I have no illusions that illicit copying of music would end...but for me, it's worth two bits for the peace of mind that comes with having a legit file.
If I see the new Britney Coke commercial and decide to pick up a six-pack on the way home, I don't have to empty my fridge, defrost it, disinfect it, plug it back in, and restock it before being able to drink the stuff!
"OS X G4 fair dinkum thinkum. Bolshoyeh spasebaw!"
What this really means...
on
SSSCA Hearing
·
· Score: 1
[i]Hollings gave media and technology companies 12 to 18 months to come up with their own solution before federal agencies set a standard, according to Reuters.[/i]
Translation: Media companies have to stall negotiations for 12 to 18 months before they can get their law passed.
Mac Installation Still Works Like That???
on
iWarez
·
· Score: 1
Forget the warez part of this story, I can't believe that Macintosh has managed to preserve its "drag the application to your disk" style of installation. I have to explain to my wife every six months that we can't just copy Application X to disk (or Pen Drive) and bring it upstairs; it's more complicated than that.
I have seen the "-1 Troll" in a vision, but am compelled to post anyway.
It seems to me that Blizzard has solved much of their "balance issues" (and probably network lag/latency, for that matter) by effective re-implementing the same game with better graphics and other minor refinements. Warcraft III started out as a new (at least for Blizzard) type of RPG, but look at the old screenshots and you can see the camera slowly creeping upward from an interesting semi-first-person view to the same old isometric RTS above view from their earlier games. If you're using the same basic model and making the same basic assumptions, tweaking and balancing are going to be very easy.
I'm peripherally involved with a SourceForge project using CVS (PCGen), and I've seen this problem come up time and time again. While the people working on the project are talented and dedicated, sometimes they check stuff in which has drastic side effects...and no one really notices until the next build goes out, since most people focus on their own little areas. I can't imagine what Linux would be like if subjected to this.
Another technique used by radio broadcasters is to speed up music by 3-4%.
I've always been curious: how many people can tell this is happening. It always bugged the crap out of me when stations did this, but my friends could never tell the difference. Am I a mutant or just too full of self-importance?
The first thing Microsoft is going to do under their new "security first" paradigm will be to announce that due to security concerns, they can't tell us what any of their security upgrades actually are.
Of course he does...otherwise, it would be easy to debunk him by setting up a powerful electromagnet nearby while you talk to him, then ask how he's feeling.
Hm, wonder how hard it would be to "borrow" his detectors and "adjust" them. Perhaps add a remote control...
Here's what I sent on Jan. 16th, copy/paste/scavenge at will:
This will be a short letter, as I'm sure you have many to go through. Let me say up front that as a computer user, programmer, and IT professional, I feel very strongly that the proposed Microsoft Settlement will do nothing to punish past monopolistic practices, or to prevent future violations of anti-trust law.
Most importantly, what the settlement fails to address is that Microsoft is/already/ entrenched in a dominant, monopolistic position, achieved in large part through unfair business practices. Creating a Technical Committee may (or may not) help with future problems, but does nothing to fix what has already transpired.
Lastly (for this letter; I do not pretend that I am addressing a majority of the problems with the settlement), I would point out that much of Microsoft's monopoly is maintained through mechanisms not mentioned in the settlement. For example, Microsoft Word is the dominant word processing software mainly because it's file format is proprietary and controlled by Microsoft -- and changed frequently, so that no other program can reliably use it. If a standard file format were enforced, competing products would have a chance to co-exist and interoperate with Word; something that just cannot happen today.
I urge you in the strongest possible terms to reject this settlement and seek stronger action against Microsoft.
If they release a modified version of Windows with a few Cygnus things pre-installed and call it MSLinux, that might strike some of us as a little unreasonable, hmm?
Sure, but if they called it "Winux", I don't see people having too much of a problem or confusion.
To date, roughly 80 percent of the country's homes have broadband service available to them -- via cable lines, satellite or souped-up telephone lines (known as digital subscriber lines, or DSL).
I suppose this is technically correct...but isn't satellite high-latency, one-way broadband? To me, broadband must be two-way to be really useful. I suspect that ruling out satellite and one-way cable modem would bring the number well below 50%. Also, broadband should include the ability to host servers -- which probably brings it closer to 1%.
A long time, given that the group involved hasn't even built a prototype of these things yet. This is more like a grant for looking into basic techniques which might one day form the foundation for methods used to build nanorobots. By the time they are close to building one, Microsoft will have taken over funding. The first MS-Nanobot will have 8 gig of RAM, a 20 terabyte HD, fully integrated wireless networking, GPS, sound, and voice recognition input...and be 12 inches in diameter.:)
It's too late...those blood-sucking network execs just didn't know a good thing when they latched onto--er, saw one. Thus, a show that was deer to our hearts passes on.
They're not dumb and cowardly and greedy, they're just artists. If they wanted to start their own promotion and distribution business they would have gotten MBAs and dived into the business world. While some artists are great at business, many are not -- and most don't want to be. The allure of having someone else handle all the "crap work" must be very strong, and it comes for most artists at the beginning of their career, probably before they have learned to be more careful.
It's like owning a mansion: a mansion takes a lot of work to keep it in good shape. You could do the work yourself, but you'd rather be lounging in one of the three swimming pools. So you hire a maid, a butler, a cook, groundspeople...and if you don't keep an eye on them, they might start taking the silver, or borrowing from the bank account. There's no easy way out: you have to spend some time and effort seeing that things are working well, or sooner or later they won't be.
Artists, like all of us, wish they didn't have to. Unlike most of us, their performing skills give them reason to think they don't have to.
Unfortunately, those of us still running the Preview version of XP are out of luck, as the patch (which was hyped so badly on the news that my wife called me at work to make sure her novel wouldn't be deleted) only installs on Windows XP gold.
Does anyone know of a workaround for us previewers? (Other than booting Linux...:) I have the Universal Plug and Play Device Host and SSDP Discovery services disabled, but have no idea if that is enough to stop the exploit.
Slashdot Mirror
Don't delude yourself.
I have no illusions that illicit copying of music would end...but for me, it's worth two bits for the peace of mind that comes with having a legit file.
1000 pages? My goodness, that's almost as long as a single Wheel of Time novel...
It was...Vampire Beavers!
Up from the dams, up from the mud...
Something furry out for blood...
If I see the new Britney Coke commercial and decide to pick up a six-pack on the way home, I don't have to empty my fridge, defrost it, disinfect it, plug it back in, and restock it before being able to drink the stuff!
This is ridiculous...how can they have set this up without knowing that a) it would be discovered and b) it was thoroughly and completely Orwellian?
:)
I think that we should all write letters of protest...into the Google search field.
I kept being forcibly reminded of another literary work...
"OS X G4 fair dinkum thinkum. Bolshoyeh spasebaw!"
[i]Hollings gave media and technology companies 12 to 18 months to come up with their own solution before federal agencies set a standard, according to Reuters.[/i]
Translation: Media companies have to stall negotiations for 12 to 18 months before they can get their law passed.
Forget the warez part of this story, I can't believe that Macintosh has managed to preserve its "drag the application to your disk" style of installation. I have to explain to my wife every six months that we can't just copy Application X to disk (or Pen Drive) and bring it upstairs; it's more complicated than that.
I have seen the "-1 Troll" in a vision, but am compelled to post anyway.
It seems to me that Blizzard has solved much of their "balance issues" (and probably network lag/latency, for that matter) by effective re-implementing the same game with better graphics and other minor refinements. Warcraft III started out as a new (at least for Blizzard) type of RPG, but look at the old screenshots and you can see the camera slowly creeping upward from an interesting semi-first-person view to the same old isometric RTS above view from their earlier games. If you're using the same basic model and making the same basic assumptions, tweaking and balancing are going to be very easy.
They did that show already. It was called "The A-Team".
I'm peripherally involved with a SourceForge project using CVS (PCGen), and I've seen this problem come up time and time again. While the people working on the project are talented and dedicated, sometimes they check stuff in which has drastic side effects...and no one really notices until the next build goes out, since most people focus on their own little areas. I can't imagine what Linux would be like if subjected to this.
Another technique used by radio broadcasters is to speed up music by 3-4%.
I've always been curious: how many people can tell this is happening. It always bugged the crap out of me when stations did this, but my friends could never tell the difference. Am I a mutant or just too full of self-importance?
Bah, no built-in joystick, can't install MAME and play Ms. Pac Man.
OTOH, might be cool to set it up with "Tron" sounds (though the desk is still too small)
"End of Line."
The first thing Microsoft is going to do under their new "security first" paradigm will be to announce that due to security concerns, they can't tell us what any of their security upgrades actually are.
Of course he does...otherwise, it would be easy to debunk him by setting up a powerful electromagnet nearby while you talk to him, then ask how he's feeling.
Hm, wonder how hard it would be to "borrow" his detectors and "adjust" them. Perhaps add a remote control...
Here's what I sent on Jan. 16th, copy/paste/scavenge at will:
/already/ entrenched in a dominant, monopolistic position, achieved in large part through unfair business practices. Creating a Technical Committee may (or may not) help with future problems, but does nothing to fix what has already transpired.
This will be a short letter, as I'm sure you have many to go through. Let me say up front that as a computer user, programmer, and IT professional, I feel very strongly that the proposed Microsoft Settlement will do nothing to punish past monopolistic practices, or to prevent future violations of anti-trust law.
Most importantly, what the settlement fails to address is that Microsoft is
Lastly (for this letter; I do not pretend that I am addressing a majority of the problems with the settlement), I would point out that much of Microsoft's monopoly is maintained through mechanisms not mentioned in the settlement. For example, Microsoft Word is the dominant word processing software mainly because it's file format is proprietary and controlled by Microsoft -- and changed frequently, so that no other program can reliably use it. If a standard file format were enforced, competing products would have a chance to co-exist and interoperate with Word; something that just cannot happen today.
I urge you in the strongest possible terms to reject this settlement and seek stronger action against Microsoft.
If they release a modified version of Windows with a few Cygnus things pre-installed and call it MSLinux, that might strike some of us as a little unreasonable, hmm?
Sure, but if they called it "Winux", I don't see people having too much of a problem or confusion.
To date, roughly 80 percent of the country's homes have broadband service available to them -- via cable lines, satellite or souped-up telephone lines (known as digital subscriber lines, or DSL).
I suppose this is technically correct...but isn't satellite high-latency, one-way broadband? To me, broadband must be two-way to be really useful. I suspect that ruling out satellite and one-way cable modem would bring the number well below 50%. Also, broadband should include the ability to host servers -- which probably brings it closer to 1%.
A long time, given that the group involved hasn't even built a prototype of these things yet. This is more like a grant for looking into basic techniques which might one day form the foundation for methods used to build nanorobots. By the time they are close to building one, Microsoft will have taken over funding. The first MS-Nanobot will have 8 gig of RAM, a 20 terabyte HD, fully integrated wireless networking, GPS, sound, and voice recognition input...and be 12 inches in diameter. :)
Waiter, there's a robot in my soup!
Apple gave away Basic before Microsoft even existed.
On the Apple II? Who's version of Basic was that (hint: Applesoft basic)?
It's too late...those blood-sucking network execs just didn't know a good thing when they latched onto--er, saw one. Thus, a show that was deer to our hearts passes on.
They're not dumb and cowardly and greedy, they're just artists. If they wanted to start their own promotion and distribution business they would have gotten MBAs and dived into the business world. While some artists are great at business, many are not -- and most don't want to be. The allure of having someone else handle all the "crap work" must be very strong, and it comes for most artists at the beginning of their career, probably before they have learned to be more careful.
It's like owning a mansion: a mansion takes a lot of work to keep it in good shape. You could do the work yourself, but you'd rather be lounging in one of the three swimming pools. So you hire a maid, a butler, a cook, groundspeople...and if you don't keep an eye on them, they might start taking the silver, or borrowing from the bank account. There's no easy way out: you have to spend some time and effort seeing that things are working well, or sooner or later they won't be.
Artists, like all of us, wish they didn't have to. Unlike most of us, their performing skills give them reason to think they don't have to.
Unfortunately, those of us still running the Preview version of XP are out of luck, as the patch (which was hyped so badly on the news that my wife called me at work to make sure her novel wouldn't be deleted) only installs on Windows XP gold.
:) I have the Universal Plug and Play Device Host and SSDP Discovery services disabled, but have no idea if that is enough to stop the exploit.
Does anyone know of a workaround for us previewers? (Other than booting Linux...
So, the Carnivore Trojan won't be detected...until some hacker "borrows" the code and uses it to write a malicious trojan?
:)
I think I can stop losing sleep now.