If that is true, he's copying from Sun who sort
of did the same to the Blackdown team. It would
be another example of Microsoft co-opting other
companies' business practices.:)
I personally would like to download it now, but
I would definitely see it in the theatre when it
comes out. BTW, see anybody offering divx's of
Battlefield Earth (except the "Church" of
$cientology, Inc.)? Thought not.
billg complained that people were copying
his executable software at computer fairs. At
that time I'm sure he didn't have the faintest
idea of distributing source. First of all many
people didn't have compilers and secondly why
would anybody just give _anything_ away?
Open source wasn't (and still isn't!) something
that most people in the bitty box world are
familiar with. From personal experience, during
my days on consumer-level boxes and OS's, the
lowest programmer wouldn't release his code
because he thought shareware would make him the
next billg. Source was something that was hidden,
only to be recovered by one's effort in cracking
so-called copy protection. Today, trivial
programs for Windows still ask for users to
'purchase' the software, and tons of websites
have their unlock codes. This situation doesn't
help anybody. It leads to tons of duplication,
software that isn't as good as it could be and
programmers that code isolated from anybody else.
When I got to university, I suddenly had access
to a vast library of commercial quality Free
software. I can't tell you what an enriching (I'm
not talking about money) experience it was for me
to have a community that helped each other. Even
though source was distributed, the programmers'
effort was recognised and programmers gained
valuable experience. However, it took the
proliferation of the Internet to bring such
thought to the consumer and business world, and
_now_ we have billg fighting to keep his business
alive in the face of vibrantly developed Free
software that works better than the sludge he
sells.
It's so expensive here apparently because US
banks can get away with it. The general
population is much more wary of anything they
don't hold in their hands, such as checks. If
there's not much demand for wire transfers,
there's no competition, ergo the prices remain
high.
BTW, a wire transfer takes several days here in
the US, it is cheaper to send a cheque via
overnight courier ($10).
As for automatic bill payment, several banks are
offering bank-by-computer setups, but (unless the
vendor being paid has their account at the
institution you use), your bank will mail
cheques. Totally automatic payment, though, will
probably not catch on here given the current
state of affairs with differing jurisdictions,
and the fact that many people only carry minimal
balances which enter overdraft (along with
outrageous fees) if an incorrect booking is made,
whereas in Germany at least chequing accounts
have an automatic line of credit associated with
them.
Personally, I try to have vendors charge the bill
to my credit card to reduce the number of cheques
I have to mail. A benefit of this is that the
rules for disputes have been set by the federal
government and are quite clear cut.
I've seen many region one CDs that have French
audio, and almost all have French subtitles. But
it doesn't really matter: Region encoding only
benefits the studios, while any region 1 consumer
who isn't anglophone gets screwed by either his
preferred language being absent or in an inferior
sound mix.
I don't know how old you are, since you might
have forgotten how it was being a teenager, but
the fact is in the US that juveniles have
absolutely no rights, but full responsibility. So
in other words, they are only treated like adults
if it is to their disadvantage. In a school
environment this is primarily due to the notion
that school employees are acting as parents (a
concept which doesn't exist, or has been
invalidated within the past 50 years in many
countries).
BTW, the 'magic cutoff' is not 18 years. In the
US, surviving to the age of 18 gives you the
right to vote (and whatever rights your state may
give you at that time). The age of majority is
still 21 in most places.
First of all, McDonalds used to sell coffee at 94
degrees Celsius, apparently so you could carry it
around for an hour until it was ready to drink.
At those temperatures, even a slight lapse in
care (not even into 'unreasonable' level) can
(and did in that lady's case) lead to very
serious burns. Other coffee vendors sell coffee
at much lower temperatures that, if spilled,
would hurt a lot but not cause the damage that
lady suffered. You should see what happened to
her before you spout off the old 'it's all her
fault' line.
Secondly, the recorded moving sidewalk messages
are a convenient HINT for people. It would be
something vastly different if it were law
(enforced on the spot), that everybody on a
moving walkway would have to keep their eyes down
to look for the end of it.
Slashdot Mirror
Open source wasn't (and still isn't!) something that most people in the bitty box world are familiar with. From personal experience, during my days on consumer-level boxes and OS's, the lowest programmer wouldn't release his code because he thought shareware would make him the next billg. Source was something that was hidden, only to be recovered by one's effort in cracking so-called copy protection. Today, trivial programs for Windows still ask for users to 'purchase' the software, and tons of websites have their unlock codes. This situation doesn't help anybody. It leads to tons of duplication, software that isn't as good as it could be and programmers that code isolated from anybody else.
When I got to university, I suddenly had access to a vast library of commercial quality Free software. I can't tell you what an enriching (I'm not talking about money) experience it was for me to have a community that helped each other. Even though source was distributed, the programmers' effort was recognised and programmers gained valuable experience. However, it took the proliferation of the Internet to bring such thought to the consumer and business world, and _now_ we have billg fighting to keep his business alive in the face of vibrantly developed Free software that works better than the sludge he sells.
What a great trip it's been (and still is!)
http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Projects/hyperx/developme nts.html
Currently, there is no information on the destruction of the vehicle there yet, but will probably be posted soon.
BTW, a wire transfer takes several days here in the US, it is cheaper to send a cheque via overnight courier ($10).
As for automatic bill payment, several banks are offering bank-by-computer setups, but (unless the vendor being paid has their account at the institution you use), your bank will mail cheques. Totally automatic payment, though, will probably not catch on here given the current state of affairs with differing jurisdictions, and the fact that many people only carry minimal balances which enter overdraft (along with outrageous fees) if an incorrect booking is made, whereas in Germany at least chequing accounts have an automatic line of credit associated with them.
Personally, I try to have vendors charge the bill to my credit card to reduce the number of cheques I have to mail. A benefit of this is that the rules for disputes have been set by the federal government and are quite clear cut.
Don't think so. GPL covered code can be linked to non-free libraries (like vendor's libc) when the GPL code is of higher level.
I've seen many region one CDs that have French audio, and almost all have French subtitles. But it doesn't really matter: Region encoding only benefits the studios, while any region 1 consumer who isn't anglophone gets screwed by either his preferred language being absent or in an inferior sound mix.
Seems somewhat inefficient to me, sending out whole DVD players instead of just the chip... Not exactly cheap, they are.
"Johnny, you gotta balance the juice with some Mountain Dew, you know!"
BTW, the 'magic cutoff' is not 18 years. In the US, surviving to the age of 18 gives you the right to vote (and whatever rights your state may give you at that time). The age of majority is still 21 in most places.
Secondly, the recorded moving sidewalk messages are a convenient HINT for people. It would be something vastly different if it were law (enforced on the spot), that everybody on a moving walkway would have to keep their eyes down to look for the end of it.
Wasn't the War Powers Act a 1970s law passed by the Congress to limit the President's power to wage unlimited undeclared war?
... So don't be shocked if the Harry Fox Agency puts and end to Gracenote and FreeDB because all the name and artist of cd tracks are belong to them.