As another poster metioned, so far these are all private schools. That means that the parents are paying a LOT of money for little Johnnie or Suzie to attend. Surely if the parents are unhappy, they will put their child in another school. My thought is that the dollars will win out. I do wish though, that the ACLU would make itself useful and take some of the to the Supreme Court.
How is it that Sony is at fault for this? Is the game not labled "M"? I know I've posted this before, but I think that the video games should follow the same ratings as movies (G, PG, PG-13, PG-17, R, X, etc.) as well as the same ratings standards. Since parents already "grok" the rating system for movies, they don't by an R rated DVD for an 8 year old. However, these same parents will gladly buy an "M" rated game for the same kid.
Honestly, they should have let him stay on as their council. It's always easier to fight an id10T.
Frankly, I find it offensive that these two nitwits are even being allowed to bring this suit. If they are so easy to influence that a video game can make them commit murder, I certainly don't want them living in my neighborhood. They really ought not to be allowed out by themselves and should, for the protection of everyone else in society who behaves responsibly, be kept in padded cells and forced to watch Barney videos.
My point in this was that since there are only X number of dollars available, should they not be spent on care instead of toys?
While I think that the mental state of the child can be improved by toys, given the choice between getting care or getting a toy, surely you can see that getting care is more important.
1) Do you really want to trust a product that says that GATOR is *not* spyware? 2) We use CounterSpy here, which is the parent product of Microsoft's Beta. The Beta scans come back clean while the CounterSpy scans come back with some 40-50 items on most of the machines we tested. 3) Didn't Microsoft already get nixed over the whole anti-virus thing already? I think I recall reading something about that. If so, how is this any different? 4) Wouldn't the time, effort, energy, etc. be better spent in figuring how to make the OS work properly in the first place?
I was badly burned as child and was helped greatly by the Shriner's, Easter Seals, and St Jude's. This was all treament that parents would have been unable to afford on their own. While I find it touching that you want to give games to kiddies, I think it would be far more beneficial to make donations to pay for actual treatment. The games, toys, etc. are not a life and limb kind of thing. In many cases, the treatment is. I know that it certainly was for me. The doctors at our local hospital wanted to amputate my left hand and part of my arm because I was so severely burned. Yet I sit here, today, typing with both hands thanks to the help we got from people who specalize in treating children with injuries like mine.
I'd also like to remind everyone to give blood at this time year. It's something that many of the children need as they undergo surgery and its something that's normally in very short supply this time of year.
Probably not a popular sentiment and I'll probably be modded as a Troll.
I'd like to test the effects of this when it's used to play Wayne Newton instead of the high piched sonic squeal. Although, there may not be much difference...
Why pay to watch it once when you can just TiVO it and be done? Maybe this is what the broadcast flag thing is all about. All TV will become pay-per-view.
This will require some patience and planning on your part, but should be emminently do-able.
1) Wait until you have some sensitive news that needs to be either distributed to the company as a whole on a specific date (buy-out, merger, lay-off, etc.) or posted on the company web site, etc. or something like an email from the married CEO to his girlfriend/secretary (you get the idea here). 2) Be sure to have one of your nosy users to come and see you for something trivial, like a password reset. If they're that nosy, they probably also gossip as well, so having the information leaked "early" won't be an issue. If you think it might be, swear the user to secrecy - this will ensure that they tell at least 5 people on their way back to their cubicle. 3) Have the sensitive information on your screen when they arrive. 4) Sit back and watch the fireworks...
Here's the deal. I don't like surfing the web on my cell phone and I can't imagine watching TV on it. It'a 2" x 2" screen! I only surf the web on my cell phone when:
1) I'm not in a location where something like my laptop has a 'net connection 2) I'm desperately in need of some piece of information
I can't see a time or place that I'd want to watch TV. It's a mobile device. If I'm away from the 52" big screen with surround sound, it's because I'm out either with friends, running errands, at work, etc. None of which are places where staring raptly at a 2" x 2" screen would be deemed socially appropriate.
Frankly, I've seen a few jacka**es driving around in various contorted positions in order to watch the screen from the in-car DVD player while driving. This is all I need - some MO-RON on the freeway watching TV on his cell phone...
I'm certain that many of us who have benefited from you would be willing to drop you some cash via PayPal. I use a very responsive hosting company and have had no complaints so far. If you like, I'd be happy to help you get back up and running with a new URL. Just sign in and leave a private message on blog (URL above) and we'll get cracking.
Let me be pefectly clear - THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH FREE SPEECH. One more time, it has nothing to do with free speech. Have you ever installed RealPlayer? Well, guess what, if you have, I can go to Real, buy your email address, your browsing habits, your home address - if you were foolish enough to supply it, average time you spend on the internet, etc. Further, once I've bought the information on you, I now own it and can resell it to others. I can find out which users used your computer, for how long, what they looked and did, how long each task took them, etc. All in the name of all mighty Marketing. Still think this is about free speech? Let's say that Real develops a problem with their datatbase such that it shows that all users are looking at www.gerbils_n_ducktape.com. How would you like it, if on your next job interview, your prospective employer asked you how much time you spend per week on www.gerbils_n_ducktape.com? Still wanna tell me it's about free speech????
Since you seem to be such a "bold defender of the faith", let's see you take a job at the EFF or at a university. Try being the primary income for your family and think about risking that because someone else things you ought to defend them. Why can they not defend themselves? Where are the protesting students? Why must I be the one to stand up for you? Why is it that you cannot seem to do this for yourself? How did this become my personal mission? What's wrong with you, o critics, carrying the torch? "Do not seek to remove the mote from thy brother's eye when thou hast a beam in thine own eye."
Not a one of you has offered to come to work with me. Not a one of you has offered me alternative employment, should I be dismissed from my current job. All you have done is heap criticism on me, which confirms my initial impression. I must fend for myself and my family. I will not get any help. Since no help is forthcoming, I will deal with the situation as best I can.
It's all well and good for all of you sit back, point fingers, call names, and tell me that I should be the one to stand up. Other than flaming on slashdot, what do any of you do in the cause of freedom? Just because I don't particulary care to loose my job and go to jail for a bunch of flaming anonymous cowards, doesn't mean that I do my part to keep laws like this from getting passed in the first place.
As for me, I can assure that I am member of the EFF as well as several other groups that seek to work within the system for change. We fight legislation like this where it needs to be fought - either before it gets passed into law or in court. I also guarantee you that both of my state's senators, as well as the congress people for my state know me by name. I write them frequently about a variety of issues, most of which have to do with technology.
2 more cents,
Queen B
PS: When my plan for world domination succeeds, you're all in a LOT of trouble.....
I cannot tell you the times I've ripped down an open source package that was oooo, ever so close to what I really wanted. If the source code happens to be in a language I know, I usually felt pretty free to modfy it to suit my purposes - namely the pursuit of world domination.
All kidding aside, this business model already exists. I've seen a lot of web shops that run this way now. They get ahold of some open source portal product, learn to tweak it, and then they sell it to all their customers with a specific set of tweaks for each customer. Heck, if more people knew they were running on Mambo, they'd be on the phone yelling at their web guys for charging them umpty-thousand dollars for "a custom portal application".
Unfortunately, our legal system has decided that anyone can collect data on you. He who collects the data, owns the data. He who owns the data can sell, rent, lend, lease, or give the data out as his discretion since it is legal property. You however, the subject of all this, have exactly ZERO right see the data, correct the data, or know who is accessing the data.
Privacy is dead and has been for a long time. That stench you smell is the rotting corpse.
Well, there anonymous coward, at least I put my name on things. Furthermore, if there is a law and I have choice between complying and going to jail guess what's going to happen? We'll comply. If you read my post, it was in answer as to why the cost was so high per user...
No, I don't like handing over the information, but are you planning to pay for my attorney if decide not to? Are you going to pay my morgage, my car payment, my bills because I've been fired over it? Until you're willing to put your money where your mouth it, you do not have the right to criticize.
Here's how I feel about ICANN in a nutshell. If they sucked, they'd feel better. Before you mod me as a Troll, here's why I say that.
1) ICANN is a consortium of CORPORATIONS. 2) ICANN IS NOT RUN BY THE US GOVERMENT or any other group that's actually responsible to the public. 3) ICANN is an independent beast that our goverment created and lost control of. 4) ICANN has rejected, excluded, and then finally terminated the "at-large" members. 5) ICANN operates in a very obscure fashion with many of the members having secretive meetings and leaving other members out of the meetings. Don't take my word for it - www.cavebear.com. Karl "The Cavebear" was one of the ICANN at large members. 6) ICANN has consistently made decisions that are in the best interest of the corporations the various members of the board are drawn from. They have yet to buck their corporate overlords in favor of "the people". The history on this is long and arcane, so I won't site it here, but if you care to read, it's widely available on line. 7) ICANN has started a new datamaing that will be able to look to see where you go and what you look at on line. Great - the FBI wants universities to play BB, and now ICANN is getting in on the act. 8) ICANN has jacked the prices on domain names, AGAIN. You'll recall my earlier comment about corporate overlords...
Now that you have 8 good reasons why ICANN blows, perhaps I won't get another Troll mod:)
I've said this before and probably on slashdot. Privacy is dead. People are just now starting to smell the rotting corpse. This is further proof of that statement.
The trick with the $450 per student is the cost to design, implement, deploy and maintain a system that will allow the FBI to have what it wants without Joe Hacker having the same access. It's not as easy as it sounds until you deal with a highly mobile and high-turnover student population. I work for a major university. We have approximately 18,000 students. At any given semester (Spring, Summer, or Fall), 4000-5000 of them are leaving and being replaced with 4000-5000 new ones. That doesn't even count the ones that change dorms, move off campus, etc. Now, in addition to a campus ID, network accounts, dorm internet access, email accounts, etc., we're supposed to manage the FBI's wiretaps?????
ROFL. Item one, we don't have enough staff to really manage what we have. Now you want to throw an additional burden at us. Let's not forget that we're also subject to federal legisation that controls to who as well as how information on students can be released.
Wait until the subpoena for that comes across my desk. I can hear that conversation now..."Well, Your Honor, we don't have the equipment. We were told that it's not in the budget. We had to choose between having internet access or complying with the legisation." "No, Your Honor, we haven't deployed that. Perhaps if we let the entire email system for the campus die, we might have time for that." "Yes, Your Honor, we think that if the FBI wants the information, they should be willing to pay for it."
Let's take a cold hard look at the company's historical behavior.
They drove Lotus 1-2-3- out of business.
They bought off the DOJ. I mean, if AT&T was a monopoly, so is Microsoft. Since AT&T got broken up, Microsoft should have been too. Fair for one, fair for all.
They been spanked, albeit lightly, for their attempt to subvert Java and stymie Sun.
They bundled their browser into the operating system in order to drive their rival, Netscape out of business.
Now they're doing the same thing with MSN instant messenger. It bundles itself into the OS as well as their office product and can be nearly impossible to turn off.
They've been accused of deceptive trade practices regarding the "Passport" in which they deliberately mislead people into thinking that they must have a "Passport" in order to get on line.
South Korea is after them for unfair trade practices and Microsoft is threatening to pull out of South Korea as a result.
The European Union is taking a hard look at Microsoft and their business practices as well. Microsoft is having a hard time there, as well.
They're being sued for their crappy security in California now.
They have a long history of bullying major vendors into preinstalling Windows and ONLY Windows as the operating system for desktops and servers.
This is just the stuff that I can think of off the top of my head. I'm certain that there's more. Given their track record, I find it highly suspicious that they're pushing a privacy law. It's rather like putting the mafia in charge of the national bank.
And precisely where you do think the oil comes from - Peanut Oil, Canola Oil, etc....
I know how to mix it because we used to put in the tractor, combine, harvester, etc. 80% oil and 20% ethanol. I rather suspect that I have more hands on experience with biodiesel than any of you;)
And most of the ethanol comes from corn stalks digested by a yeast able to break down cellulose. How's that for recycling.....
I have a rather long commute into work so I have plenty of opportunities to observe the in-duh-vidiuals that I'm on the road with. A goodly stretch of my commute is highway driving and I don't know about where you live, but Texas is big. Because it's big, everything is spread out so people drive 70-75 mph here just so you can get somewhere before next Tuesday.
I'm not going to mention the ubiquitious morons on cellphones, dorks who are busy twiddling the knobs on their radio, or parents who are turned around, swatting at children in the back seat.
Observed on the road recently:
A driver who had his seat laid back so that he could watch a movie and drive. The LCD was mounted in a position that should have been behind his head.
A driver who had their newspaper spread across the steeringwheel, reading the paper.
A driver (male) with an electric shaver, shaving while driving on the freeway.
A driver (female) applying mascara while driving on the freeway.
A driver (male) filing papers in one of those expandable files while driving on the freeway.
More than one driver performing acts unsuitable for mention on/.
There's enough stuff to distract most people while they're driving now. You want to add a touch pad computer? and a printer? GAH! I can see some moron wrecking because he's trying to fix a paper jam.
Please tell me that none of this stuff (except maybe the GPS) will be functional while the car is in operation. Surely once you put it in "Drive", they can deactivate the devices.
Slashdot Mirror
As another poster metioned, so far these are all private schools. That means that the parents are paying a LOT of money for little Johnnie or Suzie to attend. Surely if the parents are unhappy, they will put their child in another school. My thought is that the dollars will win out. I do wish though, that the ACLU would make itself useful and take some of the to the Supreme Court.
2 cents,
Queen B
How is it that Sony is at fault for this? Is the game not labled "M"? I know I've posted this before, but I think that the video games should follow the same ratings as movies (G, PG, PG-13, PG-17, R, X, etc.) as well as the same ratings standards. Since parents already "grok" the rating system for movies, they don't by an R rated DVD for an 8 year old. However, these same parents will gladly buy an "M" rated game for the same kid.
Honestly, they should have let him stay on as their council. It's always easier to fight an id10T.
Frankly, I find it offensive that these two nitwits are even being allowed to bring this suit. If they are so easy to influence that a video game can make them commit murder, I certainly don't want them living in my neighborhood. They really ought not to be allowed out by themselves and should, for the protection of everyone else in society who behaves responsibly, be kept in padded cells and forced to watch Barney videos.
My point in this was that since there are only X number of dollars available, should they not be spent on care instead of toys?
While I think that the mental state of the child can be improved by toys, given the choice between getting care or getting a toy, surely you can see that getting care is more important.
2 cents,
Queen B
1) Do you really want to trust a product that says that GATOR is *not* spyware?
2) We use CounterSpy here, which is the parent product of Microsoft's Beta. The Beta scans come back clean while the CounterSpy scans come back with some 40-50 items on most of the machines we tested.
3) Didn't Microsoft already get nixed over the whole anti-virus thing already? I think I recall reading something about that. If so, how is this any different?
4) Wouldn't the time, effort, energy, etc. be better spent in figuring how to make the OS work properly in the first place?
2 cents,
Queen B
I think that Penn & Teller said it best -
"You do not have the right not to be offended."
Can you imagine what would happen if Slashdot were held responsible for our comments? *SNICKER*
2 cents,
Queen B
I was badly burned as child and was helped greatly by the Shriner's, Easter Seals, and St Jude's. This was all treament that parents would have been unable to afford on their own. While I find it touching that you want to give games to kiddies, I think it would be far more beneficial to make donations to pay for actual treatment. The games, toys, etc. are not a life and limb kind of thing. In many cases, the treatment is. I know that it certainly was for me. The doctors at our local hospital wanted to amputate my left hand and part of my arm because I was so severely burned. Yet I sit here, today, typing with both hands thanks to the help we got from people who specalize in treating children with injuries like mine.
I'd also like to remind everyone to give blood at this time year. It's something that many of the children need as they undergo surgery and its something that's normally in very short supply this time of year.
Probably not a popular sentiment and I'll probably be modded as a Troll.
2 cents,
Queen B.
I'd like to test the effects of this when it's used to play Wayne Newton instead of the high piched sonic squeal. Although, there may not be much difference...
2 cents,
Queen B
Why pay to watch it once when you can just TiVO it and be done? Maybe this is what the broadcast flag thing is all about. All TV will become pay-per-view.
DUH!
2 cents,
Queen B
This will require some patience and planning on your part, but should be emminently do-able.
1) Wait until you have some sensitive news that needs to be either distributed to the company as a whole on a specific date (buy-out, merger, lay-off, etc.) or posted on the company web site, etc. or something like an email from the married CEO to his girlfriend/secretary (you get the idea here).
2) Be sure to have one of your nosy users to come and see you for something trivial, like a password reset. If they're that nosy, they probably also gossip as well, so having the information leaked "early" won't be an issue. If you think it might be, swear the user to secrecy - this will ensure that they tell at least 5 people on their way back to their cubicle.
3) Have the sensitive information on your screen when they arrive.
4) Sit back and watch the fireworks...
2 cents,
Queen B
Ok,
Here's the deal. I don't like surfing the web on my cell phone and I can't imagine watching TV on it. It'a 2" x 2" screen! I only surf the web on my cell phone when:
1) I'm not in a location where something like my laptop has a 'net connection
2) I'm desperately in need of some piece of information
I can't see a time or place that I'd want to watch TV. It's a mobile device. If I'm away from the 52" big screen with surround sound, it's because I'm out either with friends, running errands, at work, etc. None of which are places where staring raptly at a 2" x 2" screen would be deemed socially appropriate.
Frankly, I've seen a few jacka**es driving around in various contorted positions in order to watch the screen from the in-car DVD player while driving. This is all I need - some MO-RON on the freeway watching TV on his cell phone...
2 cents,
Queen B
I'm certain that many of us who have benefited from you would be willing to drop you some cash via PayPal. I use a very responsive hosting company and have had no complaints so far. If you like, I'd be happy to help you get back up and running with a new URL. Just sign in and leave a private message on blog (URL above) and we'll get cracking.
2 cents,
Queen B
Let me be pefectly clear - THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH FREE SPEECH. One more time, it has nothing to do with free speech. Have you ever installed RealPlayer? Well, guess what, if you have, I can go to Real, buy your email address, your browsing habits, your home address - if you were foolish enough to supply it, average time you spend on the internet, etc. Further, once I've bought the information on you, I now own it and can resell it to others. I can find out which users used your computer, for how long, what they looked and did, how long each task took them, etc. All in the name of all mighty Marketing. Still think this is about free speech? Let's say that Real develops a problem with their datatbase such that it shows that all users are looking at www.gerbils_n_ducktape.com. How would you like it, if on your next job interview, your prospective employer asked you how much time you spend per week on www.gerbils_n_ducktape.com? Still wanna tell me it's about free speech????
2 cents,
Queen B
Since you seem to be such a "bold defender of the faith", let's see you take a job at the EFF or at a university. Try being the primary income for your family and think about risking that because someone else things you ought to defend them. Why can they not defend themselves? Where are the protesting students? Why must I be the one to stand up for you? Why is it that you cannot seem to do this for yourself? How did this become my personal mission? What's wrong with you, o critics, carrying the torch? "Do not seek to remove the mote from thy brother's eye when thou hast a beam in thine own eye."
Not a one of you has offered to come to work with me. Not a one of you has offered me alternative employment, should I be dismissed from my current job. All you have done is heap criticism on me, which confirms my initial impression. I must fend for myself and my family. I will not get any help. Since no help is forthcoming, I will deal with the situation as best I can.
It's all well and good for all of you sit back, point fingers, call names, and tell me that I should be the one to stand up. Other than flaming on slashdot, what do any of you do in the cause of freedom? Just because I don't particulary care to loose my job and go to jail for a bunch of flaming anonymous cowards, doesn't mean that I do my part to keep laws like this from getting passed in the first place.
As for me, I can assure that I am member of the EFF as well as several other groups that seek to work within the system for change. We fight legislation like this where it needs to be fought - either before it gets passed into law or in court. I also guarantee you that both of my state's senators, as well as the congress people for my state know me by name. I write them frequently about a variety of issues, most of which have to do with technology.
2 more cents,
Queen B
PS: When my plan for world domination succeeds, you're all in a LOT of trouble.....
Let's just say I'm from Missouri. Until then here's my check list of equally probable events.
So, let's see
Pigs flying...check
Microsoft has released MS Linux...check
Satan handing out ice skatss...check
Bill Gates has published the source code to Windows XP...check
New month "Never" has been added to the calendar...check
Apple is #1 desktop in North America...check
Scott McNealy (Sun CEO) licences Java to Microsoft...check
SCO drops all litigation...check
Novell drops prices...check
2 cents,
Queen B
I cannot tell you the times I've ripped down an open source package that was oooo, ever so close to what I really wanted. If the source code happens to be in a language I know, I usually felt pretty free to modfy it to suit my purposes - namely the pursuit of world domination.
All kidding aside, this business model already exists. I've seen a lot of web shops that run this way now. They get ahold of some open source portal product, learn to tweak it, and then they sell it to all their customers with a specific set of tweaks for each customer. Heck, if more people knew they were running on Mambo, they'd be on the phone yelling at their web guys for charging them umpty-thousand dollars for "a custom portal application".
2 cents,
Queen B
Unfortunately, our legal system has decided that anyone can collect data on you. He who collects the data, owns the data. He who owns the data can sell, rent, lend, lease, or give the data out as his discretion since it is legal property. You however, the subject of all this, have exactly ZERO right see the data, correct the data, or know who is accessing the data.
Privacy is dead and has been for a long time. That stench you smell is the rotting corpse.
2 cents,
Queen B
Well, there anonymous coward, at least I put my name on things. Furthermore, if there is a law and I have choice between complying and going to jail guess what's going to happen? We'll comply. If you read my post, it was in answer as to why the cost was so high per user...
No, I don't like handing over the information, but are you planning to pay for my attorney if decide not to? Are you going to pay my morgage, my car payment, my bills because I've been fired over it?
Until you're willing to put your money where your mouth it, you do not have the right to criticize.
2 cents,
Queen B
Here's how I feel about ICANN in a nutshell. If they sucked, they'd feel better. Before you mod me as a Troll, here's why I say that.
:)
1) ICANN is a consortium of CORPORATIONS.
2) ICANN IS NOT RUN BY THE US GOVERMENT or any other group that's actually responsible to the public.
3) ICANN is an independent beast that our goverment created and lost control of.
4) ICANN has rejected, excluded, and then finally terminated the "at-large" members.
5) ICANN operates in a very obscure fashion with many of the members having secretive meetings and leaving other members out of the meetings. Don't take my word for it - www.cavebear.com. Karl "The Cavebear" was one of the ICANN at large members.
6) ICANN has consistently made decisions that are in the best interest of the corporations the various members of the board are drawn from. They have yet to buck their corporate overlords in favor of "the people". The history on this is long and arcane, so I won't site it here, but if you care to read, it's widely available on line.
7) ICANN has started a new datamaing that will be able to look to see where you go and what you look at on line. Great - the FBI wants universities to play BB, and now ICANN is getting in on the act.
8) ICANN has jacked the prices on domain names, AGAIN. You'll recall my earlier comment about corporate overlords...
Now that you have 8 good reasons why ICANN blows, perhaps I won't get another Troll mod
2 cents,
Queen B
I've said this before and probably on slashdot. Privacy is dead. People are just now starting to smell the rotting corpse. This is further proof of that statement.
The trick with the $450 per student is the cost to design, implement, deploy and maintain a system that will allow the FBI to have what it wants without Joe Hacker having the same access. It's not as easy as it sounds until you deal with a highly mobile and high-turnover student population. I work for a major university. We have approximately 18,000 students. At any given semester (Spring, Summer, or Fall), 4000-5000 of them are leaving and being replaced with 4000-5000 new ones. That doesn't even count the ones that change dorms, move off campus, etc. Now, in addition to a campus ID, network accounts, dorm internet access, email accounts, etc., we're supposed to manage the FBI's wiretaps?????
ROFL. Item one, we don't have enough staff to really manage what we have. Now you want to throw an additional burden at us. Let's not forget that we're also subject to federal legisation that controls to who as well as how information on students can be released.
Wait until the subpoena for that comes across my desk. I can hear that conversation now..."Well, Your Honor, we don't have the equipment. We were told that it's not in the budget. We had to choose between having internet access or complying with the legisation." "No, Your Honor, we haven't deployed that. Perhaps if we let the entire email system for the campus die, we might have time for that." "Yes, Your Honor, we think that if the FBI wants the information, they should be willing to pay for it."
2 cents,
Queen B
Ok,
Let's take a cold hard look at the company's historical behavior.
They drove Lotus 1-2-3- out of business.
They bought off the DOJ. I mean, if AT&T was a monopoly, so is Microsoft. Since AT&T got broken up, Microsoft should have been too. Fair for one, fair for all.
They been spanked, albeit lightly, for their attempt to subvert Java and stymie Sun.
They bundled their browser into the operating system in order to drive their rival, Netscape out of business.
Now they're doing the same thing with MSN instant messenger. It bundles itself into the OS as well as their office product and can be nearly impossible to turn off.
They've been accused of deceptive trade practices regarding the "Passport" in which they deliberately mislead people into thinking that they must have a "Passport" in order to get on line.
South Korea is after them for unfair trade practices and Microsoft is threatening to pull out of South Korea as a result.
The European Union is taking a hard look at Microsoft and their business practices as well. Microsoft is having a hard time there, as well.
They're being sued for their crappy security in California now.
They have a long history of bullying major vendors into preinstalling Windows and ONLY Windows as the operating system for desktops and servers.
This is just the stuff that I can think of off the top of my head. I'm certain that there's more. Given their track record, I find it highly suspicious that they're pushing a privacy law. It's rather like putting the mafia in charge of the national bank.
2 cents,
Queen B
High turn over in upper management means:
1) Legal fears - criminal or civil
2) Another C-level guy that no one can stand
3) Company is tanking
My personal vote is for #2 and I suspect his initials are L.E.
2 cents,
Queen B
(start sarcasm) None of the companies mentioned have a history of ripping anyone off and then not paying them.(end sarcasm)
Microsoft ripped of Lotus Notes to become Excel.
Sony has long been known for cheating musicians.
RealPlayer has been sued repeatedly and successfully by consumer groups for dubious business practices.
I stand by my original comment.
2 cents,
Queen B
And precisely where you do think the oil comes from - Peanut Oil, Canola Oil, etc....
;)
I know how to mix it because we used to put in the tractor, combine, harvester, etc. 80% oil and 20% ethanol. I rather suspect that I have more hands on experience with biodiesel than any of you
And most of the ethanol comes from corn stalks digested by a yeast able to break down cellulose. How's that for recycling.....
Another 2 cents,
Queen B
So, they appear to be following the Microsoft/Sony/RealPlayer business model.
2 cents,
Queen B
I have a rather long commute into work so I have plenty of opportunities to observe the in-duh-vidiuals that I'm on the road with. A goodly stretch of my commute is highway driving and I don't know about where you live, but Texas is big. Because it's big, everything is spread out so people drive 70-75 mph here just so you can get somewhere before next Tuesday.
/.
I'm not going to mention the ubiquitious morons on cellphones, dorks who are busy twiddling the knobs on their radio, or parents who are turned around, swatting at children in the back seat.
Observed on the road recently:
A driver who had his seat laid back so that he could watch a movie and drive. The LCD was mounted in a position that should have been behind his head.
A driver who had their newspaper spread across the steeringwheel, reading the paper.
A driver (male) with an electric shaver, shaving while driving on the freeway.
A driver (female) applying mascara while driving on the freeway.
A driver (male) filing papers in one of those expandable files while driving on the freeway.
More than one driver performing acts unsuitable for mention on
There's enough stuff to distract most people while they're driving now. You want to add a touch pad computer? and a printer? GAH! I can see some moron wrecking because he's trying to fix a paper jam.
Please tell me that none of this stuff (except maybe the GPS) will be functional while the car is in operation. Surely once you put it in "Drive", they can deactivate the devices.
2 cents,
Queen B