As an anti-spammer, I really hope that Hotmail has the cojones to follow through with this.
Being anti-spam as well as anti-MS-lock-in, I agree. I hope Hotmail does go through with this, because it will be a wakeup call for them. If they think they can dictate broken standards to the rest of us with their 10% of the market, they're wrong. I don't care one wit if I nor my customers can no longer communicate with anyone clueless enough to stick with Hotmail at this point.
Each of the established IMs have millions or tens of millions of subscribers
That's why GAIM is the answer. Everyone I've given it to loves it. GAIM is one of the most useful OSS apps available on Windows. It's handling of multiple IM protocols simultaneously easily trumps all other clients.
That sounds about right. Free trade is little more than a method of undermining local self-reliance. Any improvements in efficiency are skimmed off by intermediaries. Once you're dependant on getting your tomatos from half a world away, they can jack up the price to $0.01 less than it would cost you to start up your own tomato farm. Strong central governments with treaty powers and global bureaucracies like the WTO effectively become self-maintaining.
Because of Israel and this whole conflict, Palestinians for the first time in history will get their own country.
Hmm... this is so wrong, I'm not sure where to begin. You need a history lesson.
And by your own standards, isn't it possible that the US has decided that Israel is playing it "fairer"?
The US has decided that Israel is a productive weapons purchaser and a sufficient regional hegemon to keep the oil flowing from its neighbors. Nothing more, nothing less, and even the second part is questionable.
The fact that Israelis get so uppity about it, like they're God's chosen fucking people or something, makes us question whether giving them the ability to defend themselves was such a great idea. Israel obviously can't handle the responsibility of owning Apache helicopters and Patriot missiles and not using them.
Israel's handling of the Palestinians has been embarrassing. They can't even build a fence without trying to cheat the Palestinians out of more land and drawing more ire. The concept of "defense" is completely foreign to their "defense" force. IDF can't take incoming pebbles without returning fire on civilians, can't manage to keep explosive-laced terrorists from penetrating their "border", and can't restrain themselves from invading Palestinian homes for the sole purpose of seeing what's on the tele.
That having been said, things generally seem to be moving in the right direction. Lets hope the eyes of the world and 140,000 American "helpers" can convince all sides to develop clear borders and stay within them.
Good point. I was wondering the same thing about other highly religious groups. The article claims autism arose in the 50's, but could it have existed before then, disguised in monasteries or some such?
That disgusting overhead of which you speak is responsible for making sure you get files that aren't corrupted or tampered-with. What's better, getting a file in 30 minutes that is corrupt and worthless or getting a file in 35 minutes that isn't?
Searching for children who had not been exposed to mercury in vaccines -- the kind of population that scientists typically use as a "control" in experiments -- Olmsted scoured the Amish of Lancaster County, Penn., who refuse to immunize their infants. Given the national rate of autism, Olmsted calculated that there should be 130 autistics among the Amish. He found only four. One had been exposed to high levels of mercury from a power plant. The other three -- including one child adopted from outside the Amish community -- had received their vaccines.
Secretive work may not be the best strategy for web design, which has ridiculous competition. It's better to get the product out there to fend off competitors. But I have a feeling it could become a major component of software development, especially for more industry-specific niche applications.
Specifically, I've been thinking about how OSS is being embraced by major IT players, and how releasing proprietary software as open source can benefit the development process. The traditional view is that OSS projects should be open from the beginning, in order to cut down on development costs.
But the reality is that most successful projects were open sourced after they were already quite functional, only to be further enhanced by "the community". After a little polish by interested users, the original developer can then go on to support and even sell the project, in competition with the released, free version and those who contribute to it. In some cases (plex86/win4lin), the original free version can even be successfully "re-closed" and removed from the market even after having been released and improved by the community.
By doing most of the original work in-house, the original developer can gain a step-up on any later developers who contribute. This creates a barrier of entry for anyone who wants to support projects like OpenOffice.org and Mozilla, which sprang forth almost fully-formed from the heads of their creators.
Of course, keeping a tight grip on the evolution of development of the original project is necessary for this model to work to the original developer's advantage. This is why we see friction in projects such as Fedora. It's in RedHat's best interests to maintain control of the original project. But it's also in their best interest to have a group of outside developers making small contributions without paying them. Keeping control of the free version also allows you to kill or cripple the project when it comes time to move to a more proprietary model.
.torrent files contain a list of hashes for the pieces of a torrent. If you have lots of pieces, you need a big.torrent file to describe them all. Lots of pieces usually results in faster and more reliable downloads.
It was not like it was Reagan's idea, people had already made the association themselves.
Yeah, stupid people, maybe. Is that why all the imperial officers had british accents? Is that why the two sides were the "rebels" and the "empire"? Because episodes 3-6 were about fighting the communists? Give me a break...
You're right. That was a poorly chosen phrase on my part. I meant to express that it covered "All use that is governed by copyright" without listing them all, including distribution of derivative works.
No need to worry about that. Colleges aren't interested in intelligence these days. They're more interested in admitting a "wide variety" of students, along with the children of wealthy alumni, of course. These days, college has little to do with education.
Now, it's more of a vehicle for wealth distribution. The sociologists have come to the foregone conclusion that wide re-distribution wealth is more important than investing in the most intelligent members of society. I guess we'll just have to see what kinds of returns this gets us.
There was an interesting article, in New Scientist I think. Intel were the ones funding it. They basically said they could actually be building these things within a few years. These self-organizing particles could do things like pick up a battery and carry it around as a power source. They also said most of the work revolved around the algorithms to get basic autonomous units to self-organize.
It annoyed some of the nurses because it would ask them to do something, and if they were busy so they decided to ignore it, Waldo would remind them every minute or so.
I was wondering how they could find an economic basis for replacing such a low-paid, low-skill job with an expensive robot instead of having some intern do it. Now I understand. They're using robots to replace middle management. Sounds perfect.
Go back in time and be able to observe, only... no ability to interact with anyone either... it should be kinda like ghosts
The theory doesn't imply the mechanism that prevents time travellers from interfering with the past. In fact, relativity specifically requires that, if you travel across the solar system, you will end up in a different "time" than you started in. If time travel beyond that implied by relativity is possible at all, it should still be perfectly possible to travel into the past far enough away from the local cone of experience and interfere with whatever you want, no "ghosts" necessary.
Right. Everybody talks about these concepts in terms of normal-sized objects, but in reality we're talking about quantum phenomenon.
If you were to go back in time, you couldn't come anywhere close to anything you had experienced before, lest you disturb a single photon that goes on to cause a chain reaction that alters the history you remember.
I'm beginning to realize that popular science is a waste of time for that reason. In an article such as this, the author starts out with quotes from theorists explaining their ideas in the most grandiose fashion. If there were any context discussed, no one would care because the theory would just be another unremarkable explanation of what everybody already knew. The ones that make the most ridiculous claims get the widest distribution. This is okay for creating a lot of confusion and half-thought-out discussion on Slashdot, but it's hardly any way to distribute scientific ideas to lay people.
But we still remember the past. And, other than sleeping, historical experience is quite fluid and consistent. Unless our memories are erased upon alteration of the past, we would notice inconsistencies. At the very least, there would be gaps. You would be able to ask somebody "do you remember who the president was 30 years ago?" and nobody would remember. It would be noticable.
It's outside the scope of the GPL because it's outside the scope of copyright. No license can impose restrictions on the output of running a program.
If they could, all binaries would be owned by the people who wrote the compilers. Copyright is not viral in this sense. It's meant to protect your work from duplication, not the works of others or the trivialities of how people use your work.
the GPL doesn't have anything to do with it. The GPL is only relevant in the copying of software code and executable binaries not side effects unless those side effects are program code or executable binaries.
BZZT, wrong. The GPL governs acceptable use of copyrighted material. As others have pointed out, it specifically includes (and makes no restrictions on) "use" when that use is governed under copyright, and specifically does not include use that is outside the scope of copyright.
So, unless you're talking about trademark, there aren't any copyright issues in reproducing the output of GPLed programs.
Slashdot Mirror
As an anti-spammer, I really hope that Hotmail has the cojones to follow through with this.
Being anti-spam as well as anti-MS-lock-in, I agree. I hope Hotmail does go through with this, because it will be a wakeup call for them. If they think they can dictate broken standards to the rest of us with their 10% of the market, they're wrong. I don't care one wit if I nor my customers can no longer communicate with anyone clueless enough to stick with Hotmail at this point.
Each of the established IMs have millions or tens of millions of subscribers
That's why GAIM is the answer. Everyone I've given it to loves it. GAIM is one of the most useful OSS apps available on Windows. It's handling of multiple IM protocols simultaneously easily trumps all other clients.
Patents cost money. Prior art is free.
That sounds about right. Free trade is little more than a method of undermining local self-reliance. Any improvements in efficiency are skimmed off by intermediaries. Once you're dependant on getting your tomatos from half a world away, they can jack up the price to $0.01 less than it would cost you to start up your own tomato farm. Strong central governments with treaty powers and global bureaucracies like the WTO effectively become self-maintaining.
-Chaim Weizmann, first president of israel
Start reading.
They typed the article from their phone. We're just lucky it didn't look like this:
Nokia mv-ing 2 Lnx + joins Apl 2 challng Wndws 2
Because of Israel and this whole conflict, Palestinians for the first time in history will get their own country.
Hmm... this is so wrong, I'm not sure where to begin. You need a history lesson.
And by your own standards, isn't it possible that the US has decided that Israel is playing it "fairer"?
The US has decided that Israel is a productive weapons purchaser and a sufficient regional hegemon to keep the oil flowing from its neighbors. Nothing more, nothing less, and even the second part is questionable.
The fact that Israelis get so uppity about it, like they're God's chosen fucking people or something, makes us question whether giving them the ability to defend themselves was such a great idea. Israel obviously can't handle the responsibility of owning Apache helicopters and Patriot missiles and not using them.
Israel's handling of the Palestinians has been embarrassing. They can't even build a fence without trying to cheat the Palestinians out of more land and drawing more ire. The concept of "defense" is completely foreign to their "defense" force. IDF can't take incoming pebbles without returning fire on civilians, can't manage to keep explosive-laced terrorists from penetrating their "border", and can't restrain themselves from invading Palestinian homes for the sole purpose of seeing what's on the tele.
That having been said, things generally seem to be moving in the right direction. Lets hope the eyes of the world and 140,000 American "helpers" can convince all sides to develop clear borders and stay within them.
Good point. I was wondering the same thing about other highly religious groups. The article claims autism arose in the 50's, but could it have existed before then, disguised in monasteries or some such?
That disgusting overhead of which you speak is responsible for making sure you get files that aren't corrupted or tampered-with. What's better, getting a file in 30 minutes that is corrupt and worthless or getting a file in 35 minutes that isn't?
Perhaps because it's in their economic self-interests? I mean, seriously, why do you think governments do *anything*?
Why did we go to war in Iraq? Why did France oppose it? Why do we push for strict IP laws around the world? Why do we shun the Kyoto treaty?
Money makes de vorld go round...
Secretive work may not be the best strategy for web design, which has ridiculous competition. It's better to get the product out there to fend off competitors. But I have a feeling it could become a major component of software development, especially for more industry-specific niche applications.
Specifically, I've been thinking about how OSS is being embraced by major IT players, and how releasing proprietary software as open source can benefit the development process. The traditional view is that OSS projects should be open from the beginning, in order to cut down on development costs.
But the reality is that most successful projects were open sourced after they were already quite functional, only to be further enhanced by "the community". After a little polish by interested users, the original developer can then go on to support and even sell the project, in competition with the released, free version and those who contribute to it. In some cases (plex86/win4lin), the original free version can even be successfully "re-closed" and removed from the market even after having been released and improved by the community.
By doing most of the original work in-house, the original developer can gain a step-up on any later developers who contribute. This creates a barrier of entry for anyone who wants to support projects like OpenOffice.org and Mozilla, which sprang forth almost fully-formed from the heads of their creators.
Of course, keeping a tight grip on the evolution of development of the original project is necessary for this model to work to the original developer's advantage. This is why we see friction in projects such as Fedora. It's in RedHat's best interests to maintain control of the original project. But it's also in their best interest to have a group of outside developers making small contributions without paying them. Keeping control of the free version also allows you to kill or cripple the project when it comes time to move to a more proprietary model.
It should. There are wiretapping laws against this. It's no different than the phone company listening in on your conversations.
.torrent files contain a list of hashes for the pieces of a torrent. If you have lots of pieces, you need a big .torrent file to describe them all. Lots of pieces usually results in faster and more reliable downloads.
It was not like it was Reagan's idea, people had already made the association themselves.
Yeah, stupid people, maybe. Is that why all the imperial officers had british accents? Is that why the two sides were the "rebels" and the "empire"? Because episodes 3-6 were about fighting the communists? Give me a break...
You're right. That was a poorly chosen phrase on my part. I meant to express that it covered "All use that is governed by copyright" without listing them all, including distribution of derivative works.
No need to worry about that. Colleges aren't interested in intelligence these days. They're more interested in admitting a "wide variety" of students, along with the children of wealthy alumni, of course. These days, college has little to do with education.
Now, it's more of a vehicle for wealth distribution. The sociologists have come to the foregone conclusion that wide re-distribution wealth is more important than investing in the most intelligent members of society. I guess we'll just have to see what kinds of returns this gets us.
There was an interesting article, in New Scientist I think. Intel were the ones funding it. They basically said they could actually be building these things within a few years. These self-organizing particles could do things like pick up a battery and carry it around as a power source. They also said most of the work revolved around the algorithms to get basic autonomous units to self-organize.
It annoyed some of the nurses because it would ask them to do something, and if they were busy so they decided to ignore it, Waldo would remind them every minute or so.
I was wondering how they could find an economic basis for replacing such a low-paid, low-skill job with an expensive robot instead of having some intern do it. Now I understand. They're using robots to replace middle management. Sounds perfect.
Go back in time and be able to observe, only... no ability to interact with anyone either... it should be kinda like ghosts
The theory doesn't imply the mechanism that prevents time travellers from interfering with the past. In fact, relativity specifically requires that, if you travel across the solar system, you will end up in a different "time" than you started in. If time travel beyond that implied by relativity is possible at all, it should still be perfectly possible to travel into the past far enough away from the local cone of experience and interfere with whatever you want, no "ghosts" necessary.
Right. Everybody talks about these concepts in terms of normal-sized objects, but in reality we're talking about quantum phenomenon.
If you were to go back in time, you couldn't come anywhere close to anything you had experienced before, lest you disturb a single photon that goes on to cause a chain reaction that alters the history you remember.
I'm beginning to realize that popular science is a waste of time for that reason. In an article such as this, the author starts out with quotes from theorists explaining their ideas in the most grandiose fashion. If there were any context discussed, no one would care because the theory would just be another unremarkable explanation of what everybody already knew. The ones that make the most ridiculous claims get the widest distribution. This is okay for creating a lot of confusion and half-thought-out discussion on Slashdot, but it's hardly any way to distribute scientific ideas to lay people.
But we still remember the past. And, other than sleeping, historical experience is quite fluid and consistent. Unless our memories are erased upon alteration of the past, we would notice inconsistencies. At the very least, there would be gaps. You would be able to ask somebody "do you remember who the president was 30 years ago?" and nobody would remember. It would be noticable.
Nah, Twelve Monkeys. Still one of the best Bruce Willis flicks, and the first Brad Pitt role that wasn't ghey.
It's outside the scope of the GPL because it's outside the scope of copyright. No license can impose restrictions on the output of running a program.
If they could, all binaries would be owned by the people who wrote the compilers. Copyright is not viral in this sense. It's meant to protect your work from duplication, not the works of others or the trivialities of how people use your work.
the GPL doesn't have anything to do with it. The GPL is only relevant in the copying of software code and executable binaries not side effects unless those side effects are program code or executable binaries.
BZZT, wrong. The GPL governs acceptable use of copyrighted material. As others have pointed out, it specifically includes (and makes no restrictions on) "use" when that use is governed under copyright, and specifically does not include use that is outside the scope of copyright.
So, unless you're talking about trademark, there aren't any copyright issues in reproducing the output of GPLed programs.