Re:This is what is wrong with this idea.
on
ICANN Meets Annan
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· Score: 4, Insightful
With all the problems that go on in the UN why are they a better choice then the US.
Because then it wouldn't be a single country forcing its view of how things should be done on everyone else?
The UN has got a lot of criticism recently for being slow. Of course it is quicker and easier to make unilateral decisions. Getting consensus with a large group takes time.
The UN might be in considerably better shape if the USA put it weight behind it and didn't try to put it down all the time. There has been a lot more UN bashing recently since Bush got into power. It's not really suprising when you consider he had hardly been outside of the USA before he became president - an increadible state of affaird for a country that traditionally has been so good at foreign policy.
Lawmakers report that their constituents are angry about cable bills that have risen at three times the rate of inflation since the industry was largely deregulated in 1996.
I thought the theory was that unregulated markets drove down prices and were good for consumers...
Kinda like how in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, a company has trademarked a name like "windows", even when window has meant something very specific in the rest of the English-speaking world for hundreds of years?
No, not like that at all. If you can't see how that is different then I can't help you.
If the product produced is the same, then what's left when you peel away the GI onion is bald-faced protectionism.
So if I make a product in the same way as Pepsi, I can call it Pepsi? Oh, no, of course not. Is the Pepsi company a bald-faced protectionist for not letting me do this? Of course not.
We are talking about names here. Names with specific meanings. Parmesan cheese literally means "Cheese from Parma". I can't sell a product "Made in the USA" if it isn't actually made there, so why should American companies be able to sell "Made in Parma" products?
Do you have a problem if it's the SAME KIND of cheese, just made somewhere else?
What we are talking about mostly is a lot of very high quality food products that are linked to specific regions of Europe of the same name. How would you qualify, and regulate, the concept of "same kind"?
The problem here is one of perception in the USA. Most Americans can clearly see that if I started making, say, a fizzy drink and I called it Pepsi, that would clearly not be "right", both legally and morally. Well, when companies in other countries start making cheeses (for instance) exploiting the good names of Euopean cheeses that have been around for generations, then that is cearly not right either. The problem is that there has been no legal protection for these names. That is what GI addresses.
this is the same protectionist EU which is absolutely drunk in love with GI (geographic indicators).
Geographic Indicators are a good idea. If the packet says parmesan cheese, that's what I want, not some inferior cheese that has chosen to exploit the popularity of parmesan. The crazy thing is that in the USA, a company can Trademark a name like "parmesan", even when parmesan has meant something very specific in the rest of the world for hundreds of years.
I think the reason the US doesn't like GI is because it doesn't have so many food products that are linked to a region like Europe does. But really, if the USA expects everyone to respect their trademarks, they should respect our product labels too. Come up with your own names for stuff, don't rip off names that have been respected in Europe for generations.
Here in Spain (you should be aware of the recent goings on) when the protests broke out just before the elections, some commentators said it was due to email and mobile phones being used to organise the protests. Not in my experience it wasn't -- it was people banging on my door and ringing my doorbell, and people tooting their cars horns and shouting up from the street. Emails didn't cause the protests, it was the blatent lies of the government on the eve of an election.
Since the late 90's people have been saying "Linux will be ready for the desktop in a few years". I realised the epoch defining moment would be when the major PC manufacturers started ship Linux on the desktop in a big way.
Folks. This is it. The real battle has just begun.
people give you very weird looks when you tell them you don't use windows
Yes. I had to suffer my sister lecuring me about how clever Microsoft was to "invent" Windows and the web (Internet Explorer == web), and she rolled her eyes in disbelief when I tried to explain to her that they didn't actually invent them.
I've contended for years that computing in general has been held back by Microsoft, not pushed forward, and this is an example of just how that has been the case.
I think the clearest demonstrator that Microsoft has held back innovation is PowerPoint. Because it is virtually installed as default on all business machines, everyone uses it. Microsoft has had little motivation to update it, so it still functions like a piece of software from ten years ago. But ask any graphic designer about it and they will free out about how impossibly sh*t it is for creating presentations, especially bearing in mind the amazing graphics computers are capable of these days. And yet where is the strong competition for PowerPoint? There isn't one, because it is impossible to compete with the kind of product bundling Microsoft can get away with.
I really miss the days when screens were created from proportionally spaced fonts. When you would draw boxes on the screen with special table drawing fonts or by changing the background and foreground colours ("teletex style"). You very rarely see that these days, which is a real shame because not only is it very efficient and simple from a programming point of view, but a well designed screen in that style can be very pleasing on the eye.
It's a shame that the only proportionally spaced web font accessible to designers is courier, which sucks. Lucida Console is nicer but not available on all systems.
Anyone know of any web sites designed with proportionally spaced fonts?
Until very recently, the process completely sucked.
I take that back. It still completely sucks!
I just tried to install the latest version of java from Java.com (which does look very pretty) and the installer halted half way through with an unhelpful error. Both times I tried.
Sun please get a clue. Having nice technology means zilch if you fail on essentials like making it easy to install.
Great, now we're going to get UI innovations from Sun?
Yep, Sun are terrible at usability.
It's like with Java on the desktop. Did you ever try to install Sun's Java on a Windows machine so that web applets work? Until very recently, the process completely sucked. If you came across a web page that required a Java applet, and went to Sun to download it, it would be "Choose which you require; Java SR1.4 (dev. rel. 3), Java XYZ 2.0 developers kit, or Java standalone ABC 2 (abridged edition)" or some crap like that and a normal Joe wouldn't have a clue which to download to get Java working in the web browser. It was almost as if they wanted it to fail.
I think the sentiments from which Open Source benefits are directed against the dealings of a number of big software companies, not against the fact that most of these are American.
I agree. Anytime anyone disagrees with anything done in the name of the USA or by an American or American company, these days you are accused of begin "anti-American". It is rather like anyone who criticises some of the actions of Israel being accused of being an antisemite.
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With all the problems that go on in the UN why are they a better choice then the US.
Because then it wouldn't be a single country forcing its view of how things should be done on everyone else?
The UN has got a lot of criticism recently for being slow. Of course it is quicker and easier to make unilateral decisions. Getting consensus with a large group takes time.
The UN might be in considerably better shape if the USA put it weight behind it and didn't try to put it down all the time. There has been a lot more UN bashing recently since Bush got into power. It's not really suprising when you consider he had hardly been outside of the USA before he became president - an increadible state of affaird for a country that traditionally has been so good at foreign policy.
Lawmakers report that their constituents are angry about cable bills that have risen at three times the rate of inflation since the industry was largely deregulated in 1996.
I thought the theory was that unregulated markets drove down prices and were good for consumers...
If I were an investor, I would be asking why Robert didn't take a week and educate himself before bowing to SCO.
If I were an investor, I would be happy to have found a businessman who will admit to his mistakes.
If your product is so good that it can be branded, then do so and make a mint. Look at Brut Champagne.
This is very funny. You obviously don't understand why this should be funny, and I'm not going to explain, since I am apparently an idiot.
Good day to you sir.
Kinda like how in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, a company has trademarked a name like "windows", even when window has meant something very specific in the rest of the English-speaking world for hundreds of years?
No, not like that at all. If you can't see how that is different then I can't help you.
If the product produced is the same, then what's left when you peel away the GI onion is bald-faced protectionism.
So if I make a product in the same way as Pepsi, I can call it Pepsi? Oh, no, of course not. Is the Pepsi company a bald-faced protectionist for not letting me do this? Of course not.
We are talking about names here. Names with specific meanings. Parmesan cheese literally means "Cheese from Parma". I can't sell a product "Made in the USA" if it isn't actually made there, so why should American companies be able to sell "Made in Parma" products?
Do you have a problem if it's the SAME KIND of cheese, just made somewhere else?
What we are talking about mostly is a lot of very high quality food products that are linked to specific regions of Europe of the same name. How would you qualify, and regulate, the concept of "same kind"?
The problem here is one of perception in the USA. Most Americans can clearly see that if I started making, say, a fizzy drink and I called it Pepsi, that would clearly not be "right", both legally and morally. Well, when companies in other countries start making cheeses (for instance) exploiting the good names of Euopean cheeses that have been around for generations, then that is cearly not right either. The problem is that there has been no legal protection for these names. That is what GI addresses.
this is the same protectionist EU which is absolutely drunk in love with GI (geographic indicators).
Geographic Indicators are a good idea. If the packet says parmesan cheese, that's what I want, not some inferior cheese that has chosen to exploit the popularity of parmesan. The crazy thing is that in the USA, a company can Trademark a name like "parmesan", even when parmesan has meant something very specific in the rest of the world for hundreds of years.
I think the reason the US doesn't like GI is because it doesn't have so many food products that are linked to a region like Europe does. But really, if the USA expects everyone to respect their trademarks, they should respect our product labels too. Come up with your own names for stuff, don't rip off names that have been respected in Europe for generations.
The size of the fine is peanuts to MS
Why do people keep saying this? It's not peanuts, not to Microsoft, not to anyone. It is a considerable fine.
Here in Spain (you should be aware of the recent goings on) when the protests broke out just before the elections, some commentators said it was due to email and mobile phones being used to organise the protests. Not in my experience it wasn't -- it was people banging on my door and ringing my doorbell, and people tooting their cars horns and shouting up from the street. Emails didn't cause the protests, it was the blatent lies of the government on the eve of an election.
This is the moment I have been waiting for.
Since the late 90's people have been saying "Linux will be ready for the desktop in a few years". I realised the epoch defining moment would be when the major PC manufacturers started ship Linux on the desktop in a big way.
Folks. This is it. The real battle has just begun.
Yes, it only runs on Macs.
Apple has about 5% of the desktop market doesn't it? Like I said, there is no strong competition for PowerPoint.
So that is my suggestion. Microsoft should do everything by mime.
But then someone might video it! Of course if they switched the lights off then you could still video it with an IR camera.
So I really think that Microsoft executives should conduct their business in mime, with the lights off, wrapped in tin foil.
people give you very weird looks when you tell them you don't use windows
Yes. I had to suffer my sister lecuring me about how clever Microsoft was to "invent" Windows and the web (Internet Explorer == web), and she rolled her eyes in disbelief when I tried to explain to her that they didn't actually invent them.
I've contended for years that computing in general has been held back by Microsoft, not pushed forward, and this is an example of just how that has been the case.
I think the clearest demonstrator that Microsoft has held back innovation is PowerPoint. Because it is virtually installed as default on all business machines, everyone uses it. Microsoft has had little motivation to update it, so it still functions like a piece of software from ten years ago. But ask any graphic designer about it and they will free out about how impossibly sh*t it is for creating presentations, especially bearing in mind the amazing graphics computers are capable of these days. And yet where is the strong competition for PowerPoint? There isn't one, because it is impossible to compete with the kind of product bundling Microsoft can get away with.
Trying to intimidate the guy who would kidnap misbehaving Intel employees and keep them locked in his cellar in Oregon for weeks on end?
Sounds interesting. Reference?
Why is this going to be any different than Dells attempt at selling Linux Based PC's ?
1) Dell got slapped down by Microsoft, which probably wouldn't happen now.
2) Dell's attempt was half-hearted.
3) It was quite a long time ago. Linux has improved considerably since then.
I think you mean monospaced fonts, kind of like this!
Damn it you're right! Now I feel dumb...
I really miss the days when screens were created from proportionally spaced fonts. When you would draw boxes on the screen with special table drawing fonts or by changing the background and foreground colours ("teletex style"). You very rarely see that these days, which is a real shame because not only is it very efficient and simple from a programming point of view, but a well designed screen in that style can be very pleasing on the eye.
It's a shame that the only proportionally spaced web font accessible to designers is courier, which sucks. Lucida Console is nicer but not available on all systems.
Anyone know of any web sites designed with proportionally spaced fonts?
Until very recently, the process completely sucked.
I take that back. It still completely sucks!
I just tried to install the latest version of java from Java.com (which does look very pretty) and the installer halted half way through with an unhelpful error. Both times I tried.
Sun please get a clue. Having nice technology means zilch if you fail on essentials like making it easy to install.
Great, now we're going to get UI innovations from Sun?
Yep, Sun are terrible at usability.
It's like with Java on the desktop. Did you ever try to install Sun's Java on a Windows machine so that web applets work? Until very recently, the process completely sucked. If you came across a web page that required a Java applet, and went to Sun to download it, it would be "Choose which you require; Java SR1.4 (dev. rel. 3), Java XYZ 2.0 developers kit, or Java standalone ABC 2 (abridged edition)" or some crap like that and a normal Joe wouldn't have a clue which to download to get Java working in the web browser. It was almost as if they wanted it to fail.
why would MS have to comply? Couldnt they just say 'okay, BYE' and not sell in Europe anymore?
The European market is about the same size as the US one at least in terms of overall size. So they are not just going to say bye to that...
but who would be more injured by such a move, MS or the EU?
Microsoft. By a loooooong way.
headed by a falsely-elected retard
Retard is an offensive term for mentally handicapped people.
Here are some better terms you can used to describe Bush:
ass, blockhead, dimwit, dork, dumb ass, dunce, dunderhead, fool, halfwit, ignoramus, jackass, jerk, meathead, nincompoop, ninny, nitwit, pinhead, pointy head, simpleton, stupid, twit
I hope this helps.
I think it's true that many open-source devs are europeans who have green-ish attitudes...
And what about American open-source developers? People like Richard Stallman are top of the class when it comes to hippie attitudes...
I think the sentiments from which Open Source benefits are directed against the dealings of a number of big software companies, not against the fact that most of these are American.
I agree. Anytime anyone disagrees with anything done in the name of the USA or by an American or American company, these days you are accused of begin "anti-American". It is rather like anyone who criticises some of the actions of Israel being accused of being an antisemite.