If you bought enough rechargable batteries to last for 10 years, then they would pay for themselves. I'm all for saving energy, but if it comes down to $20 worth of batteries for a year vs $75 for charger/batteries/spare batteries per year that you'll wind up throwing out anyway, I'll stick with the $20 batteries.
It's not the batteries consumed playing the game, or the cost to buy them, it's the pollution caused by tossing the batteries in the garbage can where they leach out in the landfill.
So, buckle down and buy a Palm V like the rest of us...
as a RHAT stockholder I can't say I'm really pleased either
I'm pretty happy. I just bought another 100 shares, so I'm back up to 200. Not bad, put down $1400 for the 100 shares at the IPO, cash out, buy back in, cash out, and pick shares up as the price drifts lower.
But I think most investors are not happy with this latest announcement. Their loss.
There's a really cool web page translator that one of the guys at work uses on his Russian Seattle web site. It translates the whole web site, with one of the best accuracy rates I've seen, and let's you follow the web links too.
It's provided by a Russian company, according to Alex.
The problem, as we all know, is that the USPTO is overworked and that the Patent system is broken. Since it's managed by the politicians, who are rewarded with money by the big players out there, I doubt it will change any time soon.
Given that, one poster previously noted that you can file Statutory Patents. They're easy to do, very cheap, but they basically Open Source the Patent to everyone and prevent other people (the big players such as MSFT, IBM, Sun) from patenting a really cool idea.
I've been thinking about the next phase of being wired and what it will really look like, and it's obvious to me that it involves something I've called Avatars. Not the kind that others have described, a totally new way of doing things. My main fear is that Bill Gates or someone else will patent something I've been thinking through for the last decade, before I get around to it.
So, it seems that I, as well as others in Open Source, should bite the bullet and start filing these Statutory Patents as soon as possible. Once my old house closes, I'll get it done for my idea; hopefully others amongst us will do the same.
It's time to take technology back from the monopolists of the world and advance the cause of civilization in it's highest form.
So, if you've got a cool patentable idea, but know you'll never go through the usual 2-3 year patent process, with it's expenses, to get it patented, this is a call to arms - patent it as a Statutory Patent to keep it out of the clutches of the vampires of technology and in the daylight of Open Source.
And for all those who do this, I suggest we consider founding some kind of Open Source Patent Foundation, with a really cool party each year at Burning Man or some other cool event. Worst case, I'll buy you a beer or hard cider...
The problem is that, at least prior to the ruling, mp3.com wasn't actually making a "backup copy".
They could have made a real copy of the MP3 of the track, stored it on their network, and only allowed you to play it. Instead, they read the track info, uploaded only tracks that they didn't have in their database, but used a master CD to make a "shared" copy which they served out to all the users. That's where they became vulnerable. They literally allowed thousands of users to listen to a copyrighted CD that mp3.com had purchased, not the original one that the user had purchased.
It's a fine point, but it means billions of dollars.
Why does it really matter if its many licensed users listening to their own copy or many licensed users listening to the same copy.
Because the law, as it exists makes the former ok, but the latter illegal. On an esthetic level, I agree with you, but you need to change the law, not get angry at the judge for enforcing the law.
McCrabb: It's clear that Linux will introduce changes into the pricing equation Translation: We need to drop prices so the PHBs think we're cheaper, but not free since they're scared of that.
McCrabb: There is a great demand for companies that have no idea how to add the power of Linux to their complex computing environments. Translation: We can use our Unix skills to quickly learn enough about Linux differences to allow us to make up the money we lost on cheaper licenses by selling training. And the PHBs will buy from us, since they don't trust the scruffy Linux pengoids anyways.
McCrabb We care about the success of the Linux market more than ever. Translation: still Linux saved our ass and every other Unix.
McCrabb: Customers demand that Monterey have the ability to run Linux applications. Translation: still Without Linux compatibility nobody will want it.
McCrabb: SCO *will have products that speak to all levels of the market at prices that compete on the terms of the particular market. Translation: We will sell cheap where Linux is breathing down our necks, and make up the cash on the training and the parts that noone realizes there are Linux solutions for yet.
A cool thing not mentioned
on
Quickies Rock!
·
· Score: 2
George, a slashdotter of eons, told me about his new website which is up and running at http://www.idmaweb.com/ to check out.
It's supposed to be a community forum for privacy and security issues.
He's a cool guy - ask him to send you some of his wierd pics once in a while, or travel pix from strange locations.
This brings up a really important question for Douglas:
Do you find it more than slightly annoying that everyone wants to talk about what you wrote years ago, or a sequel to something that you wrote, and seems to get hung up on certain words and phrases that you tossed off the top of your head while brushing your teeth or taking a shower? Do you try to then steer the conversation elsewhere, or just let them go on, while thinking to yourself "Why did I say I'd show up at this event?"
And have you ever got so bored that you actually left such an event? Did you end up doing something fun afterwards, or just lay exhausted on your hotel bed thinking of the fact that you actually weren't in the Caribbean even though you're supposed to be able to go there any time you wished?
Do you find the Internet to be a distraction similar to TV, more like written correspondance, or like attending a really bad party that you're not quite sure you were invited to?
And, does this make you wish for the existance of Net Editors, or does the idea of someone editing the Net give you the willies?
1. Have you considered using Open Source for future games, or at least character generation parameter objects? If so, would they allow for characters to develop Open Sores, a mildly contagious disease affecting only geekdom, and would this cause them to be unwelcome at very cool parties?
2. Have you ever been to Burning Man? If not, is it because some of the attendees don't bathe for a week or just that they're too wierd?
3. Have you ever visited a href="http://www.fthe Center of the Universe? And what part of it did you like the best - the Troll under the bridge, Trolloween, the functional rocket ship, or the abundance of coffee shops? Was it while on a book speaking tour of Seattle, as you felt magically pulled towards the Fremont neighborhood, or just one of those wierd traffic accidents involving cell phones, urban hippies, and a significant lack of turbans?
4. What drives you to write? And does this involve the wearing of turbans or drinking tea or coffee? Do you do this in public? Do you prefer to use pen and paper, pencil and paper, a desktop PC, or a laptop PC. Do you randomly write ideas down, outline the story, or just write off the top of your head and then edit? While editing, do you use friends or editors to check to see if your writing is too verbose or otherwise in need of retuning, especially in regards to the funny bits? Do you find it easier to write humour while depressed or when you're slightly uncomfortable and do you ever write on a plane, at an airport, or while sitting on a beach in the Caribbean?
I'm glad they're allowing it to resolve down to a finer point, although the privacy implications of this are horrific. When I was coding (in perl) some scripts for Nextel, I saw some of the frequency chunks they dropped out for mil use only in the spectrum, and it was quite significant - nice bands with chunks missing every so often. Pretty easy to tell where the signal was.
However, the old GPS was useful in terms of driving moderate to long distances - you could save the GPS point for a route change or your house, or select an intersection, and then tell if you overshot it by a block, but it wouldn't let you encode "turn left in 6 meters" or anything useful for fine navigation.
Of course, that's without buying the commercial "fixed" GPS service some carriers offered for a premium that would let you get back to the correct locations.
Now I can post the GPS location of my Theme Camp at Burning Man and people can find exactly where it is!
... the fact that I am able to listen to a CD seconds after I have bought it online made me buy at least six CD's over the last two months.
I'm the same way. I've bought about 10 CDs over the last two months - 6 were CDs bought after I checked out their MP3 songs, 2 were bought at a performance by the artists, and 2 were bought through traditional means. Which means that, if there are a lot of us doing this, the record companies didn't get most of that money, instead it was the artists. Figure 40% cut for the artists for the MP3-influenced purchases (20% production, 40% site fees) and 50% cut for the artists for the purchases at the performance (50% production and advertising - already paid to listen to the event). Only on the last 2 did the artist get 2-6% (probably 5%, since a name artist) and the company get 75%.
Zap! There goes the revenue stream for RIAA.
WA residents don't have UCITA, though
on
Fighting UCITA
·
· Score: 1
Emigrate to a state that isn't completely run by big software interests.
You mean like Washington State? We don't have UCITA, and I've got a lot of State Senators and State Reps lined up on the Technology and Commerce committees looking out for it, but we have a teensy company called... Microsoft.... which is our largest company.
But, we also value privacy and small business, so maybe that's why it's not even made it through one committee here...
Can't they sell off the mp3.com main service and artist contracts to another firm, to protect it from the lawsuit?
Then, if something goes down, it's just the Beam-It part... they can license the use of mp3.com's main service for a 2 year period and let the shell go bankrupt while the core business survives.
It's hard to sue millions of Gnutella servers, which pop up and disappear at random. And there's no profit source to get money from.
[note - actually, the MP3.com loss means my ARTD ArtistDirect stock is going to skyrocket - but I still think what MP3.com did was right]
Viral UCITA Licensing: good for GPL?
on
Fighting UCITA
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· Score: 1
OK, major concept here:
If you have a website with click licensing which states (in 1 point font) that by clicking the consumer hereby revokes all current and future software purchases to the GPL licensing, couldn't we virally hitchhike onto commercial software?
Under UCITA it would be legal. We just hide the terms on a page on the website and do a Gotcha! after the fact. Then all their software that isn't GPL would be GPL...
Cool idea! Let's all buy our mail order or electronic purchases of computer software from Iowa companies!
Just emailed WA state key players
on
Fighting UCITA
·
· Score: 1
I just sent an email with the story link and some impacts to some key legislators who know me, expressing my viewpoint on this.
If everyone does this, slashdotting their city, county, and state reps (remember, city and county are elected and buy software), you too can make a difference! I know that by talking directly with some of the State Senators and State Reps, we kept UCITA from being passed in WA state.
Fight the good fight! They can disable our software remotely, but they can't take our Freedom!
I usually read Katz's stuff here, and sometimes even like it, but this time I simply could not get past the first 3 paragraphs. Is it just me, or is there another story every couple months... about how the Internet is a radically new paradigm that will Change Everything?
Nope, it's not just you. And I've already lost a bunch of karma points after I realized that I couldn't get past the first three paras myself. So I decided to point some of this out, at the danger of my karma.
Look, I'm not saying that Jon hasn't improved, just that this is a throwback to his lame days of posting. And there is no way slashdot should have to suffer through a series of articles that regurgitate more of the same.
Note I've been posting all these without my +1 bonus, so that it didn't interrupt anyone surfing at 2 or higher. As proof of which, I'll post this at my normal +1.
As a shareholder in AOL (like you're surprised), I take great umbrage at this attempt to pry my Liberal Agenda from my child. As everyone knows, it's liberals who built this great country, liberals who fought in the wars, and conservative and libertarians who went to college instead. Which is why we're miffed.
That's why I think it's time to announce a bounty on CEOs. Five scalps for a dollar. Toupees don't count, unless you get them on TV.
Just jump in your black helicopters, send those secret messages to the TV anchors, and get those subliminal messages pumping out those websites, cause the Pogrom's been annouced!
Slashdot Mirror
If you bought enough rechargable batteries to last for 10 years, then they would pay for themselves. I'm all for saving energy, but if it comes down to $20 worth of batteries for a year vs $75 for charger/batteries/spare batteries per year that you'll wind up throwing out anyway, I'll stick with the $20 batteries.
...
It's not the batteries consumed playing the game, or the cost to buy them, it's the pollution caused by tossing the batteries in the garbage can where they leach out in the landfill.
So, buckle down and buy a Palm V like the rest of us
A serious question, because it's likely to be Bill G or Paul A from MSFT. And you know what they're all about ...
Stop complaining about money from friends - it's a lot better than the black hats buying it up any day of the week.
What is so imaginary about the IPO-generated money?
Beats me. They take it at my bank and the IRS seems to like it.
I think he means shares. If they're offering stock swap, then it could be considered funny money, but cash is still cash in my books.
as a RHAT stockholder I can't say I'm really pleased either
I'm pretty happy. I just bought another 100 shares, so I'm back up to 200. Not bad, put down $1400 for the 100 shares at the IPO, cash out, buy back in, cash out, and pick shares up as the price drifts lower.
But I think most investors are not happy with this latest announcement. Their loss.
There's a really cool web page translator that one of the guys at work uses on his Russian Seattle web site. It translates the whole web site, with one of the best accuracy rates I've seen, and let's you follow the web links too.
It's provided by a Russian company, according to Alex.
wish I knew ...
...
I just hate clicking on the Perview button
It's easy, just send emails and faxes to the State Legislators. Maybe a nice Mother's Day present ...
...
Just go hrere and follow the links.
We have a Governor, an Attorney General, a State House of Representatives, and a State Senate who are all dying to hear from you
The problem, as we all know, is that the USPTO is overworked and that the Patent system is broken. Since it's managed by the politicians, who are rewarded with money by the big players out there, I doubt it will change any time soon.
...
Given that, one poster previously noted that you can file Statutory Patents. They're easy to do, very cheap, but they basically Open Source the Patent to everyone and prevent other people (the big players such as MSFT, IBM, Sun) from patenting a really cool idea.
I've been thinking about the next phase of being wired and what it will really look like, and it's obvious to me that it involves something I've called Avatars. Not the kind that others have described, a totally new way of doing things. My main fear is that Bill Gates or someone else will patent something I've been thinking through for the last decade, before I get around to it.
So, it seems that I, as well as others in Open Source, should bite the bullet and start filing these Statutory Patents as soon as possible. Once my old house closes, I'll get it done for my idea; hopefully others amongst us will do the same.
It's time to take technology back from the monopolists of the world and advance the cause of civilization in it's highest form.
So, if you've got a cool patentable idea, but know you'll never go through the usual 2-3 year patent process, with it's expenses, to get it patented, this is a call to arms - patent it as a Statutory Patent to keep it out of the clutches of the vampires of technology and in the daylight of Open Source.
And for all those who do this, I suggest we consider founding some kind of Open Source Patent Foundation, with a really cool party each year at Burning Man or some other cool event. Worst case, I'll buy you a beer or hard cider
The problem is that, at least prior to the ruling, mp3.com wasn't actually making a "backup copy".
They could have made a real copy of the MP3 of the track, stored it on their network, and only allowed you to play it. Instead, they read the track info, uploaded only tracks that they didn't have in their database, but used a master CD to make a "shared" copy which they served out to all the users. That's where they became vulnerable. They literally allowed thousands of users to listen to a copyrighted CD that mp3.com had purchased, not the original one that the user had purchased.
It's a fine point, but it means billions of dollars.
Why does it really matter if its many licensed users listening to their own copy or many licensed users listening to the same copy.
Because the law, as it exists makes the former ok, but the latter illegal. On an esthetic level, I agree with you, but you need to change the law, not get angry at the judge for enforcing the law.
IANAL, of course.
- mp3.com defense budget - $ 35,192.63
- RIAA prosecution budget - $2,462,898.35
- Doing the right thing - priceless
McCrabb:
It's clear that Linux will introduce changes into the pricing equation
Translation:
We need to drop prices so the PHBs think we're cheaper, but not free since they're scared of that.
McCrabb:
There is a great demand for companies that have no idea how to add the power of Linux to their complex computing environments.
Translation:
We can use our Unix skills to quickly learn enough about Linux differences to allow us to make up the money we lost on cheaper licenses by selling training. And the PHBs will buy from us, since they don't trust the scruffy Linux pengoids anyways.
McCrabb
We care about the success of the Linux market more than ever.
Translation: still
Linux saved our ass and every other Unix.
McCrabb:
Customers demand that Monterey have the ability to run Linux applications.
Translation: still
Without Linux compatibility nobody will want it.
McCrabb:
SCO *will have products that speak to all levels of the market at prices that compete on the terms of the particular market.
Translation:
We will sell cheap where Linux is breathing down our necks, and make up the cash on the training and the parts that noone realizes there are Linux solutions for yet.
George, a slashdotter of eons, told me about his new website which is up and running at
http://www.idmaweb.com/ to check out.
It's supposed to be a community forum for privacy and security issues.
He's a cool guy - ask him to send you some of his wierd pics once in a while, or travel pix from strange locations.
This brings up a really important question for Douglas:
Do you find it more than slightly annoying that everyone wants to talk about what you wrote years ago, or a sequel to something that you wrote, and seems to get hung up on certain words and phrases that you tossed off the top of your head while brushing your teeth or taking a shower? Do you try to then steer the conversation elsewhere, or just let them go on, while thinking to yourself "Why did I say I'd show up at this event?"
And have you ever got so bored that you actually left such an event? Did you end up doing something fun afterwards, or just lay exhausted on your hotel bed thinking of the fact that you actually weren't in the Caribbean even though you're supposed to be able to go there any time you wished?
Do you find the Internet to be a distraction similar to TV, more like written correspondance, or like attending a really bad party that you're not quite sure you were invited to?
And, does this make you wish for the existance of Net Editors, or does the idea of someone editing the Net give you the willies?
1. Have you considered using Open Source for future games, or at least character generation parameter objects? If so, would they allow for characters to develop Open Sores, a mildly contagious disease affecting only geekdom, and would this cause them to be unwelcome at very cool parties?
2. Have you ever been to Burning Man? If not, is it because some of the attendees don't bathe for a week or just that they're too wierd?
3. Have you ever visited a href="http://www.fthe Center of the Universe? And what part of it did you like the best - the Troll under the bridge, Trolloween, the functional rocket ship, or the abundance of coffee shops? Was it while on a book speaking tour of Seattle, as you felt magically pulled towards the Fremont neighborhood, or just one of those wierd traffic accidents involving cell phones, urban hippies, and a significant lack of turbans?
4. What drives you to write? And does this involve the wearing of turbans or drinking tea or coffee? Do you do this in public? Do you prefer to use pen and paper, pencil and paper, a desktop PC, or a laptop PC. Do you randomly write ideas down, outline the story, or just write off the top of your head and then edit? While editing, do you use friends or editors to check to see if your writing is too verbose or otherwise in need of retuning, especially in regards to the funny bits? Do you find it easier to write humour while depressed or when you're slightly uncomfortable and do you ever write on a plane, at an airport, or while sitting on a beach in the Caribbean?
I'm glad they're allowing it to resolve down to a finer point, although the privacy implications of this are horrific. When I was coding (in perl) some scripts for Nextel, I saw some of the frequency chunks they dropped out for mil use only in the spectrum, and it was quite significant - nice bands with chunks missing every so often. Pretty easy to tell where the signal was.
However, the old GPS was useful in terms of driving moderate to long distances - you could save the GPS point for a route change or your house, or select an intersection, and then tell if you overshot it by a block, but it wouldn't let you encode "turn left in 6 meters" or anything useful for fine navigation.
Of course, that's without buying the commercial "fixed" GPS service some carriers offered for a premium that would let you get back to the correct locations.
Now I can post the GPS location of my Theme Camp at Burning Man and people can find exactly where it is!
... the fact that I am able to listen to a CD seconds after I have bought it online made me buy at least six CD's over the last two months.
I'm the same way. I've bought about 10 CDs over the last two months - 6 were CDs bought after I checked out their MP3 songs, 2 were bought at a performance by the artists, and 2 were bought through traditional means. Which means that, if there are a lot of us doing this, the record companies didn't get most of that money, instead it was the artists. Figure 40% cut for the artists for the MP3-influenced purchases (20% production, 40% site fees) and 50% cut for the artists for the purchases at the performance (50% production and advertising - already paid to listen to the event). Only on the last 2 did the artist get 2-6% (probably 5%, since a name artist) and the company get 75%.
Zap! There goes the revenue stream for RIAA.
Emigrate to a state that isn't completely run by big software interests.
... Microsoft .... which is our largest company.
...
You mean like Washington State? We don't have UCITA, and I've got a lot of State Senators and State Reps lined up on the Technology and Commerce committees looking out for it, but we have a teensy company called
But, we also value privacy and small business, so maybe that's why it's not even made it through one committee here
Can't they sell off the mp3.com main service and artist contracts to another firm, to protect it from the lawsuit?
... they can license the use of mp3.com's main service for a 2 year period and let the shell go bankrupt while the core business survives.
Then, if something goes down, it's just the Beam-It part
It's hard to sue millions of Gnutella servers, which pop up and disappear at random. And there's no profit source to get money from.
[note - actually, the MP3.com loss means my ARTD ArtistDirect stock is going to skyrocket - but I still think what MP3.com did was right]
OK, major concept here:
...
If you have a website with click licensing which states (in 1 point font) that by clicking the consumer hereby revokes all current and future software purchases to the GPL licensing, couldn't we virally hitchhike onto commercial software?
Under UCITA it would be legal. We just hide the terms on a page on the website and do a Gotcha! after the fact. Then all their software that isn't GPL would be GPL
Cool idea! Let's all buy our mail order or electronic purchases of computer software from Iowa companies!
I just sent an email with the story link and some impacts to some key legislators who know me, expressing my viewpoint on this.
If everyone does this, slashdotting their city, county, and state reps (remember, city and county are elected and buy software), you too can make a difference! I know that by talking directly with some of the State Senators and State Reps, we kept UCITA from being passed in WA state.
Fight the good fight! They can disable our software remotely, but they can't take our Freedom!
I usually read Katz's stuff here, and sometimes even like it, but this time I simply could not get past the first 3 paragraphs. Is it just me, or is there another story every couple months ... about how the Internet is a radically new paradigm that will Change Everything?
Nope, it's not just you. And I've already lost a bunch of karma points after I realized that I couldn't get past the first three paras myself. So I decided to point some of this out, at the danger of my karma.
Look, I'm not saying that Jon hasn't improved, just that this is a throwback to his lame days of posting. And there is no way slashdot should have to suffer through a series of articles that regurgitate more of the same.
Note I've been posting all these without my +1 bonus, so that it didn't interrupt anyone surfing at 2 or higher. As proof of which, I'll post this at my normal +1.
As a shareholder in AOL (like you're surprised), I take great umbrage at this attempt to pry my Liberal Agenda from my child. As everyone knows, it's liberals who built this great country, liberals who fought in the wars, and conservative and libertarians who went to college instead. Which is why we're miffed.
That's why I think it's time to announce a bounty on CEOs. Five scalps for a dollar. Toupees don't count, unless you get them on TV.
Just jump in your black helicopters, send those secret messages to the TV anchors, and get those subliminal messages pumping out those websites, cause the Pogrom's been annouced!