Its everywhere. I tried to add a line to my cell phone plan recently, and they ran a credit check on me. I've been a paying customer for over four years and they ran a god damn credit check. I'll certainly be taking my business elsewhere.
Case in point. I went in to the local cingular store to pick up a phone and add a line to my wife's account. Turns out her current service plan doesn't support adding a line and her phone is "old technology", so we can't upgrade to a plan that allows it. Her phone isn't elligable for upgrade for another three months due to our current contract, so it would cost me an additional $50 if I wanted to upgrade it now. To top it off, when I gave the "wireless consultant" my wife's phone number when I first came in and told him what I wanted, first thing he did was run off and run a credit check without asking me first.
Seems odd that they would treat someone that has been a customer for over four years with no respect, and not offer any sort of "deal" to continue being a customer. I can go anywhere and get what they are offering me, and some places probably even offer lube...
If congress/FCC/RIAA pass legislation stating that all new hardware will support only the MJDA standard, what are you doing to do? Its kind of like whats happening the broadcast flag legislation. You're not gonna be able to buy a TV/PVR/computer that doesn't have the support for the flag built in, so you won't be able to play/copy/store anything bought/broadcast with it. Sure, some people with software based devices will be able to get around it, but good luck listening to music on a hardware based player...
Whats really funny is this comes on the same day the Sony exec claimed they had learned their lesson screwing with goofy proprietary formats.
Heh. I wish when I was 16 and my 30 year old boss said, "This would make a really good makeout spot..." while sitting in her jeep in the dark corner of a parking lot, I'd have had a clue...
So what we really need is for someone to hack into the system, and rank all Boxcar Willy "music" and The Barney Theme song as 100% successful, and everything else at rock bottom. Would love to see what would come out of the biz then...
I'd have to agree. Not just bad-mouthing previous employers, but any volunteered negativity seems to be just a precursor for a person's attitude after they have been hired.
The other thing that turns me off instantly, are excuses made during an interview.
Yep, excuses, and negativity, two things to try and avoid at an interview...
Exactly, it just some random porn that someone renamed Stargate-Atlantis-Ep4.avi or something like that. I'd be happy to persue the legal implications, just click on my username for a paypal link...
I got nailed by MGM for exactly the same reason, downloaded a Stargate Atlantis episode, and left it up for others. The really funny kicker, is the reason I left it up.It was a renamed porn, so I used the software to tag it as such, and left it out there so other people wouldn't waste their time/bandwidth. As they say, no good deed...
Some time ago while watching some show on a major broadcast network a commercial was on, and someone asked me what I was watching. I couldn't remember. I'd been sitting there watching whatever it was for at least 20 minutes, and I couldn't remember what I was watching! It was at that point that I realized how incredibly aweful programming has become. Its like having 300 channels of "Hypnotoad" or something.
FWIW, I've never forgotten what book I was reading during some brief interlude in reading...
The downside is that the DVRs that cable companies offer are gimped out pieces of dogshit. I have an old panasonic showstopper that works great, and my wife loves it. We just got an HDTV and I picked up a SA8000HD DVR from the cable company. The first thing my wife says after I show her how to use it is, "where is the skip forward button?".
Her next question, "why does it keep showing channels we don't get?".
Her third question, "Why can't we just use the showstopper?".
So I'm trying to explain how now that we have this new improved HDTV we need a newer DVR that records at the higher resolution levels and so on. She's just shaking her head not understanding why the new stuff can't even do what the old stuff could do.
Thats what is so damn frustrating about this whole DRM issue. Its like the policies are being made by a bunch of people that never knew any better, so they think what they're getting now is great. If you made them sit down and experience the way things should be, and then experience it the way the corporations want you to experience it, I think they're positions might be drastically different. If I just tried to explain the difference between what it could be and what corporations want it to be, she won't get it, but if she experiences it...
I have it too, and its more gimmicky than useful IMHO. I have a couple of issues with it:
Can't turn PS2 on/off remotely. It doesn't let you FF/RW during playback of videos. Their playlist interface is hideous. Takes forever to load up when you first turn it on. If your gameshark disk gets borked, you have to buy a new copy of the software (no way to back it up).
Couldn't a man-in-the-middle become a denial-of-service between two parties by never allowing them to secure a line in the first place? I don't know about you, but I'd much prefer my uber secret conversations don't go through if someone has managed "tapping the wire". At least then you know there is a problem and can deal with it.
baytsp is one of the bad guys. MGM uses them for scanning P2P networks for infringing works.
Whats really funny is the C&D letter I received was for a file that was just a trailer for a movie. Whats really really funny is the trailer turned out to be a clip from a porn that had been renamed to be the trailer I wanted. So, I received a C&D letter for a bogus trailer???
To top it off, my provider (COX), turned off my Internet access when they received the C&D, without even contacting me first. Too bad its my only choice for broadband access...
Not necesarily. If thousands of cars can be used as energy banks for the power companies to tap into during peak usage times, it means they don't have to run the big turbines all the time (as it stated in the article). So in theory your car could be topping its batteries off from non-peak energy, and then pushing back peak energy at a premium. Usage spikes in pretty much anything are terribly inefficient, this is a nice way around that.
IMHO Fedora sucks eggs. Why do I think this? I installed it on a laptop that had been running Redhat9 with no issues. Once installed the laptop wouldn't boot if I had a USB->Serial converter plugged in, the sound card didn't work anymore, and worst of all, the ethernet driver didn't work. So I went from running linux on a laptop with no worries to a laptop that couldn't get on the network, couldn't play music, and wouldn't boot. Yay progress.
So its better to learn about the civil war from the perspective of the white upper class, or of the vietnam war from the right wing conservative theocracy. Right? Children's views of events are skewed, you think the history that is taught in existing test books is what really happened? The right to pen history has been a spoil of the victor for ages, and nothing about that has changed.
This would pretty clearly target the telcos, if you couldn't move the packets, nobody would be able to pirate this stuff.
This would pretty clearly target the network equipment manufacturers, if you couldn't move the packets, nobody would be able to pirate this stuff.
This would pretty clearly target Intel/AMD/Motorola and any other manufacturer of microprocessor that can be used to convert this pirated media into something visual/audible.
I have a hunch this has more to do with money than anything. How much do you want to bet that someone from Microsoft paid a visit to Democratic state Sen. Liz Figueroa's office recently? Its hard to imagine that Figueroa just came up with this on her own out of the goodness of her own heart...
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Its everywhere. I tried to add a line to my cell phone plan recently, and they ran a credit check on me. I've been a paying customer for over four years and they ran a god damn credit check. I'll certainly be taking my business elsewhere.
Even with encryption between devices, as long as I can buy encoder/decoder chips and build hardware I can remain free.
Idiocy of the folks that implemented CSS aside, how would you get around a new version of CSS? What makes you think they will sell you a license?
My point isn't that it will be impossible to copy/create/modify DRM content, its that it will be "practically" impossible for the average person.
Case in point. I went in to the local cingular store to pick up a phone and add a line to my wife's account. Turns out her current service plan doesn't support adding a line and her phone is "old technology", so we can't upgrade to a plan that allows it. Her phone isn't elligable for upgrade for another three months due to our current contract, so it would cost me an additional $50 if I wanted to upgrade it now. To top it off, when I gave the "wireless consultant" my wife's phone number when I first came in and told him what I wanted, first thing he did was run off and run a credit check without asking me first.
Seems odd that they would treat someone that has been a customer for over four years with no respect, and not offer any sort of "deal" to continue being a customer. I can go anywhere and get what they are offering me, and some places probably even offer lube...
If congress/FCC/RIAA pass legislation stating that all new hardware will support only the MJDA standard, what are you doing to do? Its kind of like whats happening the broadcast flag legislation. You're not gonna be able to buy a TV/PVR/computer that doesn't have the support for the flag built in, so you won't be able to play/copy/store anything bought/broadcast with it. Sure, some people with software based devices will be able to get around it, but good luck listening to music on a hardware based player...
Whats really funny is this comes on the same day the Sony exec claimed they had learned their lesson screwing with goofy proprietary formats.
Heh. I wish when I was 16 and my 30 year old boss said, "This would make a really good makeout spot..." while sitting in her jeep in the dark corner of a parking lot, I'd have had a clue...
So what we really need is for someone to hack into the system, and rank all Boxcar Willy "music" and The Barney Theme song as 100% successful, and everything else at rock bottom. Would love to see what would come out of the biz then...
Don't forget the symbiosis present with VARs and results oriented customers.
I'd have to agree. Not just bad-mouthing previous employers, but any volunteered negativity seems to be just a precursor for a person's attitude after they have been hired.
The other thing that turns me off instantly, are excuses made during an interview.
Yep, excuses, and negativity, two things to try and avoid at an interview...
Exactly, it just some random porn that someone renamed Stargate-Atlantis-Ep4.avi or something like that. I'd be happy to persue the legal implications, just click on my username for a paypal link...
I got nailed by MGM for exactly the same reason, downloaded a Stargate Atlantis episode, and left it up for others. The really funny kicker, is the reason I left it up.It was a renamed porn, so I used the software to tag it as such, and left it out there so other people wouldn't waste their time/bandwidth. As they say, no good deed...
Some time ago while watching some show on a major broadcast network a commercial was on, and someone asked me what I was watching. I couldn't remember. I'd been sitting there watching whatever it was for at least 20 minutes, and I couldn't remember what I was watching! It was at that point that I realized how incredibly aweful programming has become. Its like having 300 channels of "Hypnotoad" or something.
FWIW, I've never forgotten what book I was reading during some brief interlude in reading...
The downside is that the DVRs that cable companies offer are gimped out pieces of dogshit. I have an old panasonic showstopper that works great, and my wife loves it. We just got an HDTV and I picked up a SA8000HD DVR from the cable company.
The first thing my wife says after I show her how to use it is, "where is the skip forward button?".
Her next question, "why does it keep showing channels we don't get?".
Her third question, "Why can't we just use the showstopper?".
So I'm trying to explain how now that we have this new improved HDTV we need a newer DVR that records at the higher resolution levels and so on. She's just shaking her head not understanding why the new stuff can't even do what the old stuff could do.
Thats what is so damn frustrating about this whole DRM issue. Its like the policies are being made by a bunch of people that never knew any better, so they think what they're getting now is great. If you made them sit down and experience the way things should be, and then experience it the way the corporations want you to experience it, I think they're positions might be drastically different. If I just tried to explain the difference between what it could be and what corporations want it to be, she won't get it, but if she experiences it...
I have it too, and its more gimmicky than useful IMHO. I have a couple of issues with it:
Can't turn PS2 on/off remotely.
It doesn't let you FF/RW during playback of videos.
Their playlist interface is hideous.
Takes forever to load up when you first turn it on.
If your gameshark disk gets borked, you have to buy a new copy of the software (no way to back it up).
All excellent points. The original poster would probably prefer to be required to show his RFID enabled passport too.
What, do you work at REI?
Oh yeah, that would be a great idea, let them dump to gain market share. Too bad for their competitors.
Couldn't a man-in-the-middle become a denial-of-service between two parties by never allowing them to secure a line in the first place?
I don't know about you, but I'd much prefer my uber secret conversations don't go through if someone has managed "tapping the wire". At least then you know there is a problem and can deal with it.
baytsp is one of the bad guys. MGM uses them for scanning P2P networks for infringing works.
Whats really funny is the C&D letter I received was for a file that was just a trailer for a movie. Whats really really funny is the trailer turned out to be a clip from a porn that had been renamed to be the trailer I wanted. So, I received a C&D letter for a bogus trailer???
To top it off, my provider (COX), turned off my Internet access when they received the C&D, without even contacting me first. Too bad its my only choice for broadband access...
Not necesarily. If thousands of cars can be used as energy banks for the power companies to tap into during peak usage times, it means they don't have to run the big turbines all the time (as it stated in the article). So in theory your car could be topping its batteries off from non-peak energy, and then pushing back peak energy at a premium. Usage spikes in pretty much anything are terribly inefficient, this is a nice way around that.
IMHO Fedora sucks eggs. Why do I think this? I installed it on a laptop that had been running Redhat9 with no issues. Once installed the laptop wouldn't boot if I had a USB->Serial converter plugged in, the sound card didn't work anymore, and worst of all, the ethernet driver didn't work. So I went from running linux on a laptop with no worries to a laptop that couldn't get on the network, couldn't play music, and wouldn't boot. Yay progress.
Or if the help-desk girl has a nice voice, "I'll check on that in a minute, what are you wearing?"
So its better to learn about the civil war from the perspective of the white upper class, or of the vietnam war from the right wing conservative theocracy. Right? Children's views of events are skewed, you think the history that is taught in existing test books is what really happened? The right to pen history has been a spoil of the victor for ages, and nothing about that has changed.
This would pretty clearly target the telcos, if you couldn't move the packets, nobody would be able to pirate this stuff.
This would pretty clearly target the network equipment manufacturers, if you couldn't move the packets, nobody would be able to pirate this stuff.
This would pretty clearly target Intel/AMD/Motorola and any other manufacturer of microprocessor that can be used to convert this pirated media into something visual/audible.
The list goes on and on.
Oh dear, those responsible for the sacking have now been sacked.
I have a hunch this has more to do with money than anything. How much do you want to bet that someone from Microsoft paid a visit to Democratic state Sen. Liz Figueroa's office recently? Its hard to imagine that Figueroa just came up with this on her own out of the goodness of her own heart...