I don't want my money to go toward providing porn to my kids or yours. Why do you want to use your money (yes I realize it is just as much yours as mine) to supply porn to my kids?
Porn isn't supplied to the kids or to the adults (in libraries I have seen which carried Playboy, for instance - though I don't consider Playboy porn - Hustler, OTOH...) - it is the access to it that is supplied.
If we allow the removal of access to porn, what's not to say we will remove the access to, for example, the text of the Constitution of the United States or the Bill of Rights?
While, yes, this is an alternative - it does have one glaring problem that all closed-source software has:
What happens when the company is no longer in business? Where do you get an upgrade?
Actually, leasing could be considered worse - IANAL, but I believe that if Company "A" with Leased Software "X" wend out of business, that software would have to be returned to the company that produced it (the developers), correct?
As his article pointed out, video games are a special market all their own, with different rules.
On the most part, this is correct - however, I think one of the ways to allow games to be open-source (and still be able to make money on them), is the last strategy ESR outlined - that of separating the source from the content (or something to that effect).
In essence - it could work almost like Ultima Online - give the game engine out as OS, but sell the content - the service for playing online, new quests, etc. (however UOL works - never played it myself). For a non-network game, OS the game engine (unless it is a next generation 3D "better-than-Quake Arena" style engine), but sell the content; the graphics, the maps, the sound files.
You could also sell out add-ons or other options to change the game (the best would be where the engine would be flexible enough to support almost any game you want - then you would just sell the data files - kinda like how there is a game engine to play Infocom adventures, but the data files all make a different game. I know this isn't a very good example, being that the Infocom games are text adventures, but you get my point). The advantage to this would be that the game would no longer be locked to the engine - your game might be OK with the bundled OS engine, but someone might take that version and make it better (add networking or better resolution rendering or something), and make it the wanted "platform" for your game, making others want to get the data for your game - thus allowing you to sell more product (the data). If you GPL'd the source, you could (in theory) get those changes back from the community and incorporate them in the next release or patch for others to use, which would make your product even better.
Electricity! That is for weaklings - my machine is based on a design by Charles Babbage - gears, levers and other mechanical implements - all driven by weights and chain. It operates and is programmed in octal, entered via a modified mechanical typewriter found in an antique shop near me. Display output is accomplished via a board made up of many small little flipping tiles, with one hell of a complicated gearing system to select row/column pairs to make a crude (but effective) bit-mapped display. Printing is done via a Guttenberg (sp) style machine, with automatic type setting. And lets not forget storage - a very large multi-tier cube (10 meters on a side!), individual bit cells filled with buckshot or left empty to represent bits!
Yeah - this is true. The first company I worked for as a programmer was a "mom-and-pop" style operation dealing in insurance management software. Anyhow, the president/owner of this company went from having a huge office and a new corvette every six months (or so it seemed), to losing the company and being a lowly paid programmer again.
I feel sorry for the guy - he had a dream die in his face (and I know it was a dream for him, after sitting many times in his office chatting about certain things). I can't say that is something I would want to happen to me. He was also kind and generous with his money (at least toward his employees). I got around $6000 worth of loans for computer equipment, interest free. Paid off every dime - even after I was laid off (during the end days).
Yes, there are destitute execs - you just don't see them (though, every once in a while, look at some of the bums in your city carefully - you may see an executive amongst them)...
What I find amzing about stories of schools still using old Apples is the fact that the Apples are still running in some fashion. I remember using Apples back in High School for programming, and the disk drives were always dying. The r/w head positioning was done by some crappy plastic mechanism that kept failing in some manner. Other times, memory problems would crop up. Still, these machines were pretty damn rugged, after being pounded on by who knows how many students, etc. The fact that many are still running after 10-15 years (possibly longer) is a testament to this...
Most products back then came with schematics (although I think Apple was the only company to include source to a portion of the system). I remember that my TRS-80 CoCo had schematics - so did my Monkey Wards TV. Just about all large consumer electronic items came with the schematics - if not the whole service manual (I gave my TV to Goodwill - something fried in it bad, and it wasn't worth getting fixed - gave them everything, including the service manual, so if they wanted to fix it)...
The TRS-80 Color Computer BASIC (burned in ROM) was done by M$ - sad to say it...
I loved my CoCo(s) - had the 2 and 3. I never gave a second thought to what BASIC they had in them or who it was by, but I was shocked when I realized who made it after many years (fired up an emulator, and sure 'nuff, there's the good ole M$ copyright).
Yeah! X10 is one of those things that gets "branded" in one way or another by various retail outlets - these places usually jack the price you pay way up as well (at least over the normal X10 prices). One place I have found that doesn't "brand" X10 is Fry's Electronics - they have a pretty good selection of stuff - alarms, remotes (including the keychain one), and computer interfaces (though the software is for Windoze).
But yeah, X10 can be found at other places - the modules tend to look the same across the brands, since only the brand is stamped on. One kind of module I haven't tried is the light switch one - replaces a normal light switch.
I already have the X10 house alarm system from RatShack - so already I have an extra lamp module (and a remote, too!) - this thing should be fun to play with...
Linux, GPL and the whole open source movement has to be the first refreshing thing I have come across since I first got involved with computers. I started with a lowly TRS-80 CoCo 2 with 16K of RAM and a tape drive, all hooked up to my TV. The first thing I did was crack open the book and start to code in BASIC. I had fun. Many of my friends had Apples, or VIC-20s, or even C=64s - but we would swap code, and try to get everything to work - learning a lot in the process. This was over 10 years ago...
Things have changed a lot - M$ seems to dominate all kinds of areas - and are moving quick to dominate others. It seems bleak, and unispiring - everyone using M$ products for everything. Doing development on Windows requires a small fortune, so the kid that wants to code is left out - he has to beg his parents (or parent, these days) to spend $99.00 for the LE of VB or something - then he can't even compile anything. So maybe he plays around with QBASIC - or, if he is lucky - he notices gcc (djgpp) on the net...
The whole movement is about teaching - giving, not taking away. M$ represents greed - and people are seeing it. I see it, and I am doing everything to break away - one day I will be successful (my job is holding me back right now - but I am trying to change that). I want the good feelings I had when I was a kid - the trading of source, trying to get it to run properly - learning.
Linux, GPL and the OS movement is about that - don't you forget it...
And before it is to late - I recommend that you look for another job, while you still can...
I believe it protects the "right to bear arms" - not the right to a fire-arm. At the time the BofR was written, normal citizen could and did own some pretty high-power arms - everything from hand guns, up to and including cannon, mines, etc.
So, yes - I would have to say I should be allowed to own an ICBM or a ton of C-4 if I want. The crime shouldn't be in the owning of said arms, but in the use of (ie, owning C-4 would be legal, using it to blow someone's house up would, however, be against the law)...
Re:Putting a resume on your web page
on
Feature:Geek Jobs
·
· Score: 0
Pretty fuckin' cool! I should've thought of this a long time ago...
I agree that not everything should have an IP - a toaster doesn't make sense, an oven doesn't either - nor does a dishwasher.
A refrigerator, however, does - I mean, you could keep inventory of the food inside, and know when and how much stuff to buy (just yesterday I bought a half gallon of milk, when we already had a full half gallon in the fridge - and both containers expire in two days - if I had the IP fridge, I wouldn't have had this problem) by scanning in the barcodes as you put stuff in. When things get low, send the list to the internet grocery store, and have the groceries delivered. Sounds convenient and useful. Such a fridge exists, but I won't be getting one anytime soon (price, and I live in an apartment with a small fridge - this thing is like a side by side). But maybe in the future...
IIRC, a katana is a reed "sword" - that is, a "sword" shaped out of reeds - it actually doesn't look like a sword, more like a short lance - it is conical in shape, the reeds coming to a point at the tip, and spread out about a hand width or so at the hilt. If what I have described is _not_ a katana, then I apologize - but I believe this is what they whipped the boy with.
These "swords" are mainly used as practice swords, but they are pretty effective even when used as real weapons. I have seen them used in SCA tourneys (along with other type practice weapons), and they are heavy and hard hitting. Like I said before - they can BREAK bones.
Is this fair for such a crime? Maybe if he was whipped with a belt - that would be ok. Maybe even a leather flail? But in your opinion, you would have him hit with something that amounts to board, or a pole. Why not just shoot him in stomach and let him bleed to death while spitting on him?
Yeah, just what I want - a national government funded telivision system. Not only would the US Gov't be able to listen to everything you do or say (read: Echelon), but they could also show you everything you should say or do.
"They also plan to develop robots with motors and problem-detecting sensors."
Did anyone notice the above line from the Salon article? I guess what I am getting at is that this line seems to indicate that the devices the article is about aren't robots - how do you have a robot if it doesn't have motors or sensors? Most definitions of a true robot include a clause relating to the ability of the device in question to be able to sense as well as change its environment - without motors or sensors, how is it supposed to do this?
No, this kid was not whipped - he was caned with a katana.
Have you ever felt/lifted a katana? These things can break bones.
Would you sanction a law that said someone convicted of graffiti would be sentenced to be beat with a board?
That kid did wrong to graffiti a building in a foreign country - he deserved punishment - maybe a hefty fine and cleanup duty for a week or so - at his expense. A brutal beating? No.
On your first comment - yeah, kids will find a way. When I was younger cruising BBS's it was easy for me to get at the bomb making info and nudie pics - did I blow up my school or become a serial rapist? Of course not. I became a coder instead...
Wicca harmful? I dare say Xtianity is much more harmful than Wicca - but I wouldn't want to deny anyone access or affiliation with either...
The whole idea sounds pretty cool - I remember a company back in the 80's that was making cases like this for XTs and monitors - I guess a company still is (www.woodcomputers.com).
If you are going with an all wood case, I would line it with thin copper or steel sheet (heck, aluminium foil would prob. be ok), and solder at the edges, or use metallic tape. I would forget the fabric stuff. Build the case so that the back side/bottom is a normal metal case (with the front, top and sides being wood), and use "L" angle aluminium to screw the wood down to the PC chassis to complete the shielding.
Another thing to consider is to just "fake" it - bond/screw the wood to the metal case - in other words, build a facade case around a normal metal/plastic one - shielding would be taken care of by the regular case. Unless this is all to impress any woodworking buddies or something...
Why do you think Unix sucks? Why do you think Windows (95/98/NT - be specific) is better?
Please give examples and reasons to back up your opinion...
Regarding your statement about your coworker smashing the machines, personally I think your coworker is a total dick - I mean, he could have given the machines to Goodwill, an retirement home, or heck - to the high school kids! - people who could have used them constructively.
Actually, if your coworker had half a brain he could have built a pretty good Beowulf system out of those boxes...
Re:Dead, was it ever alive?
on
DIVX is dead
·
· Score: 1
I guess I am the only one who gets your point - it would be nice to see a game that didn't take up several CD's - just one or two DVDs.
What I am waiting for is the the ability to record to DVD - I know about the DVD-RAM, and the other recordable DVD format (incompatible with e.o.) - I don't think they will play on a normal DVD player (the one you hook to your TV), right? Of course, hopefully at some point I can set up a computer on my TV - and be done with it (no more tape player, no more VCR).
I just want to be able to record movies, etc. - to DVD - and transfer the episodes of X-Files I have over as well (my GF and I have ALL of the episodes on tape - unfortunately in EP mode, but we didn't have a choice - still fun to watch). That would take an MPEG2 encoder (hardware), as well as the DVD recorder - anyone know prices/where I can get these?
Slashdot Mirror
I don't want my money to go toward providing porn to my kids or yours. Why do you want to use your money (yes I realize it is just as much yours as mine) to supply porn to my kids?
Porn isn't supplied to the kids or to the adults (in libraries I have seen which carried Playboy, for instance - though I don't consider Playboy porn - Hustler, OTOH...) - it is the access to it that is supplied.
If we allow the removal of access to porn, what's not to say we will remove the access to, for example, the text of the Constitution of the United States or the Bill of Rights?
While, yes, this is an alternative - it does have one glaring problem that all closed-source software has:
What happens when the company is no longer in business? Where do you get an upgrade?
Actually, leasing could be considered worse - IANAL, but I believe that if Company "A" with Leased Software "X" wend out of business, that software would have to be returned to the company that produced it (the developers), correct?
As his article pointed out, video games are a special market all their own, with different rules.
On the most part, this is correct - however, I think one of the ways to allow games to be open-source (and still be able to make money on them), is the last strategy ESR outlined - that of separating the source from the content (or something to that effect).
In essence - it could work almost like Ultima Online - give the game engine out as OS, but sell the content - the service for playing online, new quests, etc. (however UOL works - never played it myself). For a non-network game, OS the game engine (unless it is a next generation 3D "better-than-Quake Arena" style engine), but sell the content; the graphics, the maps, the sound files.
You could also sell out add-ons or other options to change the game (the best would be where the engine would be flexible enough to support almost any game you want - then you would just sell the data files - kinda like how there is a game engine to play Infocom adventures, but the data files all make a different game. I know this isn't a very good example, being that the Infocom games are text adventures, but you get my point). The advantage to this would be that the game would no longer be locked to the engine - your game might be OK with the bundled OS engine, but someone might take that version and make it better (add networking or better resolution rendering or something), and make it the wanted "platform" for your game, making others want to get the data for your game - thus allowing you to sell more product (the data). If you GPL'd the source, you could (in theory) get those changes back from the community and incorporate them in the next release or patch for others to use, which would make your product even better.
Does this sound feasible to anyone?
Electricity! That is for weaklings - my machine is based on a design by Charles Babbage - gears, levers and other mechanical implements - all driven by weights and chain. It operates and is programmed in octal, entered via a modified mechanical typewriter found in an antique shop near me. Display output is accomplished via a board made up of many small little flipping tiles, with one hell of a complicated gearing system to select row/column pairs to make a crude (but effective) bit-mapped display. Printing is done via a Guttenberg (sp) style machine, with automatic type setting. And lets not forget storage - a very large multi-tier cube (10 meters on a side!), individual bit cells filled with buckshot or left empty to represent bits!
Yeah - this is true. The first company I worked for as a programmer was a "mom-and-pop" style operation dealing in insurance management software. Anyhow, the president/owner of this company went from having a huge office and a new corvette every six months (or so it seemed), to losing the company and being a lowly paid programmer again.
I feel sorry for the guy - he had a dream die in his face (and I know it was a dream for him, after sitting many times in his office chatting about certain things). I can't say that is something I would want to happen to me. He was also kind and generous with his money (at least toward his employees). I got around $6000 worth of loans for computer equipment, interest free. Paid off every dime - even after I was laid off (during the end days).
Yes, there are destitute execs - you just don't see them (though, every once in a while, look at some of the bums in your city carefully - you may see an executive amongst them)...
What I find amzing about stories of schools still using old Apples is the fact that the Apples are still running in some fashion. I remember using Apples back in High School for programming, and the disk drives were always dying. The r/w head positioning was done by some crappy plastic mechanism that kept failing in some manner. Other times, memory problems would crop up. Still, these machines were pretty damn rugged, after being pounded on by who knows how many students, etc. The fact that many are still running after 10-15 years (possibly longer) is a testament to this...
Most products back then came with schematics (although I think Apple was the only company to include source to a portion of the system). I remember that my TRS-80 CoCo had schematics - so did my Monkey Wards TV. Just about all large consumer electronic items came with the schematics - if not the whole service manual (I gave my TV to Goodwill - something fried in it bad, and it wasn't worth getting fixed - gave them everything, including the service manual, so if they wanted to fix it)...
The TRS-80 Color Computer BASIC (burned in ROM) was done by M$ - sad to say it...
I loved my CoCo(s) - had the 2 and 3. I never gave a second thought to what BASIC they had in them or who it was by, but I was shocked when I realized who made it after many years (fired up an emulator, and sure 'nuff, there's the good ole M$ copyright).
Makes me feel rotten.
Yeah! X10 is one of those things that gets "branded" in one way or another by various retail outlets - these places usually jack the price you pay way up as well (at least over the normal X10 prices). One place I have found that doesn't "brand" X10 is Fry's Electronics - they have a pretty good selection of stuff - alarms, remotes (including the keychain one), and computer interfaces (though the software is for Windoze).
But yeah, X10 can be found at other places - the modules tend to look the same across the brands, since only the brand is stamped on. One kind of module I haven't tried is the light switch one - replaces a normal light switch.
I already have the X10 house alarm system from RatShack - so already I have an extra lamp module (and a remote, too!) - this thing should be fun to play with...
I realize you are probably a troll, but...
Linux, GPL and the whole open source movement has to be the first refreshing thing I have come across since I first got involved with computers. I started with a lowly TRS-80 CoCo 2 with 16K of RAM and a tape drive, all hooked up to my TV. The first thing I did was crack open the book and start to code in BASIC. I had fun. Many of my friends had Apples, or VIC-20s, or even C=64s - but we would swap code, and try to get everything to work - learning a lot in the process. This was over 10 years ago...
Things have changed a lot - M$ seems to dominate all kinds of areas - and are moving quick to dominate others. It seems bleak, and unispiring - everyone using M$ products for everything. Doing development on Windows requires a small fortune, so the kid that wants to code is left out - he has to beg his parents (or parent, these days) to spend $99.00 for the LE of VB or something - then he can't even compile anything. So maybe he plays around with QBASIC - or, if he is lucky - he notices gcc (djgpp) on the net...
The whole movement is about teaching - giving, not taking away. M$ represents greed - and people are seeing it. I see it, and I am doing everything to break away - one day I will be successful (my job is holding me back right now - but I am trying to change that). I want the good feelings I had when I was a kid - the trading of source, trying to get it to run properly - learning.
Linux, GPL and the OS movement is about that - don't you forget it...
And before it is to late - I recommend that you look for another job, while you still can...
I believe it protects the "right to bear arms" - not the right to a fire-arm. At the time the BofR was written, normal citizen could and did own some pretty high-power arms - everything from hand guns, up to and including cannon, mines, etc.
So, yes - I would have to say I should be allowed to own an ICBM or a ton of C-4 if I want. The crime shouldn't be in the owning of said arms, but in the use of (ie, owning C-4 would be legal, using it to blow someone's house up would, however, be against the law)...
Pretty fuckin' cool! I should've thought of this a long time ago...
I agree that not everything should have an IP - a toaster doesn't make sense, an oven doesn't either - nor does a dishwasher.
A refrigerator, however, does - I mean, you could keep inventory of the food inside, and know when and how much stuff to buy (just yesterday I bought a half gallon of milk, when we already had a full half gallon in the fridge - and both containers expire in two days - if I had the IP fridge, I wouldn't have had this problem) by scanning in the barcodes as you put stuff in. When things get low, send the list to the internet grocery store, and have the groceries delivered. Sounds convenient and useful. Such a fridge exists, but I won't be getting one anytime soon (price, and I live in an apartment with a small fridge - this thing is like a side by side). But maybe in the future...
Not that it matters much anymore...
IIRC, a katana is a reed "sword" - that is, a "sword" shaped out of reeds - it actually doesn't look like a sword, more like a short lance - it is conical in shape, the reeds coming to a point at the tip, and spread out about a hand width or so at the hilt. If what I have described is _not_ a katana, then I apologize - but I believe this is what they whipped the boy with.
These "swords" are mainly used as practice swords, but they are pretty effective even when used as real weapons. I have seen them used in SCA tourneys (along with other type practice weapons), and they are heavy and hard hitting. Like I said before - they can BREAK bones.
Is this fair for such a crime? Maybe if he was whipped with a belt - that would be ok. Maybe even a leather flail? But in your opinion, you would have him hit with something that amounts to board, or a pole. Why not just shoot him in stomach and let him bleed to death while spitting on him?
Go back to your hole.
Exactly! Piss on 'em!
Yeah, just what I want - a national government funded telivision system. Not only would the US Gov't be able to listen to everything you do or say (read: Echelon), but they could also show you everything you should say or do.
Shades of Nazism?
"They also plan to develop robots with motors and problem-detecting sensors."
Did anyone notice the above line from the Salon article? I guess what I am getting at is that this line seems to indicate that the devices the article is about aren't robots - how do you have a robot if it doesn't have motors or sensors? Most definitions of a true robot include a clause relating to the ability of the device in question to be able to sense as well as change its environment - without motors or sensors, how is it supposed to do this?
No, this kid was not whipped - he was caned with a katana.
Have you ever felt/lifted a katana? These things can break bones.
Would you sanction a law that said someone convicted of graffiti would be sentenced to be beat with a board?
That kid did wrong to graffiti a building in a foreign country - he deserved punishment - maybe a hefty fine and cleanup duty for a week or so - at his expense. A brutal beating? No.
Not "a child is too young".
That should be "a person is too immature" - after all, there are mature kids - and immature adults...
On your first comment - yeah, kids will find a way. When I was younger cruising BBS's it was easy for me to get at the bomb making info and nudie pics - did I blow up my school or become a serial rapist? Of course not. I became a coder instead...
Wicca harmful? I dare say Xtianity is much more harmful than Wicca - but I wouldn't want to deny anyone access or affiliation with either...
That's fuckin' scary! I say execute the bastards! Get them out of the gene pool!
There used to be a partial game out there called Fragg Island that was written in Java - took forever to load, but rendered fast...
The whole idea sounds pretty cool - I remember a company back in the 80's that was making cases like this for XTs and monitors - I guess a company still is (www.woodcomputers.com).
If you are going with an all wood case, I would line it with thin copper or steel sheet (heck, aluminium foil would prob. be ok), and solder at the edges, or use metallic tape. I would forget the fabric stuff. Build the case so that the back side/bottom is a normal metal case (with the front, top and sides being wood), and use "L" angle aluminium to screw the wood down to the PC chassis to complete the shielding.
Another thing to consider is to just "fake" it - bond/screw the wood to the metal case - in other words, build a facade case around a normal metal/plastic one - shielding would be taken care of by the regular case. Unless this is all to impress any woodworking buddies or something...
Why do you think Unix sucks? Why do you think Windows (95/98/NT - be specific) is better?
Please give examples and reasons to back up your opinion...
Regarding your statement about your coworker smashing the machines, personally I think your coworker is a total dick - I mean, he could have given the machines to Goodwill, an retirement home, or heck - to the high school kids! - people who could have used them constructively.
Actually, if your coworker had half a brain he could have built a pretty good Beowulf system out of those boxes...
I guess I am the only one who gets your point - it would be nice to see a game that didn't take up several CD's - just one or two DVDs.
What I am waiting for is the the ability to record to DVD - I know about the DVD-RAM, and the other recordable DVD format (incompatible with e.o.) - I don't think they will play on a normal DVD player (the one you hook to your TV), right? Of course, hopefully at some point I can set up a computer on my TV - and be done with it (no more tape player, no more VCR).
I just want to be able to record movies, etc. - to DVD - and transfer the episodes of X-Files I have over as well (my GF and I have ALL of the episodes on tape - unfortunately in EP mode, but we didn't have a choice - still fun to watch). That would take an MPEG2 encoder (hardware), as well as the DVD recorder - anyone know prices/where I can get these?
Until then, it's no DVD.