I know this might blow your mind, but it's entirely possible for me to agree with him on this one point and yet still disagree with him on others. Actually, as far as I'm concerned, if you see the world in nothing but black and white, you're probably not seeing everything.
Given that, I'm still more saying that the *current* court setup is too slow rather than saying that we should abandon the courts altogether in tech issues. The long appeals process that exists, etc. makes it too slow and that's a problem in arenas other than tech as well. I personally think that *most* court matters go too slowly to be useful in settling many disputes and the current trend for a huge percentage of cases to be settled out of court points to the fact that others agree with me on that. The truth is that in most cases, going to court at all is used more as leverage to get to an agreement than it is a real way of solving the problem.
I'm not saying it's an inexpensive couch, but it still needs to be taken in context. If you have $100 in your wallet and, after going to court, you're asked to pay $5, you're probably not going to complain much.
The disparity of timelines between activities in technology and those in court is staggering. If you look even just at this case and the anti-trust case against Microsoft, they're still arguing about issues in court that have pretty much been steamrolled by technology. As a result, the settlements and results are less than satisfying for anyone other than the lawyers. I mean, Sun and Microsoft have been fighting about this for several years. By now, anyone needing to use a JDK on Windows has set up methods for making sure it's there, and Microsoft has done their entire.NET strategy.
This is almost like divorce arguments where people fight over furniture even though both sides have long since replaced the disputed furniture. When it's over, all that happens is that someone now has a couch they don't have room for.
Apparently not so obviously, Arts and Crafts in furniture doesn't mean the same thing as arts and crafts in elementary school. Rather, it's the furniture in the "mission" style, stuff by Stickley, etc. Think furniture that belongs in a Frank Lloyd Wright more than seashells and construction paper.
It's not just usability. Making things that go beyond raw utilitarian funcionality is just generally difficult. Look at cars. Making a basic econobox is pretty simple, but making a real driving machine is more difficult and usually costs more. Slapping together an Ikea bookshelf isn't too terribly difficult, but hand crafting an Arts and Crafts style bookcase requires considerably more effort and skill. Yet, somehow when things move into the software realm, our expectations change. Unfortunately, it's difficult to get BMW handling with a Kia budget. Even harder for free.
I wouldn't say they put THAT much effort in. I mean those pages could be built in an hour or 2 and $8-9 gets you the domain. I know I've put that much effort into pranks that didn't have a chance of fooling more than 1 person, much less thousands.
Should your landlord have the same right to monitor their tenants?
That's specifically why most (all?) jurisdictions have renting governed by leases rather than just considering it as something more like you living in someone's spare bedroom. Because, when you are leasing property, you get many of the rights/responsibilities of ownership, while the title to the leased property is still technically owned by the real owner. Consider the difference between the rights of Hertz when you rent a car vs when you lease one from the dealership. Hertz has the right to monitor your use carefully and does so, while the lease from the dealership is limited to statements of the expected return condition and the penalties for conditions worse than stated in the lease.
"Methinks there is some other problem with distributing JAVA that has nothing to do with Sun."
It does. Most of these arguments are not whether pragmatic distributions like Knoppix can distribute a given piece of software (which is a clear, simple legal matter), but whether distribution by organizations driven by deeply held beliefs can distribute while holding to their beliefs. In those cases, if something doesn't fall entirely within the "Free Software" ideology, it can't be included. This is the case this time.
It usually strikes me as a group of lacto-ovo vegetarians getting kicked out of a vegetarian group because they eat eggs. To the world of carnivores, it looks strange, but to the arguing vegetarians, it's a matter of deep conviction.
If you were around when moderation first got started here, you'd know that the first implementation HAD a dedicated group of moderators. This may come as a shock to some Slashdot users, but this site used to actually be unmoderated. Then, the editors moderated. Then, a group of human selected moderators. Then an algorithm started doing it. At each 'escalation' the reasons for expanding the pool of moderators was that the job couldn't be done by the existing pool. In short, the thing's been evolving for several years and works fairly well overall. At least in the same sense that "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the rest" (probably misquoted, but you get the point).
A buck or 2? You should check out what they're paying in categories like home mortgages. In lots of those categories, the rates are closer to $10-15 PER CLICK. In most categories of pay-per-click engines, it's really difficult to stay under $0.50 or even a dollar.
How are you ripping CDs? I use ExactAudioCopy+LAME and it takes no more than 2 mouse clicks and about a minute to rip and queue up the encoding. That means that I can rip 10 CDs in about 10 minutes. Granted, it will take a while longer to do the encoding, but that sits in the background. And, they're named appropriately and encoded to alt-preset-standard quality with playlists and all dumped into my music library.
Basically, an entire album's worth of high quality MP3 can be had for the low, low price of 2 overly loud car sales commercials on FM radio.
Unfortunately, if you haven't run into space problems with a 15 gig iPod, your collection probably isn't accurately described as "HUGE" or is compressed down to bitrates below 64kbps. Up until a lightning strike this weekend (that destroyed my MP3 collection as well as the backup hard drive), I maintained a 28GB music collection that had what I consider to be huge gaps in it and not nearly as extensive as I wanted.
Unfortunately, after the recent stories on Slashdot and NPR about that really famous scream that gets used over and over in movies and TV, even the screams are living dead.
It's funny. I almost forget that there's anything other than light mode until someone complains about the interface. It strikes me as odd because I've been using light mode exclusively on this site since its introduction.
Freecache isn't intended for files smaller than 5MB. The vast majority of Slashdottings are articles with a few 800x600 photos, which ends up under that limit.
In many cases, they were fetched with the Amazon API's. Lots of sites popped up after Amazon released those API's and most of them just re-wrap Amazon's content with their associate id in the links.
I haven't checked the Amazon review submission form, but my guess is that when you submit one, you license or give the content of the review to them as their content to do with whatever they choose. Since the API is theirs, those reviews are spread to the wind with their approval.
Exactly. Every machine I own or work (except where workplace policy prohibits) on has UltraVNC server installed. On some of them, I've never used it, but as a minimum it's always there. It's been a really rare situation where one of these machines can't be accessible.
For machines where it might be a security problem to have it accessible, I also install OpenSSH (yes, even on Windows) and only allow VNC connections from localhost via port forwarding.
Basically, if a machine is company-owned, it should already be locked down as far as firewall and virus protection goes and if that machine is roaming the world, it should also have some way to remotely administer it.
Exactly. You can call up either one of the major satellite providers and change your programming and the appropriate changes are reflected in your receiver before you hang up.
They may carry them, but due to regulation and restrictions, many of us are not allowed to subscribe to those feeds, only our local affiliate feeds.
Re:This book is under an Open Source license
on
Implementing CIFS
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Is there a timeline for the digital versions of "Rapid Application Development with Mozilla" and "C++ GUI Programming with Qt 3"? I noticed that neither has links for the digital downloads. Just curious if it's because those are new titles and it just hasn't happened yet. Not that it matters much, my copy of RAD with Mozilla should be delivered today and I can enjoy it on paper. I would just love to have a copy on my Zaurus instead of having to lug the paper copy around.
I actually kicked Mozilla-based clients to the curb after it completely messed up my IMAP inbox when the connection was severed abnormally (pre-UPS on my main workstation) due to 100 year old wiring in my house. It would essentially hold on to messages marked for deletion, but slap subject lines from un-deleted messages on them. So, when I'd open the inbox, I'd get tons of redundant subject lines and have to open each to see which was the imposter before deleting.
When this happened several times, I, too switched to PINE and all of my fond memories of commandline email came back. I can leave my hands on the keyboard and fly through my email in no time.
I've done something similar with a laptop GPS. It will track your progress, current speed, average speed, altitude, etc. on a map and can be saved after each trip. USB GPS's for laptops are under $100. Mine's magnetic and sticks to the roof or lays on the dash with a little velcro. I currently only use the software it came with, but that software works OK for this purpose. I just plug the laptop into the lighter socket, set it in the back seat with the GPS connected and let it gather data. When I arrive, I save it.
Have you *seen* my drive? Some of us don't drive in stop-and-go gridlock to get to work. I drive 85 miles each way right now and it's pretty much wide open freeway through farmland. There's usually a car on the horizon in front of me and maybe one on the horizon behind for most of the drive. Listening to audiobooks on my drive is a split between driving and listening as a replacement between driving and sleeping (a combination I consider FAR more dangerous). Audiobooks actually keep me more alert and help pass the time.
Keep in mind that there are certain tasks that split well. In most cases, it needs to be a division between an active and a passive task. Hence, talking on a cellphone (an active task), eating, etc. interferes with driving, while listening to the radio (generally a passive activity) doesn't. All of the things that people get most upset about other drivers doing are active tasks: cellphone, eating, makeup, whacking kids in the back seat, changing the station, etc. You usually don't hear about someone getting in an accident because the news story on the radio was so shocking they just lost track of where the other cars were.
Audiobooks are really popular with truckers and long commuters and I don't exactly see a rash of "audiobook-related" accidents in the papers. Nor do I see people staring at their radios with both hands on the wheel, weaving in and out of traffic, but I do see plenty of cellphone users doing the weaving.
Slashdot Mirror
I know this might blow your mind, but it's entirely possible for me to agree with him on this one point and yet still disagree with him on others. Actually, as far as I'm concerned, if you see the world in nothing but black and white, you're probably not seeing everything.
Given that, I'm still more saying that the *current* court setup is too slow rather than saying that we should abandon the courts altogether in tech issues. The long appeals process that exists, etc. makes it too slow and that's a problem in arenas other than tech as well. I personally think that *most* court matters go too slowly to be useful in settling many disputes and the current trend for a huge percentage of cases to be settled out of court points to the fact that others agree with me on that. The truth is that in most cases, going to court at all is used more as leverage to get to an agreement than it is a real way of solving the problem.
I'm not saying it's an inexpensive couch, but it still needs to be taken in context. If you have $100 in your wallet and, after going to court, you're asked to pay $5, you're probably not going to complain much.
The disparity of timelines between activities in technology and those in court is staggering. If you look even just at this case and the anti-trust case against Microsoft, they're still arguing about issues in court that have pretty much been steamrolled by technology. As a result, the settlements and results are less than satisfying for anyone other than the lawyers. I mean, Sun and Microsoft have been fighting about this for several years. By now, anyone needing to use a JDK on Windows has set up methods for making sure it's there, and Microsoft has done their entire .NET strategy.
This is almost like divorce arguments where people fight over furniture even though both sides have long since replaced the disputed furniture. When it's over, all that happens is that someone now has a couch they don't have room for.
Apparently not so obviously, Arts and Crafts in furniture doesn't mean the same thing as arts and crafts in elementary school. Rather, it's the furniture in the "mission" style, stuff by Stickley, etc. Think furniture that belongs in a Frank Lloyd Wright more than seashells and construction paper.
It's not just usability. Making things that go beyond raw utilitarian funcionality is just generally difficult. Look at cars. Making a basic econobox is pretty simple, but making a real driving machine is more difficult and usually costs more. Slapping together an Ikea bookshelf isn't too terribly difficult, but hand crafting an Arts and Crafts style bookcase requires considerably more effort and skill. Yet, somehow when things move into the software realm, our expectations change. Unfortunately, it's difficult to get BMW handling with a Kia budget. Even harder for free.
I wouldn't say they put THAT much effort in. I mean those pages could be built in an hour or 2 and $8-9 gets you the domain. I know I've put that much effort into pranks that didn't have a chance of fooling more than 1 person, much less thousands.
This is like all of these foods that are 80% sugar advertising as "Fat Free". Of course they are. Or advertising things like butter as low carb.
Should your landlord have the same right to monitor their tenants?
That's specifically why most (all?) jurisdictions have renting governed by leases rather than just considering it as something more like you living in someone's spare bedroom. Because, when you are leasing property, you get many of the rights/responsibilities of ownership, while the title to the leased property is still technically owned by the real owner. Consider the difference between the rights of Hertz when you rent a car vs when you lease one from the dealership. Hertz has the right to monitor your use carefully and does so, while the lease from the dealership is limited to statements of the expected return condition and the penalties for conditions worse than stated in the lease.
"Methinks there is some other problem with distributing JAVA that has nothing to do with Sun."
It does. Most of these arguments are not whether pragmatic distributions like Knoppix can distribute a given piece of software (which is a clear, simple legal matter), but whether distribution by organizations driven by deeply held beliefs can distribute while holding to their beliefs. In those cases, if something doesn't fall entirely within the "Free Software" ideology, it can't be included. This is the case this time.
It usually strikes me as a group of lacto-ovo vegetarians getting kicked out of a vegetarian group because they eat eggs. To the world of carnivores, it looks strange, but to the arguing vegetarians, it's a matter of deep conviction.
If you were around when moderation first got started here, you'd know that the first implementation HAD a dedicated group of moderators. This may come as a shock to some Slashdot users, but this site used to actually be unmoderated. Then, the editors moderated. Then, a group of human selected moderators. Then an algorithm started doing it. At each 'escalation' the reasons for expanding the pool of moderators was that the job couldn't be done by the existing pool. In short, the thing's been evolving for several years and works fairly well overall. At least in the same sense that "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the rest" (probably misquoted, but you get the point).
A buck or 2? You should check out what they're paying in categories like home mortgages. In lots of those categories, the rates are closer to $10-15 PER CLICK. In most categories of pay-per-click engines, it's really difficult to stay under $0.50 or even a dollar.
How are you ripping CDs? I use ExactAudioCopy+LAME and it takes no more than 2 mouse clicks and about a minute to rip and queue up the encoding. That means that I can rip 10 CDs in about 10 minutes. Granted, it will take a while longer to do the encoding, but that sits in the background. And, they're named appropriately and encoded to alt-preset-standard quality with playlists and all dumped into my music library.
Basically, an entire album's worth of high quality MP3 can be had for the low, low price of 2 overly loud car sales commercials on FM radio.
Unfortunately, if you haven't run into space problems with a 15 gig iPod, your collection probably isn't accurately described as "HUGE" or is compressed down to bitrates below 64kbps. Up until a lightning strike this weekend (that destroyed my MP3 collection as well as the backup hard drive), I maintained a 28GB music collection that had what I consider to be huge gaps in it and not nearly as extensive as I wanted.
Unfortunately, after the recent stories on Slashdot and NPR about that really famous scream that gets used over and over in movies and TV, even the screams are living dead.
You realize that as open as the BSD license is, the trademark restriction is one of the few restrictions that remain, right?
It's funny. I almost forget that there's anything other than light mode until someone complains about the interface. It strikes me as odd because I've been using light mode exclusively on this site since its introduction.
Freecache isn't intended for files smaller than 5MB. The vast majority of Slashdottings are articles with a few 800x600 photos, which ends up under that limit.
In many cases, they were fetched with the Amazon API's. Lots of sites popped up after Amazon released those API's and most of them just re-wrap Amazon's content with their associate id in the links.
I haven't checked the Amazon review submission form, but my guess is that when you submit one, you license or give the content of the review to them as their content to do with whatever they choose. Since the API is theirs, those reviews are spread to the wind with their approval.
Exactly. Every machine I own or work (except where workplace policy prohibits) on has UltraVNC server installed. On some of them, I've never used it, but as a minimum it's always there. It's been a really rare situation where one of these machines can't be accessible.
For machines where it might be a security problem to have it accessible, I also install OpenSSH (yes, even on Windows) and only allow VNC connections from localhost via port forwarding.
Basically, if a machine is company-owned, it should already be locked down as far as firewall and virus protection goes and if that machine is roaming the world, it should also have some way to remotely administer it.
Exactly. You can call up either one of the major satellite providers and change your programming and the appropriate changes are reflected in your receiver before you hang up.
They may carry them, but due to regulation and restrictions, many of us are not allowed to subscribe to those feeds, only our local affiliate feeds.
Is there a timeline for the digital versions of "Rapid Application Development with Mozilla" and "C++ GUI Programming with Qt 3"? I noticed that neither has links for the digital downloads. Just curious if it's because those are new titles and it just hasn't happened yet. Not that it matters much, my copy of RAD with Mozilla should be delivered today and I can enjoy it on paper. I would just love to have a copy on my Zaurus instead of having to lug the paper copy around.
I actually kicked Mozilla-based clients to the curb after it completely messed up my IMAP inbox when the connection was severed abnormally (pre-UPS on my main workstation) due to 100 year old wiring in my house. It would essentially hold on to messages marked for deletion, but slap subject lines from un-deleted messages on them. So, when I'd open the inbox, I'd get tons of redundant subject lines and have to open each to see which was the imposter before deleting.
When this happened several times, I, too switched to PINE and all of my fond memories of commandline email came back. I can leave my hands on the keyboard and fly through my email in no time.
I've done something similar with a laptop GPS. It will track your progress, current speed, average speed, altitude, etc. on a map and can be saved after each trip. USB GPS's for laptops are under $100. Mine's magnetic and sticks to the roof or lays on the dash with a little velcro. I currently only use the software it came with, but that software works OK for this purpose. I just plug the laptop into the lighter socket, set it in the back seat with the GPS connected and let it gather data. When I arrive, I save it.
Have you *seen* my drive? Some of us don't drive in stop-and-go gridlock to get to work. I drive 85 miles each way right now and it's pretty much wide open freeway through farmland. There's usually a car on the horizon in front of me and maybe one on the horizon behind for most of the drive. Listening to audiobooks on my drive is a split between driving and listening as a replacement between driving and sleeping (a combination I consider FAR more dangerous). Audiobooks actually keep me more alert and help pass the time.
Keep in mind that there are certain tasks that split well. In most cases, it needs to be a division between an active and a passive task. Hence, talking on a cellphone (an active task), eating, etc. interferes with driving, while listening to the radio (generally a passive activity) doesn't. All of the things that people get most upset about other drivers doing are active tasks: cellphone, eating, makeup, whacking kids in the back seat, changing the station, etc. You usually don't hear about someone getting in an accident because the news story on the radio was so shocking they just lost track of where the other cars were.
Audiobooks are really popular with truckers and long commuters and I don't exactly see a rash of "audiobook-related" accidents in the papers. Nor do I see people staring at their radios with both hands on the wheel, weaving in and out of traffic, but I do see plenty of cellphone users doing the weaving.