Nice troll (if it was meant to be one) - in which case I'll bite.
1. I haven't eaten a big mac in over a decade. I started boycotting McDonalds when they came out with pizza. And my BMI is normal, thank you very much.
2. Mountain Dew and Code Red: sorry, I'm from Canuckistan (Canada to you'all:-) Our Mountain Dew is prohibited by law from containing caffeine (only allowed in colas). Cod Red? Never tried it, never will, thanks.
3. Stuff gets piled up on the desk because of having to do more than one thing at a time. Has nothing to do with being a "messy slob." Human multitasking is much messier than a computer.
4. Have you even TRIED to use 2 mice. Its damn convenient if you're ambidextrous.
5. Trackballs suck.
If you weren't trolling, thanks for giving me a chance to clear up some misconceptions. If you were, well...
I've noticed my book-buying has gotten really serious over the last few months. I used to buy a foot or 2 of books a year - I now buy (and read) between half a foot and a foot a month. You can find some pretty decent bargains if you look. Picked up 3 anthologies by Stephen Coonts, for example, for less than $7 each (2 hard-cover).
You have to wonder if the submitters of articles like this are so imprecise in their code. If they are coding geeks at all.
Well, given as all these things degenerate into "Apple is dying", its probably from some Microsoftie,which would explain both the post and the code being such "works of (im)precision".
We're talking about Apple, not Microsoft, or the White House or FEMA.
Seriously, we always get these "what is the future of Apple" things. With Microsoft pushing their "7 flavours of Vista", I'd like to see a round-table on Microsofts future, with some serious consideration as to how they're going to survive now that varous governments (Mass.) have officially rejected their Office cash cow.
For those who don't "get it" - if your space is all that neat and orderly, you've got WAY too much time on your hands.
Remember, a clean desk is a sign of a sick mind.
Desk too cluttered to move your mouse enough? Plug in a second mouse. Move the first one in the little space between the keyboard and papers and junk, then, when it runs into a physical obstruction, move the other one with your other hand. A LOT faster than cleaning up your desk.
By 2000, tv viewing was down 27% in homes with a fucking DIAL-UP connection.
My dogs watch more TV than me.
I have watched a total of 2 hours of tv this summer (and that was a dvd). Better to get out of the house and visit friends and family, etc., than to waste time watching advertising and not-funny "comedies."
Heck, even slashdot is better than the average TV fare.
Junk that I haven't gotten around to putting in its place. Plus, Coffee machine, Franks "Red Hot" sauce, 2 cans of coffee (1 with coffee, 1 with dog food), clipboard for notes, spare parts for whatever is being worked on lately.
Junk that I haven't gotten around to putting in its place. A couple of servers, spare parts, and (look UNDERNEATH - AGGG!) all sorts of shit. Parts, parts, parts. Boxes. WTF - Muriatic Acid!!! Oh, right - only safe place for it. About 50 cards (video, audio, capture, etc).
Junk that I haven't gotten around to putting in its place. 21" monitor and spare box for "doing stuff". Photocopier.
Desk - Junk that I haven't gotten around to putting in its place, crt and box, etc.
But I can FIND stuff! Just last week I found some software I wrote last year that we were looking for last month (better late than never).
He's including the AC posters (so remove half the 13,545,370 posts), so divide by 2
to give 7.25M
He's including accounts that are no longer active (so remove 3/4 of the rest). This gives under 2m, but we'll say 2m
Now, there's a difference between the MEDIAN and the AVERAGE. 1 active poster will make more posts than 100 mostly-inactive posters, so lets take me as a median for an active poster - +6000 posts (nowhere near some of the others, but wtf) - 2m/6k = 333 active posters.
Lets face it, when half your posting is done by a core group of less than 400...
And on May 24, the director of psychiatric services, Dr. Donald Rodgers, wrote Hanaway stating he planned to issue an "order of committeeship" that would allow the Public Trustee to take over his affairs.
Amazingly, this is all legal.
The order was made June 6 and the Public Trustee immediately seized Hanaway's bank account -- without the consent of him or his family -- and began taking over all of his financial affairs. They took $900 out of a joint account shared by him and his wife Grace, even though some of the money came from Grace's pension cheques.
Weeeell.. the reporter left out a few facts.
Such as, the person who is deemed unfit has the right to ask for legal representation and a hearing before the judge. He had 2 weeks to avail himself of one or both options, and didn't.
Sounds to me like neither he, nor anyone around him, is really capable of managing his affairs, if he didn't do something so basic after being given a 2-week notice IN WRITING.
If the reporter had bothered to dig a bit further, or even to think for 2 seconds, he would have realized there is no story there...
Why bother reading the dupe, when I read the original article last December, and pointed out then that it would freeze.
Oil and water aren't all that miscible. Of course, you could add some soap, but then you wouldn't be able to take any pr0n, just clean pictures, so it wouldn't go over well with the local crowd.
When your iris is at its largerst aperture (at night, in dim lighting), your vision will be at its worst.
... so THATs why they keep the bars so dark. And here I was thinking it was the "beer-bottle-bottom glasses" affecting your vision and decision-making ability that makes you take home the ugly that gives you the morning-after coyote-ugly gnaw-yer-arm-off.
Guess Stallman was right - if they had called it Gnu/Linux, then there would have been no question about linux being a reference solely to the linux kernel, and thus not a generic term for an os. Do a googlefight:
linux:....174,000,000 gnu-linux:..7,760,000
li nux os:......49,600,000 linux kernel:..13,300,0 00
When people think of linux, they (mistakenly) think of an operating system, not the kernel. Linux is already generic, in that it no longer, for most people, means a kernel. You could replace the linux kernel with a different one with the ability to run the same binaries and most users wouldn't know the difference. They'd think they were still "running linux."
As for me, this has got me pissed off enough to make the switch to BSD in the next few weeks, both at home and at the office.
We don't know if LMI looked him up, or he approached LMI. What we DO know is:
letters were sent out BEFORE the trademark was granted (it won't be granted before next month at the earliest). Unethical? Sure doesn't pass the smell test... and the letters were NOT LMI's doing;
There is a possibility that, because of the more than 10 years that have elapsed since people started using the term "linux", it has in fact entered the vocabulary to mean any OS that contains the linux kernel, at least in the jurisdiction we're talking about (Australia);
People who may in fact have a legit right not to have to pay a licensing fee as per the above are being improperly pressured, before the trademark has even been granted, to rescind their acquired rights without full informed consent. All this does is create more problems down the road for LMI;
What would be the problem if linux were to become a generic term? Unix woud probably have faired better if that had happened (something to think about, maybe);
Trademark law allows you to name unrelated offerings with the same name without being considered infringing, so long as there is only a minimal possibiity of infringing, so even if the trademark is granted, you are still free to come out with linux brand peas and carrots, for example (it happened with Lexus Peas);
If linux becomes a generic term to describe any linuxy system, this actually becomes an advantage for linux. It means linux has arrived! The usual trade restraints still apply, in that you still can't name a product (say, for example, Windows XP) Gates Linux, because that would be a misrepresentation to the client; the misrepresentation would still be there even if there is no trademark protection - so what is the big deal, already?
If, say, Redomnd comes out with a Microsoft Linux, that isn't linuxy, and misleads the consumer as to its' actual contents, it still becomes actionable as consumer fraud - no trademark registration required.
What they should have done was the following:
Get the trademark paperwork completed
Send notice to all current vendors respecting their right to continue using the trademark as being grandfathered;
Offer to license the trademark to new vendors
Isn't this more reasonable than what was actually done, from a legal perspective? Instead, they'ves opened up a can of worms.
Mecode>
You, sir, are a genius.:)
That's *fucking* genius to you, sir;-)
Seriously, the reason I think this whole thing sucks is because of the method being employed.
Sending out warning letters before the trademark has even been awarded, and the now-questionable status of the trademark - after all, the term "linux" has been used for over a decade in Oz without any trademark protection, it can be argued that it is now a generic term for any OS that is "linux-y" (is there such a word? Maybe I should trademark it!).
Seems to me that the people who HAVE been using it have at least as much right to continue using it w/o a "licensing fee" than anyone filing 10 years after the fact, even if its' at Linux Marks' behest.
Also, what was so wrong about using linuxchix.com to host pr0n? Seems like not too much of a reach (pardon the pun), considering the target market...
record for most time spent in space away from fellow Russian Sergei Avdeyev. At 748 days in space
kind of brings tears to your eyes. My eyes would be tearing too, if I had to spend that much time in close proximity to someone whop hasn't had a bath or shower in how fucking long?
There are some records that are NOT meant to be advertised far and wide.
After 2 years with no bath, his hair must look like Yoda's (or Ted Koppel's). Eww. Or maybe all the cosmic rays caused it to fall ou[tt].
it could create a lot of pissed off customers who think they have an inferior version that they shelled out a large amount of cash for
Nah, Microsofts' business model has laways revolved around people shelling out cash for inferior products. I hear Bill Gates has standing orders that anyone who, for example forget to do an #include <rnd_buff_overflow.h > is mind-wiped, and their families "disappeared" back for 3 generations. Want proof? Try finding anyone who didn't include it - they're gone, and so are their parents, etc. Its like they never exised.
Just a though[tt]. Oh, oh - there's a couple of suits at the door...
Yes, its FUD. Software patents as a whole are BS, and, while I like a lot of what Groklaw does, I totally disagree with OSRMs' "linux potentially infringes 283 patents" as fud.
Solution:
Get rid of the "potentially" weasel-word.
If it infringes patents, say which ones. If there is infringement, it will be written around RSN.
Not saying how it infringes allows them to offer insurance against the possible infringement. If the infringement is removed, that kills off a potential source of revenue
OSRM was engaged in a bit of fud themselves with that study, and a lot of people pointed it out at the time.
As for Malcolm, just look at the facts:
the trademark hasn't been granted yet (only due in september)
the trademark can be contested, even after its granted, because other people have been using it for over a decade. They have a better claim.
He is trying, through letters, to get the people with a better claim to rescind their claims
the term has been used for more than a decade w/o trademark protection in Australia. He should know that there's a good chance that if anyone contests it, the term "linux" will be held to be generic for any os that contains - wait for it - linux!
Linux Mark screwed up in agreeing to use this guy,.
The other problem is that the current users have an established claim, which he's trying to get them to "acknowledge" as not being valid.
The term "linux" has been used for over a decade in Oz without anyone filing for trademark status. It may very well be argued that its generic now, say, for any distro that contains, well, any generic brand of linux (ouch - a self-referential argument that actually proves the point without recursing into outer space. That's gotta be a first:-)
Asking people to do this when you haven't even received the trademark yet (Its' only due in September) is sleazy...
Dude, think of it - the term "linux" has been used by people in Australia for over a decade, without any trademark ever being filed for.
A very good case could be made that its now a generic term.
Filing for trademark status, then sending out letters asking current users to acknowledge that they are using it under license, even before the trademark is granted, is bullshit.
Personal? Nope. Just that we've seen this sort of tactic elsewhere (make claim vis. linux, send out letters before claim is proven).
As for the patent issue, it would be a good thing is we stopped tip-toing around it and faced it directly, and got rid of the whole crackpot scheme of patenting software. Software is a written work. Copyright is the right modality for protecting it, not patents.
Jeremy's not helping change the "software patent" system - he's perpetuating it.
Slashdot Mirror
1. I haven't eaten a big mac in over a decade. I started boycotting McDonalds when they came out with pizza. And my BMI is normal, thank you very much.
2. Mountain Dew and Code Red: sorry, I'm from Canuckistan (Canada to you'all :-) Our Mountain Dew is prohibited by law from containing caffeine (only allowed in colas). Cod Red? Never tried it, never will, thanks.
3. Stuff gets piled up on the desk because of having to do more than one thing at a time. Has nothing to do with being a "messy slob." Human multitasking is much messier than a computer.
4. Have you even TRIED to use 2 mice. Its damn convenient if you're ambidextrous.
5. Trackballs suck.
If you weren't trolling, thanks for giving me a chance to clear up some misconceptions. If you were, well ...
I thought all he was doing today was "collaborations" - where he puts his name on the jacket and some other stiff does all the writing.
All his most recent stuff lacks the tightness of his early work, as well as smelling like he did an "#include std_techno_formula_plot.h"
I've noticed my book-buying has gotten really serious over the last few months. I used to buy a foot or 2 of books a year - I now buy (and read) between half a foot and a foot a month. You can find some pretty decent bargains if you look. Picked up 3 anthologies by Stephen Coonts, for example, for less than $7 each (2 hard-cover).
Gonna have to buy more bookcases soon.
Only time will tell, of course.
Seriously, we always get these "what is the future of Apple" things. With Microsoft pushing their "7 flavours of Vista", I'd like to see a round-table on Microsofts future, with some serious consideration as to how they're going to survive now that varous governments (Mass.) have officially rejected their Office cash cow.
Remember, a clean desk is a sign of a sick mind.
Desk too cluttered to move your mouse enough? Plug in a second mouse. Move the first one in the little space between the keyboard and papers and junk, then, when it runs into a physical obstruction, move the other one with your other hand. A LOT faster than cleaning up your desk.
By 2000, tv viewing was down 27% in homes with a fucking DIAL-UP connection.
My dogs watch more TV than me.
I have watched a total of 2 hours of tv this summer (and that was a dvd). Better to get out of the house and visit friends and family, etc., than to waste time watching advertising and not-funny "comedies."
Heck, even slashdot is better than the average TV fare.
- Junk that I haven't gotten around to putting in its place. Plus, Coffee machine, Franks "Red Hot" sauce, 2 cans of coffee (1 with coffee, 1 with dog food), clipboard for notes, spare parts for whatever is being worked on lately.
- Junk that I haven't gotten around to putting in its place. A couple of servers, spare parts, and (look UNDERNEATH - AGGG!) all sorts of shit. Parts, parts, parts. Boxes. WTF - Muriatic Acid!!! Oh, right - only safe place for it. About 50 cards (video, audio, capture, etc).
-
Junk that I haven't gotten around to putting in its place. 21" monitor and spare box for "doing stuff". Photocopier.
-
Desk - Junk that I haven't gotten around to putting in its place, crt and box, etc.
But I can FIND stuff! Just last week I found some software I wrote last year that we were looking for last month (better late than never).He's including the AC posters (so remove half the 13,545,370 posts), so divide by 2 to give 7.25M
He's including accounts that are no longer active (so remove 3/4 of the rest). This gives under 2m, but we'll say 2m
Now, there's a difference between the MEDIAN and the AVERAGE. 1 active poster will make more posts than 100 mostly-inactive posters, so lets take me as a median for an active poster - +6000 posts (nowhere near some of the others, but wtf) - 2m/6k = 333 active posters.
Lets face it, when half your posting is done by a core group of less than 400 ...
Such as, the person who is deemed unfit has the right to ask for legal representation and a hearing before the judge. He had 2 weeks to avail himself of one or both options, and didn't.
Sounds to me like neither he, nor anyone around him, is really capable of managing his affairs, if he didn't do something so basic after being given a 2-week notice IN WRITING.
If the reporter had bothered to dig a bit further, or even to think for 2 seconds, he would have realized there is no story there ...
Oil and water aren't all that miscible. Of course, you could add some soap, but then you wouldn't be able to take any pr0n, just clean pictures, so it wouldn't go over well with the local crowd.
As for me, this has got me pissed off enough to make the switch to BSD in the next few weeks, both at home and at the office.
- and we can let the alcoholics have the .xxxx TLD, (remember the xxxx rotgut from the Bugs Bunny - Yosemite Sam cartoons>).
And illiterates can have the .x TLD (they don't have to sign for anything, just make their mark).
So that leaves the double-x TLD. Isn't 2x the size of some fat people's clothes?
So, the assignments are as follows:
- letters were sent out BEFORE the trademark was granted (it won't be granted before next month at the earliest). Unethical? Sure doesn't pass the smell test
... and the letters were NOT LMI's doing;
- There is a possibility that, because of the more than 10 years that have elapsed since people started using the term "linux", it has in fact entered the vocabulary to mean any OS that contains the linux kernel, at least in the jurisdiction we're talking about (Australia);
- People who may in fact have a legit right not to have to pay a licensing fee as per the above are being improperly pressured, before the trademark has even been granted, to rescind their acquired rights without full informed consent. All this does is create more problems down the road for LMI;
- What would be the problem if linux were to become a generic term? Unix woud probably have faired better if that had happened (something to think about, maybe);
-
Trademark law allows you to name unrelated offerings with the same name without being considered infringing, so long as there is only a minimal possibiity of infringing, so even if the trademark is granted, you are still free to come out with linux brand peas and carrots, for example (it happened with Lexus Peas);
If linux becomes a generic term to describe any linuxy system, this actually becomes an advantage for linux. It means linux has arrived! The usual trade restraints still apply, in that you still can't name a product (say, for example, Windows XP) Gates Linux, because that would be a misrepresentation to the client; the misrepresentation would still be there even if there is no trademark protection - so what is the big deal, already?If, say, Redomnd comes out with a Microsoft Linux, that isn't linuxy, and misleads the consumer as to its' actual contents, it still becomes actionable as consumer fraud - no trademark registration required.
What they should have done was the following:
- Get the trademark paperwork completed
- Send notice to all current vendors respecting their right to continue using the trademark as being grandfathered;
- Offer to license the trademark to new vendors
Isn't this more reasonable than what was actually done, from a legal perspective? Instead, they'ves opened up a can of worms.Seriously, the reason I think this whole thing sucks is because of the method being employed.
Sending out warning letters before the trademark has even been awarded, and the now-questionable status of the trademark - after all, the term "linux" has been used for over a decade in Oz without any trademark protection, it can be argued that it is now a generic term for any OS that is "linux-y" (is there such a word? Maybe I should trademark it!).
Seems to me that the people who HAVE been using it have at least as much right to continue using it w/o a "licensing fee" than anyone filing 10 years after the fact, even if its' at Linux Marks' behest.
Also, what was so wrong about using linuxchix.com to host pr0n? Seems like not too much of a reach (pardon the pun), considering the target market ...
There are some records that are NOT meant to be advertised far and wide.
After 2 years with no bath, his hair must look like Yoda's (or Ted Koppel's). Eww. Or maybe all the cosmic rays caused it to fall ou[tt].
Just a though[tt]. Oh, oh - there's a couple of suits at the door ...
Don't worry - I don't just pick on scientologists. I'm an equal-opportunity superstition-basher, no double standard involved :-)
Solution:
- Get rid of the "potentially" weasel-word.
- If it infringes patents, say which ones. If there is infringement, it will be written around RSN.
- Not saying how it infringes allows them to offer insurance against the possible infringement. If the infringement is removed, that kills off a potential source of revenue
OSRM was engaged in a bit of fud themselves with that study, and a lot of people pointed it out at the time.As for Malcolm, just look at the facts:
- the trademark hasn't been granted yet (only due in september)
- the trademark can be contested, even after its granted, because other people have been using it for over a decade. They have a better claim.
- He is trying, through letters, to get the people with a better claim to rescind their claims
- the term has been used for more than a decade w/o trademark protection in Australia. He should know that there's a good chance that if anyone contests it, the term "linux" will be held to be generic for any os that contains - wait for it - linux!
Linux Mark screwed up in agreeing to use this guy,.The term "linux" has been used for over a decade in Oz without anyone filing for trademark status. It may very well be argued that its generic now, say, for any distro that contains, well, any generic brand of linux (ouch - a self-referential argument that actually proves the point without recursing into outer space. That's gotta be a first :-)
Asking people to do this when you haven't even received the trademark yet (Its' only due in September) is sleazy ...
A very good case could be made that its now a generic term.
Filing for trademark status, then sending out letters asking current users to acknowledge that they are using it under license, even before the trademark is granted, is bullshit.
Personal? Nope. Just that we've seen this sort of tactic elsewhere (make claim vis. linux, send out letters before claim is proven).
As for the patent issue, it would be a good thing is we stopped tip-toing around it and faced it directly, and got rid of the whole crackpot scheme of patenting software. Software is a written work. Copyright is the right modality for protecting it, not patents.
Jeremy's not helping change the "software patent" system - he's perpetuating it.