Why hasn't Sun locked their software to a CPU? I believe the alpha processors have been serialized since day one.
I don't claim familiarity with the Sun platform, but the biggest thing that comes to mind is Solaris. Since to use Solaris, you need a Sun anyway, I could see why they wouldn't bother, Sun being the only source of Sun workstations. Also, Sun and Alpha processors are probably sold to a more technically literate population that is more likely to rebel against copy protection and seek alternatives. Microsoft captives don't seem, as a group, to have the technical ability (or motivation) to make those sorts of choices.
You can already easily get the IDE/SCSI serial numbers and nobody is locking to it.
Replacing a disk drive isn't nearly as big a deal as upgrading a CPU (realistically, this almost always involves a motherboard swap and replacement of other components, as well). It is also quite likely to happen in the course of warranty repair of mass market PCs. Also, given Microsoft's recent penchant for "recovery" CD's that arelocked to at least a single computer model, being able to rely on a CPU serial number would give them the hammer to enforce an intellectual property "right" they already believe they have--to keep the user from transferring the license they legitimately purchased to another PC upon removal of the software from the old.
The problem is, if the serial number were in every CPU, the dominant vendor (i.e. Microsoft) would lock the software to a given CPU, and there wouldn't be a darned thing you could (legally) do about it if you need to use it. Seeking a competing vendor isn't a realistic option, because the competition will likely do the same thing.
Whoops--you did say client. I saw this while I was there--it's a PPTP client for Linux that appears from a cursory look at the docs in the tar to support MSCHAP.
Thanks to the June Linux Journal, here's a link to the PoPToP home page. PoPToP is a free server implementation of the PPTP that works with MSCHAPv2. Not sure about compression.
Like whoever registered "localhost.com" shouldn't have seen that coming. They've certainly no right to whine about it when it happens--that's the price they pay for being so "clever."
While their products sometimes didn't include sufficient safety instructions to prevent unfortunate coyote accidents, and they wouldn't survive in today's strict product liability environment, I take exception to the idea that ACME products were defective.
Not only did the products perform as advertised, but the company offered fast, free delivery to the American Southwest!
You can bet that next time I need a portable Evil Genius lab, some rocket powered roller skates, or even gas powered shoes, ACME will be my merchant of choice!
Given the relative number of Linux advocates compared with that of nice, docile Windows users, I don't think pressuring the ISPs will be effective in changing login schemes.
Telling an ISP they're losing a customer if their service is Windows only is like voting for the Green or Libertarian parties. It's standing on priciple, and things would change if everyone who felt the same way did it. Unfortunately, they don't, and that's the reality operate in.
It does take two machines, but you can use a darn minimal Win98 machine to do this. It can be a headless beige uATX in a corner somewhere once it's running. And if someone can't spare $150-$200 to make one, they probably can't part with $40-$100 per month for DSL, either.
I'll go a step further and recommend that if one is going to invest $100 or so in a new modem, to buy an external. Your mental health professional will thank you when you have to troubleshoot anything.
I'm hoping 3com will provide me an upgrade to my USR Courier, just because I want it to still be "v.everything.":>.
If you want DSL and the only thing stopping you is a proprietary login that only runs under Windows, here is a remedy:
1. Acquire a legally licensed, Bill sanctioned, Mother approved, copy of Windows 98 Second Edition. I understand eBay is a good source.
2. Attach the DSL modem to the machine. Let the telco tech do his/her thing (install network card, attach DSL modem, set up evil proprietary login software).
3. Wait for the tech to leave (this step may be skipped in some locales).
4. Install another network card (ideally the same kind--only one set of drivers to deal with then).
5. Enable "Internet Connection Sharing". Reboot several times in the process. Run the evil properietary login program.
6. Plug your Linux/FreeBSD/VMS/Amiga box into the shiny new second network card, via a crossover cable or a hub. Make sure to set it to use DHCP to get an IP address.
7. Congratulations, your Linux/FreeBSD/VMS/Amiga box is now attached to the internet at DSL speed! If you don't use the Win98 box for anything else, you should only have to reboot it about every 47 days.
Better wear a ski mask, dark glasses, wig, and make-up. And change your gait. Because your image's going to be on one or more of the surveillance cameras at that 7-11, and if the powers that be want you badly enough, they'll get a copy of the video.
The degree of anonymity you get this way is in inverse proportion to how much you hack off a government (or other entity with effectively infinite resources).
I suspect that the credit card number requirements are only ostensibly for age verification. More likely, their "sophisticated demographic databases" and "marketing target profiles" are filled with just so much crap. (e.g. "Uber Hachor; 1313 Calamity Lane; Versailles, FL; 31337" or some such, made only plausible enough to pass any data edits the site does).
Being able to tie users to a valid credit card number (even without a charge) would give more credibility in selling ads, in the same way that paid circulation of a newspaper is worth more to advertisers than a jillion free copies. And it's all for the good of the children!
In any case, I have no problem with letting the next generation know that it's not only their right, but their duty to not comply with these demands. When presented with a diktat (e.g., no services without the information, or you must be 13), then contaminate the databases and let the marketeers be damned.
BTW, check out Webcertificate (no financial interest here) for a legal way to get a throwaway credit card number. (It's a MasterCard number that works like a gift certificate. Since the sites aren't charging it, one $5 "card" should work forever. I haven't heard of any specific sites filtering WebCertificate's bank number--yet.)
They aren't trying to protect anyone but themselves. They're covering their backsides so they don't have to deal with the U.S. Child Online Protection Act.
They hope to be able to say
But, your honor, our company
couldn't have collected any information on children under 13 or exposed them to anything indecent, because (wink, nudge) we don't allow them on our service!
Meanwhile, they're doing this knowing full well, as has been pointed out, that those under 13 will just enter whatever age will allow them access to the servers. And probably selling ad space based on targeting an under 13 demographic, if the sales department misses the memo from legal.
True, I didn't consider the case in which 1UPs were given for increasing score increments or that the score might not ever become a multiple of a fixed 1UP score!
(I always wished Galaga gave a new ship every 12000 points!)
Itt'd actually be the same, assuming that base 4749935 implied that the whole of 4749934 occupied the units place (4749935^0) and was one symbol (sheesh, all the letters of all the human alphabets over time might give us enough:>). It would be much larger if each digit were a "symbol", i.e. if 4 were the units digit, 3 the 4749935's digit, the first 9 the 4749935^2's digit, etc.
It makes no difference what base we consider if we call the whole thing in the units place--I was asleep at the switch and gave that yahoo an IQ off the scale! Fortunately, IQ's defined as the ratio of mental age to chronological age. Thus, I'll assume that the person's about a billion years old:>.
Unisys started enforcing the patent in '94--after GIF with LZW became entrenched on CIS. Thanks for the clarification--I can see how that reply could be read to mean I was saying GIF itself started in '94. You are correct that GIF+LZW predates '94 by about 6 years:>.
Slashdot Mirror
Damn, beat me to it. Cool link--thanks!
qaeiou saeiou azeiou waeiou saeiou xaeiou eaeiou
-=(0 Text here to avoid -1 for short post 0)=-
daeiou caeiou raeiou faeiou vaeiou taeiou gaeiou
Why hasn't Sun locked their software to a CPU? I believe the alpha processors have been serialized since day one.
I don't claim familiarity with the Sun platform, but the biggest thing that comes to mind is Solaris. Since to use Solaris, you need a Sun anyway, I could see why they wouldn't bother, Sun being the only source of Sun workstations. Also, Sun and Alpha processors are probably sold to a more technically literate population that is more likely to rebel against copy protection and seek alternatives. Microsoft captives don't seem, as a group, to have the technical ability (or motivation) to make those sorts of choices.
You can already easily get the IDE/SCSI serial numbers and nobody is locking to it.
Replacing a disk drive isn't nearly as big a deal as upgrading a CPU (realistically, this almost always involves a motherboard swap and replacement of other components, as well). It is also quite likely to happen in the course of warranty repair of mass market PCs. Also, given Microsoft's recent penchant for "recovery" CD's that arelocked to at least a single computer model, being able to rely on a CPU serial number would give them the hammer to enforce an intellectual property "right" they already believe they have--to keep the user from transferring the license they legitimately purchased to another PC upon removal of the software from the old.
The problem is, if the serial number were in every CPU, the dominant vendor (i.e. Microsoft) would lock the software to a given CPU, and there wouldn't be a darned thing you could (legally) do about it if you need to use it. Seeking a competing vendor isn't a realistic option, because the competition will likely do the same thing.
Whoops--you did say client. I saw this while I was there--it's a PPTP client for Linux that appears from a cursory look at the docs in the tar to support MSCHAP.
Thanks to the June Linux Journal, here's a link to the PoPToP home page. PoPToP is a free server implementation of the PPTP that works with MSCHAPv2. Not sure about compression.
Like whoever registered "localhost.com" shouldn't have seen that coming. They've certainly no right to whine about it when it happens--that's the price they pay for being so "clever."
While their products sometimes didn't include sufficient safety instructions to prevent unfortunate coyote accidents, and they wouldn't survive in today's strict product liability environment, I take exception to the idea that ACME products were defective.
Not only did the products perform as advertised, but the company offered fast, free delivery to the American Southwest!
You can bet that next time I need a portable Evil Genius lab, some rocket powered roller skates, or even gas powered shoes, ACME will be my merchant of choice!
Given the relative number of Linux advocates compared with that of nice, docile Windows users, I don't think pressuring the ISPs will be effective in changing login schemes.
Telling an ISP they're losing a customer if their service is Windows only is like voting for the Green or Libertarian parties. It's standing on priciple, and things would change if everyone who felt the same way did it. Unfortunately, they don't, and that's the reality operate in.
It does take two machines, but you can use a darn minimal Win98 machine to do this. It can be a headless beige uATX in a corner somewhere once it's running. And if someone can't spare $150-$200 to make one, they probably can't part with $40-$100 per month for DSL, either.
Also, stay away from winmodems !!!
Tell it, brother!
I'll go a step further and recommend that if one is going to invest $100 or so in a new modem, to buy an external. Your mental health professional will thank you when you have to troubleshoot anything.
I'm hoping 3com will provide me an upgrade to my USR Courier, just because I want it to still be "v.everything." :>.
If you want DSL and the only thing stopping you is a proprietary login that only runs under Windows, here is a remedy:
1. Acquire a legally licensed, Bill sanctioned, Mother approved, copy of Windows 98 Second Edition. I understand eBay is a good source.
2. Attach the DSL modem to the machine. Let the telco tech do his/her thing (install network card, attach DSL modem, set up evil proprietary login software).
3. Wait for the tech to leave (this step may be skipped in some locales).
4. Install another network card (ideally the same kind--only one set of drivers to deal with then).
5. Enable "Internet Connection Sharing". Reboot several times in the process. Run the evil properietary login program.
6. Plug your Linux/FreeBSD/VMS/Amiga box into the shiny new second network card, via a crossover cable or a hub. Make sure to set it to use DHCP to get an IP address.
7. Congratulations, your Linux/FreeBSD/VMS/Amiga box is now attached to the internet at DSL speed! If you don't use the Win98 box for anything else, you should only have to reboot it about every 47 days.
Better wear a ski mask, dark glasses, wig, and make-up. And change your gait. Because your image's going to be on one or more of the surveillance cameras at that 7-11, and if the powers that be want you badly enough, they'll get a copy of the video.
The degree of anonymity you get this way is in inverse proportion to how much you hack off a government (or other entity with effectively infinite resources).
I'm not so sure that voicerec is the way to go except for simple tasks like "Lights, on".
."
Oh, great--and this right after I ordered The Clapper®!
Seriously, though, I can't imagine ever saying "are emm dash are eff asterisk" to make room, or "cursor right, cursor right, select, cut, damn it, undo, copy, cursor down . .
I've no doubt we're on our way to some cool input technology for general use (e.g. chord keyboards, gesture recognition)--voice is not it.
I wish it were illegal, but it probably isn't. Have you tried to check into a hotel or, better yet, rent a car without a credit card?
As others have pointed out, also, having a credit card isn't proof of age.
I suspect that the credit card number requirements are only ostensibly for age verification. More likely, their "sophisticated demographic databases" and "marketing target profiles" are filled with just so much crap. (e.g. "Uber Hachor; 1313 Calamity Lane; Versailles, FL; 31337" or some such, made only plausible enough to pass any data edits the site does).
Being able to tie users to a valid credit card number (even without a charge) would give more credibility in selling ads, in the same way that paid circulation of a newspaper is worth more to advertisers than a jillion free copies. And it's all for the good of the children!
In any case, I have no problem with letting the next generation know that it's not only their right, but their duty to not comply with these demands. When presented with a diktat (e.g., no services without the information, or you must be 13), then contaminate the databases and let the marketeers be damned.
BTW, check out Webcertificate (no financial interest here) for a legal way to get a throwaway credit card number. (It's a MasterCard number that works like a gift certificate. Since the sites aren't charging it, one $5 "card" should work forever. I haven't heard of any specific sites filtering WebCertificate's bank number--yet.)
They hope to be able to sayMeanwhile, they're doing this knowing full well, as has been pointed out, that those under 13 will just enter whatever age will allow them access to the servers. And probably selling ad space based on targeting an under 13 demographic, if the sales department misses the memo from legal.
Ah, but I was writing in Java!
OK, I take back that cast--what's sad is that I kept trying to think of even more twisted ways to do the same thing!
True, I didn't consider the case in which 1UPs were given for increasing score increments or that the score might not ever become a multiple of a fixed 1UP score!
(I always wished Galaga gave a new ship every 12000 points!)
Excellent! When the score's above 10000, the lives just keep on incremementing!
How 'bout (in increasing order of obscenity):
if ((score % 10000 == 0) && (score > 0))
lives++;
or
lives += ((score % 10000 == 0) && (score > 0)) ? 1 : 0;
or
lives += (int) ((score % 10000 == 0) && (score > 0));
He still didn't need to fly over, though!
Please tell me you used a math package for that and didn't do it by hand :>.
Considering each digit a symbol, you're right--please see the other reply. Thanks!
Itt'd actually be the same, assuming that base 4749935 implied that the whole of 4749934 occupied the units place (4749935^0) and was one symbol (sheesh, all the letters of all the human alphabets over time might give us enough :>). It would be much larger if each digit were a "symbol", i.e. if 4 were the units digit, 3 the 4749935's digit, the first 9 the 4749935^2's digit, etc.
:>.
It makes no difference what base we consider if we call the whole thing in the units place--I was asleep at the switch and gave that yahoo an IQ off the scale! Fortunately, IQ's defined as the ratio of mental age to chronological age. Thus, I'll assume that the person's about a billion years old
Must be in base 4749935.
ipchains -I input -s goatse.cx -j DENY -l
or . . .
add
127.0.0.1 goatse.cx
to [windows|winnt]\hosts
Unisys started enforcing the patent in '94--after GIF with LZW became entrenched on CIS. Thanks for the clarification--I can see how that reply could be read to mean I was saying GIF itself started in '94. You are correct that GIF+LZW predates '94 by about 6 years :>.