What was he expecting -- "Schindler's List" with dinosaurs? The Jurassic park series is simply the heir apparent to Godzilla movies. Lots of action, cool FX, fun to watch, fairly easy to forget. You know what you're getting. The preview says it all -- which trailer did Jon watch? -----------------------
Nikita SMTP, a server that was just minding its own business and relaying mail for some entertainment-minded businessmen, was apprehended on Friday in what appears to be an attempt to restrict freedom of sp(eech)(am). The server had just completed delivering a short presentation to 2,000,000 eager recipients about HOT NUDES AWAITING when agents from Verizon ruthlessly unplugged its ethernet cable and took it to a secure area for questioning.
No one has had contact with Nikita SMTP since that time, and his relatives (among them Alexei POP, who said he was feeling a little nervous himself) and friends all have made numerous attempts to ping him. But timouts expired on all of those attempts, it is reported now.
It is clear we need to free our little Nikita as he was clearly exercising his right to do whatever he wanted as guaranteed by a vague understanding of the Constitution. Protests will be scheduled to march on Verizon's headquarters, unless Verizon promises to think about the possibility of bringing up a motion to free Nikita at their next stockholders' meeting. In that case, we'll consider it a done deal and go home quietly. -----------------------
"Microsoft did not commingle software code specific to Web browsing with software code used for other purposes in the same files," the company said. "Rather, in organizing software code into files, Microsoft placed related functions close to one another" to benefit users.
In other words, Microsoft tied browsing functions so deeply into the OS that they had an excuse to put them together. This was the heart of their argument years back when they claimed that the browser was integral to the OS and couldn't be removed. Nice to see they are reviving an old classic. -----------------------
Someone faking their identity on an internet message board? I can't believe it! Is nothing sacred?! You don't know who your reading anymore.
Ahh, screw it, I don't want to deal with this. I'm enjoying this AOL chat room much more -- I think I'll ask Sexygrrl69 what she thinks about those jerks at LinuxToday. -----------------------
Currently, I use Win2K with Media Studio Pro. Why? For me, this is the best balance of cost, performance, maintenance, and features. A Mac G4 with Final Cut Pro would be the best (outside of using some really big-$$$ systems) in terms of features and maintenance, but that would be far more expensive than my PIII 1GHz.
I suspect that I could get great performance out of Linux with almost no software cost, but I haven't the time to put in getting a Linux system up, tweaked, and hardware configured right now. I'd rather spend the time doing video work (that's why I'd like a custom Linux distro with all the apps, tools, drivers and specialized config scripts ready to go to save this time).
If you know Linux really well, go for it. There's a NLE package called Broadcast2000 that sounds pretty good (never tried it). I think a good start would be if there were a web site that people with expertise in Linux and NLE could share their knowledge. -----------------------
It's pretty clear that this application of Linux is limited to inside the Dreamworks "bubble". It's the OS for custom software written for a machine with a specific purpose -- far different from home/office desktops.
So how to break out of the bubble? Look at how it broke into the bubble in the first place. You see, it's still all about the killer app. In this case, the animation tools are the killer app, because they run faster under linux and the workstations are cheaper, both of which translate into more productivity, which is critical in the production of a movie. Nobody cares if the machine can't do any other task (e-mail, browsing, spreadsheets, etc). The killer app is the one thing that makes it go.
This presents an opportunity for linux. Why are people so loyal to Macs? For some it's the Steve Jobs cult of personality, but for most Mac people it is becuase it is the finest tool for their job. They are willing to put up with expensive hardware, less of a software selection, Steve Jobs ego, and all the other downsides for one simple reason -- the core thing they do, their bread and butter, the killer app for them, is best on a Mac. Graphic design and desktop publishing are good examples of this.
So how does this present an opportunity for Linux? Make a workstation of some kind, for whatever market. Let's pick desktop video. As a videographer myself, I had at one time a HD bay and two hard drives on my computer. One was for desktop video, one was for programming, databases, games, e-mail, browsing, word processing, etc. The deskop video config had nothing else -- I kept it as clean as possible for stability and performance. And this is not uncommon. My solution was a poor-man's fix for not buying a separate PC. I think most videographers would prefer a wholly separate workstation dedicated to just video. So if a bunch of Linux guys got together and created the killer desktop video solution, at a price comparable (ideally better) than a windows one, a lot of people would buy them (relatively speaking).
This would be a good model for Linux development. Don't develop just an app. Develop an environment. To the end user, the environment is not the OS, but the true working space. Create a linux environment for digital video editing. Or CAD. Or whatever else people buy a system to do almost exclusively. Just like Dreamworks created a custom environment exclusively for animation. In these markets, software is a big part of the cost, usually more than the hardware itself. Trust me, these people will see the benefits of free software.
No, it doesn't have the thrill of taking on the giant Microsoft in the home or general purpose office desktop. But remember a few things: 1) linux can at least get to a critical mass where it sustains itself without needing to dramatically increase the number of users, and 2) "normal" (non-techie) people would be getting exposure to linux, and 3) what kind of system are these people going to recommend to friends? I have personally kept at least a half dozen people from joining or staying with AOL by telling them their alternatives. Over time, word-of-mouth works.
Just make the environment good. Make it rock solid -- for people in these type of workstation markets, reliability is huge, and linux has a big advantage. Make it a killer -- if it's desktop video, for instance, make it something that when I see it, I *gotta* have it, because it will work better and faster than any other desktop video workstation at twice it's price. -----------------------
Why do they need to vigorously defend their position in a community that gets to choose who they point their DNS servers at?
Their policy seems to be "We're not the only game in town, but we should be." Competition is one of the best principles of a free economy/society. Their position that "competition causes instability" is far stupider than any FUD Microsoft or any other monopolist would come up with. Think of it - "windows should be the only desktop OS because it would cause instability to have incompatible OS's proliferating among PC users". How fast would the anti-trust lawyers be on that?
Their argument is weak. If they could force admins to point their DNS at them or shut down "rogue" DNS for.com/.net/.org/.whatever else they decide to sell, they would. The fact that they cannot, that there is freedom to operate a whole new.com root DNS outside of their control, that anyone who does not feel that ICANN is playing fair can use that DNS -- this is the dangerous "instability" that they speak of. Democracy is chaotic; tyranny is usually more ordered.
-----------------------
Re:WebVan died from bad management
on
Webvan Out Of Gas
·
· Score: 2
For instance, they never gave their Bay Area delivery service time to become profitable before expanding into other areas.
That's exactly it. Webvan had a great service going. The marketing was good, the site was pretty good too.
But greed got in the way. They wanted to be the Microsoft of grocery delivery, and way too fast.
For instance, here in chicago, if one were to open a webvan-type service, but limit it to, say downtown and Lincoln Park (a population-dense, yuppie-laden, fashionable neighborhood of a few square miles), one could do a ton of business in a small area, target your marketing through far less expensive local means, and probably turn a profit fairly quickly.
But that means actually starting a business as 99.99% of businesses start -- small, and grow naturally.
-----------------------
Microsoft prides itself on making the user experience "easy" and "user-friendly". Usually this means making it simple to change preferences. Even that stupid paper clip was easy to banish permananently.
But what should raise the red flag is when they make something hard to do. Like set your default camera software to Kodak. Microsoft's goal is to make everything easy. So if it's hard to do, it's very likely that this is intentional. -----------------------
Reminds me of "Rain on the Scarecrow"
on
Dot-com Liquidator
·
· Score: 5
By John Mellencamp:
The crops we grew last summer weren't enough to pay the loans
Couldn't buy the seed to plant this spring and the Farmers Bank foreclosed
Called my old friend Schepman up to auction off the land
He said John it's just my job and I hope you understand
Hey calling it your job ol' hoss sure don't make it right
But if you want me to I'll say a prayer for your soul tonight
One of Microsoft's biggest selling points for its server-based stuff is the "ease of configuration". That just means that any goofball can use the interface, and get at most or all of the options (usually before they know what those options actually do).
The point is, that Microsoft's interface is pretty interactive. Most sysadmin types that I know (windows or nix) prefer text-based interfaces because of the control, flexibility, and the ability to use scripts to make life easier. As a MS SQL Server admin I rarely use the GUI for anything but the simplest tasks.
The downside of the text interface is it's lack of interactivity and visual representation. In reality, there's no reason why one couldn't make the experience adventure-like. You could have verbosity levels, which would be great for novices and training situations; once you advanced in ability, you could turn down the verbosity (or it could automatically turn it down based on its own assessment of your skills as an admin). Unfortunately, everyone is having such a blast making the same Infocom jokes that they don't bother to realize that this might be a useful idea.
Rest assured, Bill Gates is not spending his time making campy "for the fun of it" user interfaces. This infocom thing might be a funny idea, but think of the CTO who reads about ESR and his thoughts on open source, and starts to consider implementing it, then sees this is how ESR spends his time. It only re-inforces the non-professional image that Microsoft is trying to portray of Open Source.
Speaking as someone under Microsoft's thumb, I hate it at times. And yet, every new release of their software has some truly amazingly useful features that sell the product very well. I get a kick out of this fun stuff, but it ain't gonna sell with my boss, nor his boss, nor his boss, the CTO.
ESR, sorry man, but if you're serious, it's time to change. You can't beat Bill Gates with geek subculture. And while you're doing that, Gates' army is charging, on a mission. -----------------------
Just take that baseball card out of the fan blades... -----------------------
A little fable about computer cases...
on
Hardwoodware
·
· Score: 3
Once upon a time there were three little programmers. Each set about to make a case for their computer to live in, so that all their important open source software (or was that free software? I forget, never mind) would have a safe home. The first little programmer made his computer case from straw.
But when Mr. Badday.mpg threw a temper tantrum in the next cube, he huffed and he puffed and came over and kicked the little programmer's computer, and the straw case crumbled and the little programmer's work was all lost - oh, no! And Mr. Badday.mpg was moved to another cube by a sweet little HR princess. And this cube was farther away from the boss who didn't like to hear temper tantrums, but right next to the second little programmer.
The next little programmer was a little smarter. In addition to not using goto's every ten lines in his code, he built his computer case out of wood. But when the Mr Badday.mpg threw another, bigger temper tantrum in his new cube, he huffed and he puffed and he came next door and picked up the little programmer's wood-case computer and smashed it against the wall. Oh no, oh no! There was a hole in the drywall and the computer was ruined! And the little programmer had to download all his Britney Spears mp3's again! And Mr Badday.mpg was moved to another floor, so that his rage could be ignored by management. Of course, he wound up next to our third programmer.
Now, this little programmer was smarter than all the rest. He built his computer case out of bricks (he was a big fan of the song "Brick House" by the Commodores; also "Word Up" by Cameo, but I digress). Oh, his computer case was a strong one! And when Mr. Badday.mpg blew not one, not two, but three full gaskets one Monday morning (sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays!), he came over to the third little programmer's cube because he had destroyed his own PC but had lots of nasty old rage left in him. He kicked and kicked the brick PC, but it didn't budge. He took his keyboard and smashed it on the brick PC, all the while the little programmer's work was safe. So Mr. Badday.mpg bent over and grasped the brick PC, but when he tried to lift it, he threw out his back and had to go on workman's comp.
Epilogue:
The brick PC was safe after its beating, and the third little programmer finished his open-source Linux DVD player, but then Big Bad Mr. Jack Valenti had the Army Corps of Engineers dynamite the brick PC. Sorry, that's how these things end up. In real life, the wolf always wins. -----------------------
Finally, Coughenour rejected defense arguments that the FBI's actions "were unreasonable and illegal because they failed to comply with Russian law," saying that Russian law does not apply to the agents' actions.
We think that being in the US is bad because the FBI has jurisdiction here and so has some rights to pry. But, really, being outside the US is worse because the FBI (and NSA -- Echelon) is essentially being given free rein to do whatever they want. To whom is the FBI accountable when they hack other nations' computers? Apparently no one. -----------------------
At this point Napster is like an empty Pinata that the kids keep beating, not for any goodies inside, but just because they enjoy beating on it. Suing Napster has become sport for copyright holders. -----------------------
I couldn't even tell you the last time I clicked or even noticed one of those banner ads thinkgeekwishlists at the top of the page. Even with all the flashing and animation seehotsexywomenandgetfired they don't do anything but make me want to scroll down getoraclecertified the page to get rid of them. I wonder what the click-through rates penguincomputing for/. banner ads are. I doubt that they are cluelessnesstherearenostupidquestionsbutthereareal otofinquisitiveidiots very high. -----------------------
The MPAA argues that DeCSS is not speech in any way. They are saying that computer programs are "black boxes".
If that is the case, then how could you have copyright on software? Doesn't the fact that software is copyright-able indicate that it is a form of expression, like written/spoken words, recordings, music, graphic art, or even films.
How can the courts in one instance rule that software has the protection afforded to other forms of creative expression when it comes to copyright (intended to be limited in scope), but then rule that it does not have those protections when it comes to protecting speech (intended to be a broad, unassailable right)?
10. Figure out how to make a space suit out of a hockey goalie uniform
9. Decision: "Cosmocanucks" or "Canadanauts"?
8. Have R&D figure out how to dehydrate beer and doughnuts
7. Finally get around to renting "Mission to Mars"
6. Find out if the Expos are willing to relocate to the Martian League
5. Be the first to design a canoe-shaped space vehicle
4. Screw it, eh? Let's go skiing at Whistler.
3. Make sure the vending machines on Mars don't take American quarters
2. Put Bob and Doug McKenzie into orbit
1. Finish exploring Canada!
-----------------------
Compaq is going to make a PC in the shape of a Teletubby with an LCD screen in its stomach. This should merge the worlds of children's toys and the previously-merged laptop/desktop worlds.
So don't post through Google if you don't like it. They are putting up a clear and simple statment about their policy. I say that they re being very fair. And it's not like you can't find a million other servers through which to post to the Usenet. -----------------------
Amazon is feeling the pinch. People who invested money in the giant red hole called Amazon.com want to see some profit sometime this century. Amazon is squeezing the lemon for all it's worth. Plus, given the current state of funding for dot-coms, Amazon is probably putting together war plans for going out of business or selling off unprofitable divisions, just in case.
I don't buy from them anyway because they are the poster child for patent abuse. And now this. How many reasons do you need to boycott Amazon? -----------------------
One major problem that we have and which will get worse is the growing "personhood" of corporations. Corporations were never originally intended to have rights equal to or better than actual flesh-and-blood citizens, but that is precisely what is happening. Citizens' freedom of speech is restrained in favor of intellectual-property rights of corporations. I can think of at least two things wrong with that.
What better way to make corporations more powerful, to give them more rights originally intended for persons, but to treat them like people by having a "death penalty". Revoking a corportate charter is an administrative/civil matter (and is functional equivalent of a death penalty). If we make corporations face criminal trial/punishment, we only affirm that they must have the same rights as people. Probably not in the long-term interests of people. -----------------------
Slashdot Mirror
What was he expecting -- "Schindler's List" with dinosaurs? The Jurassic park series is simply the heir apparent to Godzilla movies. Lots of action, cool FX, fun to watch, fairly easy to forget. You know what you're getting. The preview says it all -- which trailer did Jon watch?
-----------------------
Hey, you got it, and you don't seem all that bright...
-----------------------
No one has had contact with Nikita SMTP since that time, and his relatives (among them Alexei POP, who said he was feeling a little nervous himself) and friends all have made numerous attempts to ping him. But timouts expired on all of those attempts, it is reported now.
It is clear we need to free our little Nikita as he was clearly exercising his right to do whatever he wanted as guaranteed by a vague understanding of the Constitution. Protests will be scheduled to march on Verizon's headquarters, unless Verizon promises to think about the possibility of bringing up a motion to free Nikita at their next stockholders' meeting. In that case, we'll consider it a done deal and go home quietly.
-----------------------
In other words, Microsoft tied browsing functions so deeply into the OS that they had an excuse to put them together. This was the heart of their argument years back when they claimed that the browser was integral to the OS and couldn't be removed. Nice to see they are reviving an old classic.
-----------------------
Ahh, screw it, I don't want to deal with this. I'm enjoying this AOL chat room much more -- I think I'll ask Sexygrrl69 what she thinks about those jerks at LinuxToday.
-----------------------
Currently, I use Win2K with Media Studio Pro. Why? For me, this is the best balance of cost, performance, maintenance, and features. A Mac G4 with Final Cut Pro would be the best (outside of using some really big-$$$ systems) in terms of features and maintenance, but that would be far more expensive than my PIII 1GHz.
I suspect that I could get great performance out of Linux with almost no software cost, but I haven't the time to put in getting a Linux system up, tweaked, and hardware configured right now. I'd rather spend the time doing video work (that's why I'd like a custom Linux distro with all the apps, tools, drivers and specialized config scripts ready to go to save this time).
If you know Linux really well, go for it. There's a NLE package called Broadcast2000 that sounds pretty good (never tried it). I think a good start would be if there were a web site that people with expertise in Linux and NLE could share their knowledge.
-----------------------
It's pretty clear that this application of Linux is limited to inside the Dreamworks "bubble". It's the OS for custom software written for a machine with a specific purpose -- far different from home/office desktops.
So how to break out of the bubble? Look at how it broke into the bubble in the first place. You see, it's still all about the killer app. In this case, the animation tools are the killer app, because they run faster under linux and the workstations are cheaper, both of which translate into more productivity, which is critical in the production of a movie. Nobody cares if the machine can't do any other task (e-mail, browsing, spreadsheets, etc). The killer app is the one thing that makes it go.
This presents an opportunity for linux. Why are people so loyal to Macs? For some it's the Steve Jobs cult of personality, but for most Mac people it is becuase it is the finest tool for their job. They are willing to put up with expensive hardware, less of a software selection, Steve Jobs ego, and all the other downsides for one simple reason -- the core thing they do, their bread and butter, the killer app for them, is best on a Mac. Graphic design and desktop publishing are good examples of this.
So how does this present an opportunity for Linux? Make a workstation of some kind, for whatever market. Let's pick desktop video. As a videographer myself, I had at one time a HD bay and two hard drives on my computer. One was for desktop video, one was for programming, databases, games, e-mail, browsing, word processing, etc. The deskop video config had nothing else -- I kept it as clean as possible for stability and performance. And this is not uncommon. My solution was a poor-man's fix for not buying a separate PC. I think most videographers would prefer a wholly separate workstation dedicated to just video. So if a bunch of Linux guys got together and created the killer desktop video solution, at a price comparable (ideally better) than a windows one, a lot of people would buy them (relatively speaking).
This would be a good model for Linux development. Don't develop just an app. Develop an environment. To the end user, the environment is not the OS, but the true working space. Create a linux environment for digital video editing. Or CAD. Or whatever else people buy a system to do almost exclusively. Just like Dreamworks created a custom environment exclusively for animation. In these markets, software is a big part of the cost, usually more than the hardware itself. Trust me, these people will see the benefits of free software.
No, it doesn't have the thrill of taking on the giant Microsoft in the home or general purpose office desktop. But remember a few things: 1) linux can at least get to a critical mass where it sustains itself without needing to dramatically increase the number of users, and 2) "normal" (non-techie) people would be getting exposure to linux, and 3) what kind of system are these people going to recommend to friends? I have personally kept at least a half dozen people from joining or staying with AOL by telling them their alternatives. Over time, word-of-mouth works.
Just make the environment good. Make it rock solid -- for people in these type of workstation markets, reliability is huge, and linux has a big advantage. Make it a killer -- if it's desktop video, for instance, make it something that when I see it, I *gotta* have it, because it will work better and faster than any other desktop video workstation at twice it's price.
-----------------------
Why do they need to vigorously defend their position in a community that gets to choose who they point their DNS servers at?
.com/.net/.org/.whatever else they decide to sell, they would. The fact that they cannot, that there is freedom to operate a whole new .com root DNS outside of their control, that anyone who does not feel that ICANN is playing fair can use that DNS -- this is the dangerous "instability" that they speak of. Democracy is chaotic; tyranny is usually more ordered.
Their policy seems to be "We're not the only game in town, but we should be." Competition is one of the best principles of a free economy/society. Their position that "competition causes instability" is far stupider than any FUD Microsoft or any other monopolist would come up with. Think of it - "windows should be the only desktop OS because it would cause instability to have incompatible OS's proliferating among PC users". How fast would the anti-trust lawyers be on that?
Their argument is weak. If they could force admins to point their DNS at them or shut down "rogue" DNS for
-----------------------
For instance, they never gave their Bay Area delivery service time to become profitable before expanding into other areas.
That's exactly it. Webvan had a great service going. The marketing was good, the site was pretty good too.
But greed got in the way. They wanted to be the Microsoft of grocery delivery, and way too fast.
For instance, here in chicago, if one were to open a webvan-type service, but limit it to, say downtown and Lincoln Park (a population-dense, yuppie-laden, fashionable neighborhood of a few square miles), one could do a ton of business in a small area, target your marketing through far less expensive local means, and probably turn a profit fairly quickly.
But that means actually starting a business as 99.99% of businesses start -- small, and grow naturally.
-----------------------
Microsoft prides itself on making the user experience "easy" and "user-friendly". Usually this means making it simple to change preferences. Even that stupid paper clip was easy to banish permananently.
But what should raise the red flag is when they make something hard to do. Like set your default camera software to Kodak. Microsoft's goal is to make everything easy. So if it's hard to do, it's very likely that this is intentional.
-----------------------
By John Mellencamp:
The crops we grew last summer weren't enough to pay the loans
Couldn't buy the seed to plant this spring and the Farmers Bank foreclosed
Called my old friend Schepman up to auction off the land
He said John it's just my job and I hope you understand
Hey calling it your job ol' hoss sure don't make it right
But if you want me to I'll say a prayer for your soul tonight
-----------------------
One of Microsoft's biggest selling points for its server-based stuff is the "ease of configuration". That just means that any goofball can use the interface, and get at most or all of the options (usually before they know what those options actually do).
The point is, that Microsoft's interface is pretty interactive. Most sysadmin types that I know (windows or nix) prefer text-based interfaces because of the control, flexibility, and the ability to use scripts to make life easier. As a MS SQL Server admin I rarely use the GUI for anything but the simplest tasks.
The downside of the text interface is it's lack of interactivity and visual representation. In reality, there's no reason why one couldn't make the experience adventure-like. You could have verbosity levels, which would be great for novices and training situations; once you advanced in ability, you could turn down the verbosity (or it could automatically turn it down based on its own assessment of your skills as an admin). Unfortunately, everyone is having such a blast making the same Infocom jokes that they don't bother to realize that this might be a useful idea.
Rest assured, Bill Gates is not spending his time making campy "for the fun of it" user interfaces. This infocom thing might be a funny idea, but think of the CTO who reads about ESR and his thoughts on open source, and starts to consider implementing it, then sees this is how ESR spends his time. It only re-inforces the non-professional image that Microsoft is trying to portray of Open Source.
Speaking as someone under Microsoft's thumb, I hate it at times. And yet, every new release of their software has some truly amazingly useful features that sell the product very well. I get a kick out of this fun stuff, but it ain't gonna sell with my boss, nor his boss, nor his boss, the CTO.
ESR, sorry man, but if you're serious, it's time to change. You can't beat Bill Gates with geek subculture. And while you're doing that, Gates' army is charging, on a mission.
-----------------------
It must be that Jon plagarized the imdb review, for no one would ever knowingly plagarize Jon Katz.
-----------------------
Just take that baseball card out of the fan blades...
-----------------------
Once upon a time there were three little programmers. Each set about to make a case for their computer to live in, so that all their important open source software (or was that free software? I forget, never mind) would have a safe home. The first little programmer made his computer case from straw.
But when Mr. Badday.mpg threw a temper tantrum in the next cube, he huffed and he puffed and came over and kicked the little programmer's computer, and the straw case crumbled and the little programmer's work was all lost - oh, no! And Mr. Badday.mpg was moved to another cube by a sweet little HR princess. And this cube was farther away from the boss who didn't like to hear temper tantrums, but right next to the second little programmer.
The next little programmer was a little smarter. In addition to not using goto's every ten lines in his code, he built his computer case out of wood. But when the Mr Badday.mpg threw another, bigger temper tantrum in his new cube, he huffed and he puffed and he came next door and picked up the little programmer's wood-case computer and smashed it against the wall. Oh no, oh no! There was a hole in the drywall and the computer was ruined! And the little programmer had to download all his Britney Spears mp3's again! And Mr Badday.mpg was moved to another floor, so that his rage could be ignored by management. Of course, he wound up next to our third programmer.
Now, this little programmer was smarter than all the rest. He built his computer case out of bricks (he was a big fan of the song "Brick House" by the Commodores; also "Word Up" by Cameo, but I digress). Oh, his computer case was a strong one! And when Mr. Badday.mpg blew not one, not two, but three full gaskets one Monday morning (sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays!), he came over to the third little programmer's cube because he had destroyed his own PC but had lots of nasty old rage left in him. He kicked and kicked the brick PC, but it didn't budge. He took his keyboard and smashed it on the brick PC, all the while the little programmer's work was safe. So Mr. Badday.mpg bent over and grasped the brick PC, but when he tried to lift it, he threw out his back and had to go on workman's comp.
Epilogue:
The brick PC was safe after its beating, and the third little programmer finished his open-source Linux DVD player, but then Big Bad Mr. Jack Valenti had the Army Corps of Engineers dynamite the brick PC. Sorry, that's how these things end up. In real life, the wolf always wins.
-----------------------
According to babelfish, Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec Moi translates to: Please Sleep You With Me
But Voulez-vous coucher avec moi translates to: Want you to sleep with me
I letters captial Guess difference Makes a...
-----------------------
Finally, Coughenour rejected defense arguments that the FBI's actions "were unreasonable and illegal because they failed to comply with Russian law," saying that Russian law does not apply to the agents' actions.
We think that being in the US is bad because the FBI has jurisdiction here and so has some rights to pry. But, really, being outside the US is worse because the FBI (and NSA -- Echelon) is essentially being given free rein to do whatever they want. To whom is the FBI accountable when they hack other nations' computers? Apparently no one.
-----------------------
At this point Napster is like an empty Pinata that the kids keep beating, not for any goodies inside, but just because they enjoy beating on it. Suing Napster has become sport for copyright holders.
-----------------------
I couldn't even tell you the last time I clicked or even noticed one of those banner ads thinkgeekwishlists at the top of the page. Even with all the flashing and animation seehotsexywomenandgetfired they don't do anything but make me want to scroll down getoraclecertified the page to get rid of them. I wonder what the click-through rates penguincomputing for /. banner ads are. I doubt that they are cluelessnesstherearenostupidquestionsbutthereareal otofinquisitiveidiots very high.
-----------------------
The MPAA argues that DeCSS is not speech in any way. They are saying that computer programs are "black boxes".
If that is the case, then how could you have copyright on software? Doesn't the fact that software is copyright-able indicate that it is a form of expression, like written/spoken words, recordings, music, graphic art, or even films.
How can the courts in one instance rule that software has the protection afforded to other forms of creative expression when it comes to copyright (intended to be limited in scope), but then rule that it does not have those protections when it comes to protecting speech (intended to be a broad, unassailable right)?
Short answer: MONEY
-----------------------
10. Figure out how to make a space suit out of a hockey goalie uniform
9. Decision: "Cosmocanucks" or "Canadanauts"?
8. Have R&D figure out how to dehydrate beer and doughnuts
7. Finally get around to renting "Mission to Mars"
6. Find out if the Expos are willing to relocate to the Martian League
5. Be the first to design a canoe-shaped space vehicle
4. Screw it, eh? Let's go skiing at Whistler.
3. Make sure the vending machines on Mars don't take American quarters
2. Put Bob and Doug McKenzie into orbit
1. Finish exploring Canada!
-----------------------
Compaq is going to make a PC in the shape of a Teletubby with an LCD screen in its stomach. This should merge the worlds of children's toys and the previously-merged laptop/desktop worlds.
That's some visioneering!
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So don't post through Google if you don't like it. They are putting up a clear and simple statment about their policy. I say that they re being very fair. And it's not like you can't find a million other servers through which to post to the Usenet.
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Amazon is feeling the pinch. People who invested money in the giant red hole called Amazon.com want to see some profit sometime this century. Amazon is squeezing the lemon for all it's worth. Plus, given the current state of funding for dot-coms, Amazon is probably putting together war plans for going out of business or selling off unprofitable divisions, just in case.
I don't buy from them anyway because they are the poster child for patent abuse. And now this. How many reasons do you need to boycott Amazon?
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One major problem that we have and which will get worse is the growing "personhood" of corporations. Corporations were never originally intended to have rights equal to or better than actual flesh-and-blood citizens, but that is precisely what is happening. Citizens' freedom of speech is restrained in favor of intellectual-property rights of corporations. I can think of at least two things wrong with that.
What better way to make corporations more powerful, to give them more rights originally intended for persons, but to treat them like people by having a "death penalty". Revoking a corportate charter is an administrative/civil matter (and is functional equivalent of a death penalty). If we make corporations face criminal trial/punishment, we only affirm that they must have the same rights as people. Probably not in the long-term interests of people.
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