hologram blah blah, off of eBay for HALF of what it would retail for in a store. Boo Hoo cry me a river BSA - that was a legit sale no matter what they wish to claim. Hell yes I want to save money - deal.
Yes, that IS what happened -> http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2005/02/25/005398.html and it was pretty seedy. He actually demonstrated to each of the companies his technology, they stopped responding to his calls, they released cars with HIS functionality. He had a years long battle to win compensation as a result. I may be wrong but I believe that Ford in particular thought themselves too big for the little guy to take down and tried to steamroll him. This came out in the proceedings if memory serves. :-) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1054588/
.
This is but ONE example that sprung to mind immediately. Simply getting "credit" for being first isn't good enough IMO. Of course it is possible for two different people to be completely disconnected and have the same idea. However the chances of this are becoming pretty slim. Simply giving the first guy a footnote if the second guy makes billions is pathetic and unfair. I do not see properly compensating the first person to slow progress at all, in fact I think just the opposite. If people are fairly compensated for innovative ideas then perhaps ideas will be shared more readily. If you didn't have to fear someone stealing the idea, as the wiper story demonstrates, then perhaps you will be more likely to be open about it. Suppose all of the money and time Robert spent fighting was put back into developing new ideas - what might he have created?
.
I've just remembered - they made a movie about his story! I haven't seen it but it ought to prove enlightening to you and perhaps interesting. Adding it to my NetFlix now