I wouldn't count the EULAs out just yet. The latest victory for them is the Blacksnow v Mythic Entertainment lawsuit that was mentioned here previously. (For those who can't remember and don't want to reread stuff, Blacksnow had people using macros and other aids to build characters fast within Mythic's Dark Age of Camelot MMORPG, and selling the characters and items for real world cash).
Mythic got a judge to rule that the arbitration clause in the EULA is legal and enforcable, and they (of course) expect that arbitration to conclude that the prohibition against item-selling is legal as well.
Yet another precedent of EULA enforcability and legality. Just one more reason to READ THE DAMN EULA.
If you can't read the EULA before you purchase the product, don't buy the product. If you do, tough shit if you can't get your money back. The product was obviously more important to you than protecting your rights.
Frankly, be glad you've waited until now to look into getting a Mac.
I grew up with Macs, and have many fond memories of those old days (when connectivity and interoperability weren't crucial situations) but frankly, OS 9 and back are just crap. Crap, crap, crap. No real multitasking. Random preference corruption. Extension conflicts arising out of the blue. Random crashes. Any application crashing kills the OS forcinga reboot. The damn Chooser just refusing to work. The fact that inserting a CD freezes the machine until it is finished mounting it.
To do any serious work other than Desktop Publishing or graphics/video processing work (word processing isn't serious work...it's menial idiot work that anything can do...I can do word processing on my Palm for goodness sake) the functionality had to be grafted onto the operating system, and it didn't work very well. Anything certainly COULD be done, but most of it is alot easier to do on another OS.
OS X changes all that. I do mostly Mac support these days, and we have one client that runs OS X on everything, and we have hardly hear from them unless they want a new machine installed, or their network is having issues. No problems with the OS that couldn't be solved with a quick page through the Admin Guide, and a little computing common sense.
I run OS X exclusively on my iBook, with OS 9 installed only so I can play all the old games I used to play when I was a kid. The only time I've had any problems was when I started deleting files instead of running an uninstall script for the Dev Tools. Aside from that, I've never once had a problem with it. I've had applications crash, but those were just beta browserware like Chimera. I've never had a kernel panic. Never a sad Mac. Nothing untoward at all, and I use this machine quite heavily (it's my laptop for consulting as well as personal stuff). I've compiled many programs for Linux that claimed no OS X support, but have run without a hitch. And for what doesn't compile out of the box, there's the fink project which ports a whole bunch of common open source software to OS X.
So basically, be glad you waited, it's actually a functional, stable operating system now.
If you're using a non-stable kernel, good luck to you! Personally, my data is far more valuable to trust to something like that. When the 2.6 kernels come out you may have a point. Otherwise, try again.
And "greatly improved" doesn't mean much. I can take just about any Firewire device on the planet and it works with zero configuration on my iBook. Support only means it will function. OS X does much more than "support" Firewire and USB.
I use Linux alot, on both Wintel and PPC architecture, but it takes a whole lot of time, effort, and study to get to the point where it's as easy to get working as OS X is. As the tired old adage goes, "Linux is only free if your time is worth nothing."
I would assume that the people who've bought this software for Windows consider it a big deal. For the most part, people generallydon't just port commercial software to a platform just because they feel like it. They do it because they've done or recieved some kind of market research that tells them that people will actually buy it.
The government is taking away the freedoms because a majority of the people who vote (who are the only ones who matter to the government...if don't vote (and no one is stopping you from voting for whatever reason) you have no say, and no right to complain IMNSHO) have voted these people into office. Opinion polls show strong support for the kinds of things that are happening nowadays wrt spying, reduced privacy, etc. If you don't like it, get off your ass and get out there and try to convince other people. If you can't, well it's a democracy, most votes wins. Don't like it? Go somewhere else. The gods know I've considered it on more than one occasion.
I've had some problems with anti-aliasing on laptops as well. While it looks a hell of alot nicer (browsing the web with Mozilla after using OmniWeb or Chimera is almost painfully ugly) it's much harder to read on my 12" iBook than on my Cube's 17" flat CRT, unless I lean in to it.
So you're okay with the DMCA then? How about the SSSCA?
I am against both the DMCA and the SSSCA. However, not supporting them doesn't mean that the former isn't a law, and if the latter passes it will be a law, and breaking the law is a crime. I've called my Senators and Representatives and registered my objections to the SSSCA, and I've given what support I can to those who are trying to get the DMCA repealed. What of actual usefulness have you done to try and get the laws changed/vetoed? Whining and breaking the laws don't count. I do not watch commercial television. I have been to two films in the past year, Spiderman and Attack of the Clones being neither of the films. I buy my DVDs and CDs used. The MPAA gets a fraction of a fraction of airtime with me.
I think it's funny that you'll blast me for supporting a business model. (No, I'm not supporting piracy, even though you're trying to twist my meanings to sound like I am.) Yet you seem to blindly support an industry that got the DMCA passed (our rights eroded away), along with the SSSCA (the rights to free-computing, gone.).
I'm not twisting your words. Do you seriously believe that Film88.com legally licensed the source material for their streams from the studios which own the films? Calling a spade a spade isn't supporting anyone. If the SSSCA passes, the digital economy will not exist for me. I will not buy any electronics (save small things like clocks, which the SSSCA restrictions will not hamper) or consume any media that my current hardware will not support. I won't buy anything new. And I'm OK with that. If the MPAA wants to shoot the US economy in the foot, that's their problem, not mine. I can get along just fine without any of this useless crap. I'm so sorry that you can't.
I want you to understand, though, that my story'd be a bit different if the MPAA respected the internet as a delivery device. If the MPAA had a site that did was Film88.com does, but charged $3 for the movies, then I'd be mad as hell at Film88 for what they're doing.
It is within the MPAA membership's legal rights to never ever release any of their content for distribution on the Internet. That's what copyright law is for. It give content owners control over distribution for a certain period of time. It's the same law that gives the GPL force. If one person loses those rights, everyone does, including you, if you ever deigned to create anything. They have decided that they do not want their films streamed over the Internet, publicly. Film88.com is ignoring the MPAA membership's rights under international copyright law. Iran may not be a signatory to that treaty, but I doubt it. More likely that they have much more lax enforcement, and an incentive to look the other way.
Why should the MPAA respect the Internet as your annointed content delivery system when you have no respect for them? Respect doesn't mean you like someone.
You're trying to make it sound like I'm some uncaring pirate who thinks everything should be free. That's not the case at all. I simply want a legal service like Film88. When that happens, I'll support it. Until then, the only thing that was preventing me from using Film88 was respect for the movie industry. They lost that when they tried to pass the SSSCA.
So start a legal service like Film88.com. Negotiate deals with the studios. Oh, right, you don't respect them. Well, see my previous comments as to why they don't care about you if you don't care about them. All's fair in love and war, eh?
You're an uncaring, greedy pirate who has delusions that you're Robin hood, when really you're just a spoiled brat, who wants everything the way you want it. Of course, anyone who doesn't immediately agree that yes, you should have everything exactly the way you want is your enemy. I feel sorry for your "friends".
I don't really care if you think that I'm a criminal or not. (To be clear, I have given no money to Film88.com. Like I'm giving my cc # to a server in Iran, heh.) If that's what the law says, fine! But I don't see how you'd expect anybody to support an industry that tried to take their rights away simply to support an outdated business model.
So why did you waste your time with the last five paragraphs if all you were going to do was agree with me. I DON'T support the MPAA and its ilk. However, not supporting doesn't mean supporting infringement of their rights. I greatly and fervently support that those rights be heavily reduced, but until that happens, they are their rights, and if you infringe them, you're a criminal. I'm a criminal. I've broken copyright law more times than I can remember. However, I'm neither ashamed of it, nor proud of it, nor in denial of the reality of the law.
I am not the threat. YOU are the threat for blindly siding with the organization that supports our government by paying millions of dollars to senators in order to get their way.
You, sir, are the threat, though mostly to yourself. I suggest you open your own blinded eyes and clear away some of your own prejudices and mistakes before you go on a crusade.
I know it's extreme to wipe the drive. I distrust most P2P software that much. Call me paranoid (hell, I'll call myself paranoid) but I just don't trust that Ad Aware knows all and sees all just because it sees a lot. I use Ad Aware, and it's a great tool. However, there have been spyware applications that uninstall/disable Ad Aware in the past, and following with my "plan for the worst" policy, I generally assume that more than a few other spyware companies have figured out how to disable/evade/uninstall Ad Aware. P2P software is the prime offender these days wrt having spyware apps attatched to them in new and evil ways, and I personally consider installing it the equivalent of your Windows machine playing Russian roulette. Also, that these companies are willing to bundle this spyware with their products doesn't make me trust their good will in coding. Don't know what back doors have been put in, so better safe than sorry.
The only P2P app that I've spent any real time with is eDonkey2000, as they have released Linux and OS X command-line versions of their software as well as the ad supported version, and there are some people who only use eDonkey that I download needed files from occasionally. No, I don't really trust it, and I kill it as soon as my downloads are finished, but it's slimmed down enough that I feel much safer with it than any of the other wastes of bits...
Hell, if surfing and e-mail is all you need, shell out a couple hundred bucks for an original bondi iMac 233, throw YellowDog Linux on there, and you've got a surfing (Mozilla/Netscape) and e-mail (Ximian Evolution) machine, all in one, not to mention one that can rip/play MP3s while you're doing that with some decent speakers. You can even carry it with you. Try lugging around a cheapass Dell like that.
I've got one sitting on my desk filling those simple roles quite nicely, and it didn't cost me a penny 'cause instead of throwing the old iMac away I just took it off my dad's hands. There are tons of the old iMacs lying around that are unloved. Go find one and make a friend for life!
Within the box your hardware came in there are 3 coupons for free software (OS) upgrades, that give it to you for basically the cost of shipping. Shill thyself out.
What we need is for people to understand is that most of the current crop of P2P software was designed either in a slipshod and dangerous manner, or intentionally maliciously.
Whenever I find anyone I know running P2P software, I recommend that they uninstall it completely (and if possible wipe and reinstall the hard drive, the gods knows what some of these "commercial" ones do to you) or failing that, I'll recommend that they strictly limit all sharing activity to a single folder, and to move all downloaded items out of it after they've finished, and to make sure that the software actually closes when you quit (many keep running I've found), and to quit immediately after you've finished.
I'd rather these people be seen as leeches than fall vitcim to any back doors that may have been programmed into them. Gnutella may be open source, but it's crap. Everything else I don't trust one single bit.
No, you're a consumer, rationalizing violation of international copyright agreements, because you want this service so bad.
You're rationalizing that because you want it enough, and they won't give it to you, breaking the law is OK. All you care about is whether someone can give you the goods, legally or not. That's a rationalization if I ever heard one.
I don't care if you have "0 sympathy" for anyone. The fact remains that you are breaking the law. Period. End of story. That makes you, under any definition I've seen of the word, a criminal. If you feel you have some moral authority to be a criminial, you can go on believing that and doing whatever the hell you want to do. Be my guest. However, don't be suprised if the companies whos legal rights you're infriging upon with your crime do their best to protect those rights. Kill or be killed, and you're an idiot if you believe the MPAA will or should just lie down and take it. It's their right and priviledge to fight like a mad dog for whatever they want, same as you.
Just don't try and spin your attitude toward this as some kind of passive resistance crap for the good of us all. It's very plain to me, and to the rest of the people reading this, that your motives in this matter are purely out of base self interest. You want your movies for cheap and if they aren't provided that way, by the gods you're going to make your own way to them. Learn a bit of self control. How about getting up the courage to actually not see whatever blockbuster movie the studios you hate so much are putting out. That hurts them far more in the end than you pirating. Sacrifice. It's a part of life.
Of course, neither those idiots like you, nor the MPAA appear to be familliar with the concept, so we're going to have to struggle with the karma your greed saddles all of us with. Thanks a bunch, pal.
I love how Mac users will defend the platform to the death, even when they're wrong.
I love how Windows and Linux users will do the exact same thing. It's certainly just as amusing to watch all the holier-than-thous fly this way and that. All these people who don't realize they're just as stupid as the next guy.
...for our little office here. It's really a great machine for businesses that already have a Mac presense, and for any who are moving into it. 1099 for the whole kit and kaboodle. It'll fit on any desktop. It's got more than enough power for anything aside from server stuff and serious film/video production work. No DVD, but for businesses, especially small businesses, that doesn't really matter a whole lot. It's got enough video memory to run the accellerated quartz features in Jaguar. We're going to be specing these things for serveral of our clients, and retiring the aging Cube we're using to pasture as a test machine and getting one for ourselves pretty soon. I'm just peeved that It's not gonna be mine.
Just got back from the local Apple store and they've got a couple of them out there. Really sweet little machines.
There isn't any quick-reference value to the book, because mostly because ssh has its own decent quick-reference in its man pages and the list of options you get just by typing "ssh". What this book is great for, and the reason why I bought it (and am in the middle of working my way through it, so a nice coincidence that a review of it got posted here) is that it's a great in-depth explanation of exactly how it works (for those who are either distrustful or just plain curious), and it exhaustively explains what all the various options mean, as opposed to stating what they do. For both the curious, and those who aren't intimately aquainted with the various security features that SSH allows you to do, it's really an invaluable reference. I was forced to find all this out the hard way, and I wish I'd known about this book back then as it would've saved me time, and would've made my life a lot easier. Now, I'm glad to have it to fulfill my curiosity about how it all works, without forcing me to read the code.
The "revelation" that Macs aren't inherently more immune to viruese is like someone revealing that all multicellular organisms are vulnerable to viruses.
Not news. Ye gods. Of COURSE the Mac platform is suceptible to viruses. Anything that accepts any kind of instruction set and has the ability to create data in some way is suceptible to viruses. The more of something there is, the more viruses "survive" long enough to mutate into new forms, 'cause there's really no point in creating a virus unless it's going to be released somehow. The smaller a population, the easier it is to defend against a viral invasion, as there are both less things to immunize (install anti-virus software on) and less potential hosts for the virus (making it alot harder for the virus to get a grip). Macs are currently less suceptible to viruses because there are less out there created for it and there are less Macs to put them on, and I would imagine that the only reason a virus writer writes a virus is to release it and cause havoc for whatever reason they may have, and there's a finite amount of havinc that you can create through a Mac virus. The only reason there haven't been more Linux viruses is because it's in relatively low numbers in comparison to Windows (as far as total machines with the system loaded, not any particular subset) and because of those low numbers and other reasons, Linux users take far more care of their PCs than most people who run Windows. Very few Linux users that I know aren't update freaks. Mac users are also a relatively rabid update community (see versiontracker) and that means a majority of the holes that viruses use to sink their teeth into systems just aren't there like they are on Windows boxes, which half the time haven't been updated at all since they installed the OS.
Then you either get a new ISP, start your own if there's none around (or start a grass roots movement to get an alternative provider in your area), drop the Internet altogether, or deal with it.
Those are your only choices. Unless you actually DO SOMETHING about what you complain about, then complaining is completely and uttterly useless. You're still giving money to them, that's all they care about. AT&T doesn't care one iota if you complain. They only care if you don't want their service. All the damn advertising is intended to convince you that you want/need their service. Once they've convinced you of that, all you're willing to do is complain about it, and they're having a nice chuckle at your rantings and ravings, because they know you're too spineless to do anything about it. How's it feel to be a slave to your broadband Internet, eh?
Not me. If broadband Internet service costs more than I'm willing to pay, then I'm just not going to have it. End of story. Thanks, have a nice day, AT&T. Dialup is plenty fine for me. It gets me my e-mail, basic web browsing, and the other small parts of the Internet that are actually useful, rather than the %99.99999999999 of it that is merely diversionary (like Slashdot).
If more people actually put their money where their big mouths are, things would be alot more resonable around here. However, America is the Land of Cheap Talk. No one bothers to follow through with anything. So companies happily continue to screw people over, because the people are too sheepish to do more than talk about it.
You, my complaining brethren are the problems. The devil didn't make you buy broadband. Either do something about it, or keep it down. Some of us are trying to live over here.
If anyone gets as incensed as you all were about it, I would certainly tell them to vote with their feet.
Matter of fact, when Comcast announced that they're working toward simmilar restrictions, there was alot of outrage, and alot of people told the whiners to vote with their feet.
Now, while a $7 surcharge for owning your cable modem isn't exactly nice, it's not nearly the kind of restriction that you aussies are feeling, or those waiting under the hammer of Time Warner and Comcast here. I can't imagine something like this is going to drive a whole lot of people off. That said, if someone does find it beyond the pale, then they damn well better "vote with their feet" as you put it and stop giving a company they can't stand their money.
China already has a national firewall. See also Saudi Arabia, and probably many other nations. Where have you been?
I believe it's only a matter of time until all countries firewall their Intenet access. The US will likely be forced to if the various copy-control bills are passed, because it will be illegal for anyone to download almost anything that doesn't have copy control support built in. They'll also likely be built to keep hostile nations out. It won't be the Iron Curtain. It's be the Iron Firewall. News flash people. The Internet is as much of a place as anyplace else. It can and will be controlled by whomever has the political clout to do so. All this free-love wishful thinking of the past few years is finally starting to be brought down, and the Internet shown for what it really is, just another piece of land to be grabbed, squatted, exploited, fought over, died for, invaded, and buried in. It's landfill. An internal virtual moon built by many people the world over, who didn't change into anything else just because they logged on the Internet.
Because it isn't the cost of the last-mile technologies that's the problem. It's NOT THE LAST MILE. OK? Are we clear on this?
The problem is the backbone. The connection to the rest of the Internet. Ever priced an OC3 lately? How many people going full blast on P2P stuff do you think it takes to fill one of those up? That's what is driving this. The original poster here was spot on. There _will_ eventually be a tierd access system, and personally, I'm all for it. If it avoids hard total bandwidth caps like most of the rest of the world, it's the lesser of two evils.
If you want real connectivity, get business class Internet, whethe DSL or whatever. If you can't afford it, tough shit pal. Welcome to the real world. Things cost people money. Comcast, Time Warner, and whomever else runs an Internet service is well within their rights to charge as much as they want for whatever they want. They're independent entities. It's up to you to decide whether or not you want the service enough to give them money for it. If you don't like it, think you can do a better job? Give it a shot. None of these companies was around 50 years ago. Who knows you might be the savior of the Internet. If the competition crushes you because no one wants your service? That's life in business, get used to it. If you happen to find out that these big companies are right, that you can't afford to give away that much bandwidth for $50, I expect a mea culpa submitted daily to Slashdot until they post it. If they crush you because of anti-competetive tactis, sue. If you lose the lawsuit and still can't abide the cost restrictions on the Internet you want, move elsewhere and try it again.
If unmetered Internet access is as important to all your lives as much as it appears to be, it would seem logical that you'd do everything in your power to see that you get it, as it seems you've already dedicated your lives to it.
...because the false negative percentage means that someone who is probably exceedingly dangerous has a 1-in-2 chance of getting past your system. Making sure that Joe Bob doesn't have a bomb is something we're already doing now. Grandmothers, Congressmen, children are being frisked for bombs. At least these fasle positives would be somewhat more understandable.
The false negatives just make an already porous system even more so because whatever face-recognition system that gets put in place would in all probability be relied on to make sure it at least didn't miss anyone. If these systems get in place, we'll be less secure, 'cause the guards won't be on as high an alert, thinking the cameras will do it all for them.
The reason that most the people who don't own a TiVO are bitching about it, is because this is why we don't have a TiVO.
While I think most of these people are going overboard (and if you bothered to read some of the posts, you'd realize that plenty of the people complaining on here do own TiVOs) I do agree with their basic loathing of this kind of remote control, even on this small scale.
Maybe I and those of similar mind are going to turn in to the new eccentric hermit anachronisms of the digital age, refusing to just get with the program, but I'm fine with that. I HATE people selling to me. I despise salesmen, especially having watched them throughout my short career in the dot-bomb. However, I realize that they're here to stay, and that its my responsibility to avoid them if it pisses me off that much. Deer don't assume that any wolves or puma that they smell or see are just wandering around because it's unethical to hunt deer. They run.
I also resent and avoid products where the original manufacturer can do anything without my approval, or somehow hamstrings itself so I can't use it later for whatever reason. My home (such as it is) is my refuge, and allowing some marketing manager to do anything with my stuff, even in an unobtrusive way, infringes on that in my view.
All this said, I do my best not to get too pissed off at this stuff. The various hardware hobbling bills scare me alot, but in the end, if they pass, I'll just not buy anything that's hobbled. There are more hardcopy books than I could ever read, even if they force all new books to be ebooks with face-recognition on who is licensed to read it. There are more old DVDs than I could ever watch. I still own a VCR. Of course, I imagine they could outlaw hardcopy books, old DVDs, and VCRs, but if that happens, we've got more problems than TiVO recording shows unasked for. Windows 98 will be the last Windows I use, as I refuse to run a system that stops working after I change my hardware any number of times. I have access to a pirate copy of XP, but I'm just not interested in the running battle. I have cable only for the modem, I don't even get any channels. I watch PBS over the air, and listen to NPR because I'm sick of the commercials elsewhere, and the commercials on PBS and NPR aren't the point of making a show like it is for commercial TV and radio. I watch movies on DVD bought generally second-hand. I play video games on my consoles when I want to play them, offline. I've got backups for when my hardware fails. (That's backup hardware, not burned copies) I deal with advertising on the Internet where it doesn't annoy me. If it goes beyond what I'm willing to deal with, I stop visiting the site, even if I like it. I used gamespot.com alot before the ads got too heavy for me to deal with, and I just stopped going. My life hasn't ended. I wake up in the morning. I don't know and don't care what I'm missing, 'cause as far as I'm concerned I'm missing nothing. I'm keeping what's important to me in mind and letting what isn't go, because it just isn't as important.
TiVO recording shows a sales weasel told it to record instead of you isn't something to get enraged about. If your TiVO is more important to you than making sure everything your home electronics does is specifically asked for by you, then don't worry about it. You're probably not worried about it, but in case you are relax. You're not evil or a bad person. I don't think you're a schill for the man. You've made your choice, I just expect you to live with your choices, and don't get pissed with anyone but yourself if the consequences of that choice aren't something you can deal with.
If sales weasels having the ability to decide what your machine records drives you more crazy than your PVR makes your life easier, do the only thing that matters to corporations and stop giving them your money, or give it to someone else. And don't complain about it, for goodness sake. The world is what it is, you made the choice to get rid of it or not, not the faceless corporation. No one yet is forcing you to do this, so take advantage of your freedom and don't.
You can't play DVDs on the Xbox without buying a seperate DVD remote. At least you can't buy it without likely invalidating your warranty or violating the DMCA or some such thing. I'm not an Xbox follower and haven't been following any of the mod sites, so there may be a homebrewed method of getting the DVD functionality to work.
The Playstation 1 hardware has been "obsolete" for several years, and I still use it regularly (though the particular PS1 hardware I'm using it built into my PS2...the games are what matters).
You want to talk about obsolete within a year, PC hardware is by far the worst offender in this case. I basically biult a new 1Ghz system about a year ago, maybe a little more, and while it wasn't state of the art, it was still up there. Now it's half as powerful as what I could get now, for less than what I paid for the 1Ghz chip and motherboard back then. Nevermind the fact that there have been _2_ new top-of-the-line nVidia graphics cards released since I built this computer. Consoles are bargains in comparison.
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I wouldn't count the EULAs out just yet. The latest victory for them is the Blacksnow v Mythic Entertainment lawsuit that was mentioned here previously. (For those who can't remember and don't want to reread stuff, Blacksnow had people using macros and other aids to build characters fast within Mythic's Dark Age of Camelot MMORPG, and selling the characters and items for real world cash).
Mythic got a judge to rule that the arbitration clause in the EULA is legal and enforcable, and they (of course) expect that arbitration to conclude that the prohibition against item-selling is legal as well.
Yet another precedent of EULA enforcability and legality. Just one more reason to READ THE DAMN EULA.
If you can't read the EULA before you purchase the product, don't buy the product. If you do, tough shit if you can't get your money back. The product was obviously more important to you than protecting your rights.
Frankly, be glad you've waited until now to look into getting a Mac.
I grew up with Macs, and have many fond memories of those old days (when connectivity and interoperability weren't crucial situations) but frankly, OS 9 and back are just crap. Crap, crap, crap. No real multitasking. Random preference corruption. Extension conflicts arising out of the blue. Random crashes. Any application crashing kills the OS forcinga reboot. The damn Chooser just refusing to work. The fact that inserting a CD freezes the machine until it is finished mounting it.
To do any serious work other than Desktop Publishing or graphics/video processing work (word processing isn't serious work...it's menial idiot work that anything can do...I can do word processing on my Palm for goodness sake) the functionality had to be grafted onto the operating system, and it didn't work very well. Anything certainly COULD be done, but most of it is alot easier to do on another OS.
OS X changes all that. I do mostly Mac support these days, and we have one client that runs OS X on everything, and we have hardly hear from them unless they want a new machine installed, or their network is having issues. No problems with the OS that couldn't be solved with a quick page through the Admin Guide, and a little computing common sense.
I run OS X exclusively on my iBook, with OS 9 installed only so I can play all the old games I used to play when I was a kid. The only time I've had any problems was when I started deleting files instead of running an uninstall script for the Dev Tools. Aside from that, I've never once had a problem with it. I've had applications crash, but those were just beta browserware like Chimera. I've never had a kernel panic. Never a sad Mac. Nothing untoward at all, and I use this machine quite heavily (it's my laptop for consulting as well as personal stuff). I've compiled many programs for Linux that claimed no OS X support, but have run without a hitch. And for what doesn't compile out of the box, there's the fink project which ports a whole bunch of common open source software to OS X.
So basically, be glad you waited, it's actually a functional, stable operating system now.
If you're using a non-stable kernel, good luck to you! Personally, my data is far more valuable to trust to something like that. When the 2.6 kernels come out you may have a point. Otherwise, try again.
And "greatly improved" doesn't mean much. I can take just about any Firewire device on the planet and it works with zero configuration on my iBook. Support only means it will function. OS X does much more than "support" Firewire and USB.
I use Linux alot, on both Wintel and PPC architecture, but it takes a whole lot of time, effort, and study to get to the point where it's as easy to get working as OS X is. As the tired old adage goes, "Linux is only free if your time is worth nothing."
I would assume that the people who've bought this software for Windows consider it a big deal. For the most part, people generallydon't just port commercial software to a platform just because they feel like it. They do it because they've done or recieved some kind of market research that tells them that people will actually buy it.
The government is taking away the freedoms because a majority of the people who vote (who are the only ones who matter to the government...if don't vote (and no one is stopping you from voting for whatever reason) you have no say, and no right to complain IMNSHO) have voted these people into office. Opinion polls show strong support for the kinds of things that are happening nowadays wrt spying, reduced privacy, etc. If you don't like it, get off your ass and get out there and try to convince other people. If you can't, well it's a democracy, most votes wins. Don't like it? Go somewhere else. The gods know I've considered it on more than one occasion.
I've had some problems with anti-aliasing on laptops as well. While it looks a hell of alot nicer (browsing the web with Mozilla after using OmniWeb or Chimera is almost painfully ugly) it's much harder to read on my 12" iBook than on my Cube's 17" flat CRT, unless I lean in to it.
So you're okay with the DMCA then? How about the SSSCA?
I am against both the DMCA and the SSSCA. However, not supporting them doesn't mean that the former isn't a law, and if the latter passes it will be a law, and breaking the law is a crime. I've called my Senators and Representatives and registered my objections to the SSSCA, and I've given what support I can to those who are trying to get the DMCA repealed. What of actual usefulness have you done to try and get the laws changed/vetoed? Whining and breaking the laws don't count. I do not watch commercial television. I have been to two films in the past year, Spiderman and Attack of the Clones being neither of the films. I buy my DVDs and CDs used. The MPAA gets a fraction of a fraction of airtime with me.
I think it's funny that you'll blast me for supporting a business model. (No, I'm not supporting piracy, even though you're trying to twist my meanings to sound like I am.) Yet you seem to blindly support an industry that got the DMCA passed (our rights eroded away), along with the SSSCA (the rights to free-computing, gone.).
I'm not twisting your words. Do you seriously believe that Film88.com legally licensed the source material for their streams from the studios which own the films? Calling a spade a spade isn't supporting anyone. If the SSSCA passes, the digital economy will not exist for me. I will not buy any electronics (save small things like clocks, which the SSSCA restrictions will not hamper) or consume any media that my current hardware will not support. I won't buy anything new. And I'm OK with that. If the MPAA wants to shoot the US economy in the foot, that's their problem, not mine. I can get along just fine without any of this useless crap. I'm so sorry that you can't.
I want you to understand, though, that my story'd be a bit different if the MPAA respected the internet as a delivery device. If the MPAA had a site that did was Film88.com does, but charged $3 for the movies, then I'd be mad as hell at Film88 for what they're doing.
It is within the MPAA membership's legal rights to never ever release any of their content for distribution on the Internet. That's what copyright law is for. It give content owners control over distribution for a certain period of time. It's the same law that gives the GPL force. If one person loses those rights, everyone does, including you, if you ever deigned to create anything. They have decided that they do not want their films streamed over the Internet, publicly. Film88.com is ignoring the MPAA membership's rights under international copyright law. Iran may not be a signatory to that treaty, but I doubt it. More likely that they have much more lax enforcement, and an incentive to look the other way.
Why should the MPAA respect the Internet as your annointed content delivery system when you have no respect for them? Respect doesn't mean you like someone.
You're trying to make it sound like I'm some uncaring pirate who thinks everything should be free. That's not the case at all. I simply want a legal service like Film88. When that happens, I'll support it. Until then, the only thing that was preventing me from using Film88 was respect for the movie industry. They lost that when they tried to pass the SSSCA.
So start a legal service like Film88.com. Negotiate deals with the studios. Oh, right, you don't respect them. Well, see my previous comments as to why they don't care about you if you don't care about them. All's fair in love and war, eh?
You're an uncaring, greedy pirate who has delusions that you're Robin hood, when really you're just a spoiled brat, who wants everything the way you want it. Of course, anyone who doesn't immediately agree that yes, you should have everything exactly the way you want is your enemy. I feel sorry for your "friends".
I don't really care if you think that I'm a criminal or not. (To be clear, I have given no money to Film88.com. Like I'm giving my cc # to a server in Iran, heh.) If that's what the law says, fine! But I don't see how you'd expect anybody to support an industry that tried to take their rights away simply to support an outdated business model.
So why did you waste your time with the last five paragraphs if all you were going to do was agree with me. I DON'T support the MPAA and its ilk. However, not supporting doesn't mean supporting infringement of their rights. I greatly and fervently support that those rights be heavily reduced, but until that happens, they are their rights, and if you infringe them, you're a criminal. I'm a criminal. I've broken copyright law more times than I can remember. However, I'm neither ashamed of it, nor proud of it, nor in denial of the reality of the law.
I am not the threat. YOU are the threat for blindly siding with the organization that supports our government by paying millions of dollars to senators in order to get their way.
You, sir, are the threat, though mostly to yourself. I suggest you open your own blinded eyes and clear away some of your own prejudices and mistakes before you go on a crusade.
I know it's extreme to wipe the drive. I distrust most P2P software that much. Call me paranoid (hell, I'll call myself paranoid) but I just don't trust that Ad Aware knows all and sees all just because it sees a lot. I use Ad Aware, and it's a great tool. However, there have been spyware applications that uninstall/disable Ad Aware in the past, and following with my "plan for the worst" policy, I generally assume that more than a few other spyware companies have figured out how to disable/evade/uninstall Ad Aware. P2P software is the prime offender these days wrt having spyware apps attatched to them in new and evil ways, and I personally consider installing it the equivalent of your Windows machine playing Russian roulette. Also, that these companies are willing to bundle this spyware with their products doesn't make me trust their good will in coding. Don't know what back doors have been put in, so better safe than sorry.
The only P2P app that I've spent any real time with is eDonkey2000, as they have released Linux and OS X command-line versions of their software as well as the ad supported version, and there are some people who only use eDonkey that I download needed files from occasionally. No, I don't really trust it, and I kill it as soon as my downloads are finished, but it's slimmed down enough that I feel much safer with it than any of the other wastes of bits...
Hell, if surfing and e-mail is all you need, shell out a couple hundred bucks for an original bondi iMac 233, throw YellowDog Linux on there, and you've got a surfing (Mozilla/Netscape) and e-mail (Ximian Evolution) machine, all in one, not to mention one that can rip/play MP3s while you're doing that with some decent speakers. You can even carry it with you. Try lugging around a cheapass Dell like that.
I've got one sitting on my desk filling those simple roles quite nicely, and it didn't cost me a penny 'cause instead of throwing the old iMac away I just took it off my dad's hands. There are tons of the old iMacs lying around that are unloved. Go find one and make a friend for life!
Within the box your hardware came in there are 3 coupons for free software (OS) upgrades, that give it to you for basically the cost of shipping. Shill thyself out.
What we need is for people to understand is that most of the current crop of P2P software was designed either in a slipshod and dangerous manner, or intentionally maliciously.
Whenever I find anyone I know running P2P software, I recommend that they uninstall it completely (and if possible wipe and reinstall the hard drive, the gods knows what some of these "commercial" ones do to you) or failing that, I'll recommend that they strictly limit all sharing activity to a single folder, and to move all downloaded items out of it after they've finished, and to make sure that the software actually closes when you quit (many keep running I've found), and to quit immediately after you've finished.
I'd rather these people be seen as leeches than fall vitcim to any back doors that may have been programmed into them. Gnutella may be open source, but it's crap. Everything else I don't trust one single bit.
No, you're a consumer, rationalizing violation of international copyright agreements, because you want this service so bad.
You're rationalizing that because you want it enough, and they won't give it to you, breaking the law is OK. All you care about is whether someone can give you the goods, legally or not. That's a rationalization if I ever heard one.
I don't care if you have "0 sympathy" for anyone. The fact remains that you are breaking the law. Period. End of story. That makes you, under any definition I've seen of the word, a criminal. If you feel you have some moral authority to be a criminial, you can go on believing that and doing whatever the hell you want to do. Be my guest. However, don't be suprised if the companies whos legal rights you're infriging upon with your crime do their best to protect those rights. Kill or be killed, and you're an idiot if you believe the MPAA will or should just lie down and take it. It's their right and priviledge to fight like a mad dog for whatever they want, same as you.
Just don't try and spin your attitude toward this as some kind of passive resistance crap for the good of us all. It's very plain to me, and to the rest of the people reading this, that your motives in this matter are purely out of base self interest. You want your movies for cheap and if they aren't provided that way, by the gods you're going to make your own way to them. Learn a bit of self control. How about getting up the courage to actually not see whatever blockbuster movie the studios you hate so much are putting out. That hurts them far more in the end than you pirating. Sacrifice. It's a part of life.
Of course, neither those idiots like you, nor the MPAA appear to be familliar with the concept, so we're going to have to struggle with the karma your greed saddles all of us with. Thanks a bunch, pal.
I love how Mac users will defend the platform to the death, even when they're wrong.
I love how Windows and Linux users will do the exact same thing. It's certainly just as amusing to watch all the holier-than-thous fly this way and that. All these people who don't realize they're just as stupid as the next guy.
...for our little office here. It's really a great machine for businesses that already have a Mac presense, and for any who are moving into it. 1099 for the whole kit and kaboodle. It'll fit on any desktop. It's got more than enough power for anything aside from server stuff and serious film/video production work. No DVD, but for businesses, especially small businesses, that doesn't really matter a whole lot. It's got enough video memory to run the accellerated quartz features in Jaguar. We're going to be specing these things for serveral of our clients, and retiring the aging Cube we're using to pasture as a test machine and getting one for ourselves pretty soon. I'm just peeved that It's not gonna be mine.
Just got back from the local Apple store and they've got a couple of them out there. Really sweet little machines.
There isn't any quick-reference value to the book, because mostly because ssh has its own decent quick-reference in its man pages and the list of options you get just by typing "ssh". What this book is great for, and the reason why I bought it (and am in the middle of working my way through it, so a nice coincidence that a review of it got posted here) is that it's a great in-depth explanation of exactly how it works (for those who are either distrustful or just plain curious), and it exhaustively explains what all the various options mean, as opposed to stating what they do. For both the curious, and those who aren't intimately aquainted with the various security features that SSH allows you to do, it's really an invaluable reference. I was forced to find all this out the hard way, and I wish I'd known about this book back then as it would've saved me time, and would've made my life a lot easier. Now, I'm glad to have it to fulfill my curiosity about how it all works, without forcing me to read the code.
The "revelation" that Macs aren't inherently more immune to viruese is like someone revealing that all multicellular organisms are vulnerable to viruses.
Not news. Ye gods. Of COURSE the Mac platform is suceptible to viruses. Anything that accepts any kind of instruction set and has the ability to create data in some way is suceptible to viruses. The more of something there is, the more viruses "survive" long enough to mutate into new forms, 'cause there's really no point in creating a virus unless it's going to be released somehow. The smaller a population, the easier it is to defend against a viral invasion, as there are both less things to immunize (install anti-virus software on) and less potential hosts for the virus (making it alot harder for the virus to get a grip). Macs are currently less suceptible to viruses because there are less out there created for it and there are less Macs to put them on, and I would imagine that the only reason a virus writer writes a virus is to release it and cause havoc for whatever reason they may have, and there's a finite amount of havinc that you can create through a Mac virus. The only reason there haven't been more Linux viruses is because it's in relatively low numbers in comparison to Windows (as far as total machines with the system loaded, not any particular subset) and because of those low numbers and other reasons, Linux users take far more care of their PCs than most people who run Windows. Very few Linux users that I know aren't update freaks. Mac users are also a relatively rabid update community (see versiontracker) and that means a majority of the holes that viruses use to sink their teeth into systems just aren't there like they are on Windows boxes, which half the time haven't been updated at all since they installed the OS.
Then you either get a new ISP, start your own if there's none around (or start a grass roots movement to get an alternative provider in your area), drop the Internet altogether, or deal with it.
Those are your only choices. Unless you actually DO SOMETHING about what you complain about, then complaining is completely and uttterly useless. You're still giving money to them, that's all they care about. AT&T doesn't care one iota if you complain. They only care if you don't want their service. All the damn advertising is intended to convince you that you want/need their service. Once they've convinced you of that, all you're willing to do is complain about it, and they're having a nice chuckle at your rantings and ravings, because they know you're too spineless to do anything about it. How's it feel to be a slave to your broadband Internet, eh?
Not me. If broadband Internet service costs more than I'm willing to pay, then I'm just not going to have it. End of story. Thanks, have a nice day, AT&T. Dialup is plenty fine for me. It gets me my e-mail, basic web browsing, and the other small parts of the Internet that are actually useful, rather than the %99.99999999999 of it that is merely diversionary (like Slashdot).
If more people actually put their money where their big mouths are, things would be alot more resonable around here. However, America is the Land of Cheap Talk. No one bothers to follow through with anything. So companies happily continue to screw people over, because the people are too sheepish to do more than talk about it.
You, my complaining brethren are the problems. The devil didn't make you buy broadband. Either do something about it, or keep it down. Some of us are trying to live over here.
If anyone gets as incensed as you all were about it, I would certainly tell them to vote with their feet.
Matter of fact, when Comcast announced that they're working toward simmilar restrictions, there was alot of outrage, and alot of people told the whiners to vote with their feet.
Now, while a $7 surcharge for owning your cable modem isn't exactly nice, it's not nearly the kind of restriction that you aussies are feeling, or those waiting under the hammer of Time Warner and Comcast here. I can't imagine something like this is going to drive a whole lot of people off. That said, if someone does find it beyond the pale, then they damn well better "vote with their feet" as you put it and stop giving a company they can't stand their money.
China already has a national firewall. See also Saudi Arabia, and probably many other nations. Where have you been?
I believe it's only a matter of time until all countries firewall their Intenet access. The US will likely be forced to if the various copy-control bills are passed, because it will be illegal for anyone to download almost anything that doesn't have copy control support built in. They'll also likely be built to keep hostile nations out. It won't be the Iron Curtain. It's be the Iron Firewall. News flash people. The Internet is as much of a place as anyplace else. It can and will be controlled by whomever has the political clout to do so. All this free-love wishful thinking of the past few years is finally starting to be brought down, and the Internet shown for what it really is, just another piece of land to be grabbed, squatted, exploited, fought over, died for, invaded, and buried in. It's landfill. An internal virtual moon built by many people the world over, who didn't change into anything else just because they logged on the Internet.
Because it isn't the cost of the last-mile technologies that's the problem. It's NOT THE LAST MILE. OK? Are we clear on this?
The problem is the backbone. The connection to the rest of the Internet. Ever priced an OC3 lately? How many people going full blast on P2P stuff do you think it takes to fill one of those up? That's what is driving this. The original poster here was spot on. There _will_ eventually be a tierd access system, and personally, I'm all for it. If it avoids hard total bandwidth caps like most of the rest of the world, it's the lesser of two evils.
If you want real connectivity, get business class Internet, whethe DSL or whatever. If you can't afford it, tough shit pal. Welcome to the real world. Things cost people money. Comcast, Time Warner, and whomever else runs an Internet service is well within their rights to charge as much as they want for whatever they want. They're independent entities. It's up to you to decide whether or not you want the service enough to give them money for it. If you don't like it, think you can do a better job? Give it a shot. None of these companies was around 50 years ago. Who knows you might be the savior of the Internet. If the competition crushes you because no one wants your service? That's life in business, get used to it. If you happen to find out that these big companies are right, that you can't afford to give away that much bandwidth for $50, I expect a mea culpa submitted daily to Slashdot until they post it. If they crush you because of anti-competetive tactis, sue. If you lose the lawsuit and still can't abide the cost restrictions on the Internet you want, move elsewhere and try it again.
If unmetered Internet access is as important to all your lives as much as it appears to be, it would seem logical that you'd do everything in your power to see that you get it, as it seems you've already dedicated your lives to it.
...because the false negative percentage means that someone who is probably exceedingly dangerous has a 1-in-2 chance of getting past your system. Making sure that Joe Bob doesn't have a bomb is something we're already doing now. Grandmothers, Congressmen, children are being frisked for bombs. At least these fasle positives would be somewhat more understandable.
The false negatives just make an already porous system even more so because whatever face-recognition system that gets put in place would in all probability be relied on to make sure it at least didn't miss anyone. If these systems get in place, we'll be less secure, 'cause the guards won't be on as high an alert, thinking the cameras will do it all for them.
The reason that most the people who don't own a TiVO are bitching about it, is because this is why we don't have a TiVO.
While I think most of these people are going overboard (and if you bothered to read some of the posts, you'd realize that plenty of the people complaining on here do own TiVOs) I do agree with their basic loathing of this kind of remote control, even on this small scale.
Maybe I and those of similar mind are going to turn in to the new eccentric hermit anachronisms of the digital age, refusing to just get with the program, but I'm fine with that. I HATE people selling to me. I despise salesmen, especially having watched them throughout my short career in the dot-bomb. However, I realize that they're here to stay, and that its my responsibility to avoid them if it pisses me off that much. Deer don't assume that any wolves or puma that they smell or see are just wandering around because it's unethical to hunt deer. They run.
I also resent and avoid products where the original manufacturer can do anything without my approval, or somehow hamstrings itself so I can't use it later for whatever reason. My home (such as it is) is my refuge, and allowing some marketing manager to do anything with my stuff, even in an unobtrusive way, infringes on that in my view.
All this said, I do my best not to get too pissed off at this stuff. The various hardware hobbling bills scare me alot, but in the end, if they pass, I'll just not buy anything that's hobbled. There are more hardcopy books than I could ever read, even if they force all new books to be ebooks with face-recognition on who is licensed to read it. There are more old DVDs than I could ever watch. I still own a VCR. Of course, I imagine they could outlaw hardcopy books, old DVDs, and VCRs, but if that happens, we've got more problems than TiVO recording shows unasked for. Windows 98 will be the last Windows I use, as I refuse to run a system that stops working after I change my hardware any number of times. I have access to a pirate copy of XP, but I'm just not interested in the running battle. I have cable only for the modem, I don't even get any channels. I watch PBS over the air, and listen to NPR because I'm sick of the commercials elsewhere, and the commercials on PBS and NPR aren't the point of making a show like it is for commercial TV and radio. I watch movies on DVD bought generally second-hand. I play video games on my consoles when I want to play them, offline. I've got backups for when my hardware fails. (That's backup hardware, not burned copies) I deal with advertising on the Internet where it doesn't annoy me. If it goes beyond what I'm willing to deal with, I stop visiting the site, even if I like it. I used gamespot.com alot before the ads got too heavy for me to deal with, and I just stopped going. My life hasn't ended. I wake up in the morning. I don't know and don't care what I'm missing, 'cause as far as I'm concerned I'm missing nothing. I'm keeping what's important to me in mind and letting what isn't go, because it just isn't as important.
TiVO recording shows a sales weasel told it to record instead of you isn't something to get enraged about. If your TiVO is more important to you than making sure everything your home electronics does is specifically asked for by you, then don't worry about it. You're probably not worried about it, but in case you are relax. You're not evil or a bad person. I don't think you're a schill for the man. You've made your choice, I just expect you to live with your choices, and don't get pissed with anyone but yourself if the consequences of that choice aren't something you can deal with.
If sales weasels having the ability to decide what your machine records drives you more crazy than your PVR makes your life easier, do the only thing that matters to corporations and stop giving them your money, or give it to someone else. And don't complain about it, for goodness sake. The world is what it is, you made the choice to get rid of it or not, not the faceless corporation. No one yet is forcing you to do this, so take advantage of your freedom and don't.
You can't play DVDs on the Xbox without buying a seperate DVD remote. At least you can't buy it without likely invalidating your warranty or violating the DMCA or some such thing. I'm not an Xbox follower and haven't been following any of the mod sites, so there may be a homebrewed method of getting the DVD functionality to work.
The Playstation 1 hardware has been "obsolete" for several years, and I still use it regularly (though the particular PS1 hardware I'm using it built into my PS2...the games are what matters).
You want to talk about obsolete within a year, PC hardware is by far the worst offender in this case. I basically biult a new 1Ghz system about a year ago, maybe a little more, and while it wasn't state of the art, it was still up there. Now it's half as powerful as what I could get now, for less than what I paid for the 1Ghz chip and motherboard back then. Nevermind the fact that there have been _2_ new top-of-the-line nVidia graphics cards released since I built this computer. Consoles are bargains in comparison.