The U.S. cann't attack any nation.... blah blah blah.... Well pal we did, and the world is now a much safer place for it.
Interesting assertion, but I'm not sure it's a defensible one.
In the short term, it is evident from a cursory scan of the news that the world is currently not safer, but is considerably more dangerous. We may be seeing the dying fury of a cornered animal, or we may be seeing the birth of a long-lived war of international insurgency (an oxymoron?)
I concede that the world may well be on its way to becoming a safer place, but that remains to be seen. There are a lot of long-term consequences of this policy that have to be worked out.
The point of my post was that the public domain enjoys significant status/respect in the U.S. system. I didn't mean to imply it was created here or anywhere else, or that it was necessarily connected to any economic theory, only that the collective ownership concept in the idea of a public domain has more in common with communism than the GPL*, which was suggested by the original poster.
* = which mandates sharing but does not generalize ownership.
My reply wasn't based on my preconceptions about communism, which are not as negative as you might assume, but on the definition you cited. Sharing and ownership are conceptually distinct, especially in the context of an intellectual property right. We are taught in preschool that it's good to share, but we are not taught that all the toys are collectively owned.
So, you say that the GPL is "not too far off" from communism, but I'd say its very far off. The notion of a public domain, strong in our "capitalist" U.S. tradition, is much more communistic than the GPL, which is rooted absolutely in the right of the creator to set the terms for use of the work.
I concede your point about intent. Perhaps a shared altruism is at the root of communism and GPL, but it is interesting that good old greedy Western capitalist IP protections are the mechanism by which the latter must be exercised.
... as I was quoting you. The rest of my comment was to be:
Where in the GPL does it give public ownership to the code? The code's ownership, per copyright, is retained by it's author. GPL simply puts limitations on its modification and redistribution.
If you, and the people who think this is insightful, can't see the difference between a Tivo (subscription required, arbitrary set of limitations decided on by the company) and a homemade PVR with any media playback/record capability you can put into a PC, then you've certainly made a wise choice. It's also easier to buy a standalone CD-copier than to deal with a CD-burner and various software, but it's not the same!
Now maybe people with something substantial to add to the discussion of homemade PVRs can post...
Psychology, for instance, is wrapped-up physics, too. But when was the last time you heard someone refer to a psychology joke as a physics joke?
That's a bit of a stretch. The nature of atoms is dealt with frequently in physics and chemistry, but generally not in psychology. I encountered atomic and subatomic particles routinely in my physics subjects (my quantum mechanics course, for example, was cross-listed in both departments), but never in my (admittedly small sample of 1) psych course.
Let's check in with the #1 definitions provided by the American Heritage Dictionary:
Chemistry:
The science of the composition, structure, properties, and reactions of matter, especially of atomic and molecular systems.
Physics:
The science of matter and energy and of interactions between the two, grouped in traditional fields such as acoustics, optics, mechanics, thermodynamics, and electromagnetism, as well as in modern extensions including atomic and nuclear physics, cryogenics, solid-state physics, particle physics, and plasma physics.
Psychology:
The science that deals with mental processes and behavior.
--
Note the PHY and CHE make reference to being sciences of matter, but PSY does not.
Enough with the pedantry, though. Can we get back to the jokes now?:-)
It may or may not be a stupid piece of legislation, but that assertion is ridiculous. It would protect small businesses, non-profits, and any other database owner equally so long as they have put considerable effort (note the "or" between "financial resources" and "time") into creation of the database.
Once it gets to the courts and the lawyer money starts flying, then it might end up favoring big business de facto, but that a weakness of the courts process, not the law.
You raise an interesting point: what kind of students are we talking about?
I did assume this was about introductory or general studies students. For advanced, or just truly interested, students the videos and demos are certainly more apropos.
I don't think there's any substitute for "getting your hands dirty" with the scientific process for people learning the rudiments. A big part of the problem with how science is taught today is that it's represented as a set of facts and not a process undetaken by human beings who do things like attach clamps too tight or forget to take the lens cap off the camera. In other words, I believe that screwing up an experiment you did yourself is often way more educational than seeing one done perfectly.
Of course, as you argued earlier, time and space can't be denied, and you have to teach something. Ultimately, any science is better than none. I just hope that everyone has a chance to drop a (small) mass on their toe at least once.:-)
It was a lack-of-drivers issue. Specifically, there was no support for my TV capture device and some video playback things. Also, of course, there's the legendary lack of support for games, but that didn't really affect me. The TV card was the biggie. Other than that, I used 2K for several years with essentially no problems on my work machine.
As for productivity stuff, that was never a problem. The intent of that comment was that productivity stuff (which worked fine on 2K) and multimedia (which did not) would both work fine on XP.
However, I realize that isn't as fun as bashing Microsoft, so who am I to tell you what to do.
Apparently you're someone with a cognitive disorder if you thought I was bashing Microsoft or complaining about X crashing. I made a statement that I had experienced a similar (small) number of crashes with X and XP over a period of time, without elaborating on the cause of the crashes or any steps I took to recover from them and/or prevent their recurrence.
Maybe you could get your own house in order, starting with reading comprehension, before you lay in with the flaming...
I prefer XP to 2K simply because there were many multimedia things I was locked out of doing with 2K. i.e. some of 2K's (and NT's before it) stability came at the cost of desirable functionality. With XP Pro, I can run all my multimedia apps and productivity stuff side by side.
Another thought on the stability: I generally don't run any games on the PC (I have consoles for that) which may differentiate me from the "typical" user, and may also be involved in my higher average uptime.
From yours and every other comment on the topic I've heard, I consider myself fortunate to have never touched an ME box.:-)
Slashdot Mirror
If you had read further than that, you would have seen that a great deal of the article cites a lawyer.
Great idea. Then in addition to trolls, flamebaits and other idiotic posts, Groklaw can have clueless, inappropriate moderation as well!
Interesting assertion, but I'm not sure it's a defensible one.
In the short term, it is evident from a cursory scan of the news that the world is currently not safer, but is considerably more dangerous. We may be seeing the dying fury of a cornered animal, or we may be seeing the birth of a long-lived war of international insurgency (an oxymoron?)
I concede that the world may well be on its way to becoming a safer place, but that remains to be seen. There are a lot of long-term consequences of this policy that have to be worked out.
Ah, I see. Thanks for clearing that up.
The point of my post was that the public domain enjoys significant status/respect in the U.S. system. I didn't mean to imply it was created here or anywhere else, or that it was necessarily connected to any economic theory, only that the collective ownership concept in the idea of a public domain has more in common with communism than the GPL*, which was suggested by the original poster.
* = which mandates sharing but does not generalize ownership.
???
And here is the definition of non sequitur.
Can you explain to me how anything in your post is relevant or responsive to the prior thread?
My reply wasn't based on my preconceptions about communism, which are not as negative as you might assume, but on the definition you cited. Sharing and ownership are conceptually distinct, especially in the context of an intellectual property right. We are taught in preschool that it's good to share, but we are not taught that all the toys are collectively owned.
So, you say that the GPL is "not too far off" from communism, but I'd say its very far off. The notion of a public domain, strong in our "capitalist" U.S. tradition, is much more communistic than the GPL, which is rooted absolutely in the right of the creator to set the terms for use of the work.
I concede your point about intent. Perhaps a shared altruism is at the root of communism and GPL, but it is interesting that good old greedy Western capitalist IP protections are the mechanism by which the latter must be exercised.
... as I was quoting you. The rest of my comment was to be:
Where in the GPL does it give public ownership to the code? The code's ownership, per copyright, is retained by it's author. GPL simply puts limitations on its modification and redistribution.
If you, and the people who think this is insightful, can't see the difference between a Tivo (subscription required, arbitrary set of limitations decided on by the company) and a homemade PVR with any media playback/record capability you can put into a PC, then you've certainly made a wise choice. It's also easier to buy a standalone CD-copier than to deal with a CD-burner and various software, but it's not the same!
Now maybe people with something substantial to add to the discussion of homemade PVRs can post...
I'm sorry you wasted your time replying to the AC, who obviously doesn't even know what a troll is.
I think you do have a legal right if they do it in public. No different than a cover bar/band paying ASCAP royalties...
Don't they test that the relayed mail is actually delivered? ORDB does:
http://www.ordb.org/faq/#mail_accepted
Any tester that doesn't isn't very intelligent...
Lighten up. If you can't appreciate the intent of the joke regardless of your belief or lack thereof, you should really get out more.
That's a bit of a stretch. The nature of atoms is dealt with frequently in physics and chemistry, but generally not in psychology. I encountered atomic and subatomic particles routinely in my physics subjects (my quantum mechanics course, for example, was cross-listed in both departments), but never in my (admittedly small sample of 1) psych course.
Let's check in with the #1 definitions provided by the American Heritage Dictionary:
Chemistry:
The science of the composition, structure, properties, and reactions of matter, especially of atomic and molecular systems.
Physics:
The science of matter and energy and of interactions between the two, grouped in traditional fields such as acoustics, optics, mechanics, thermodynamics, and electromagnetism, as well as in modern extensions including atomic and nuclear physics, cryogenics, solid-state physics, particle physics, and plasma physics.
Psychology:
The science that deals with mental processes and behavior.
--
Note the PHY and CHE make reference to being sciences of matter, but PSY does not.
Enough with the pedantry, though. Can we get back to the jokes now?
You forgot the pecking order of the sciences:
Biologists answer only to Chemists.
Chemists answer only to Physicists.
Physicists answer only to Mathemeticians.
Mathemeticians answer only to God.
Ah, crap. It was already in the article. I thought this was one case where posting without reading the article might not make me look like an idiot...
Sodium and Neon were walking down the street. Suddently, Sodium stops, looking around frantically.
"What's wrong?", asks Neon.
The nervous Sodium replies, "I think I just lost an electron!"
Neon, concerned, asks, "Are you sure?"
"Yep. I'm positive!", Sodium responds.
Now you can go see an exorcist to erase the black smudge on your soul you received for shopping at Walmart.
It may or may not be a stupid piece of legislation, but that assertion is ridiculous. It would protect small businesses, non-profits, and any other database owner equally so long as they have put considerable effort (note the "or" between "financial resources" and "time") into creation of the database.
Once it gets to the courts and the lawyer money starts flying, then it might end up favoring big business de facto, but that a weakness of the courts process, not the law.
I did assume this was about introductory or general studies students. For advanced, or just truly interested, students the videos and demos are certainly more apropos.
I don't think there's any substitute for "getting your hands dirty" with the scientific process for people learning the rudiments. A big part of the problem with how science is taught today is that it's represented as a set of facts and not a process undetaken by human beings who do things like attach clamps too tight or forget to take the lens cap off the camera. In other words, I believe that screwing up an experiment you did yourself is often way more educational than seeing one done perfectly.
Of course, as you argued earlier, time and space can't be denied, and you have to teach something. Ultimately, any science is better than none. I just hope that everyone has a chance to drop a (small) mass on their toe at least once.
Oh, that. :-)
It was a lack-of-drivers issue. Specifically, there was no support for my TV capture device and some video playback things. Also, of course, there's the legendary lack of support for games, but that didn't really affect me. The TV card was the biggie. Other than that, I used 2K for several years with essentially no problems on my work machine.
As for productivity stuff, that was never a problem. The intent of that comment was that productivity stuff (which worked fine on 2K) and multimedia (which did not) would both work fine on XP.
Er. Nothing... What made you think I was having problems with something?
Apparently you're someone with a cognitive disorder if you thought I was bashing Microsoft or complaining about X crashing. I made a statement that I had experienced a similar (small) number of crashes with X and XP over a period of time, without elaborating on the cause of the crashes or any steps I took to recover from them and/or prevent their recurrence.
Maybe you could get your own house in order, starting with reading comprehension, before you lay in with the flaming...
I prefer XP to 2K simply because there were many multimedia things I was locked out of doing with 2K. i.e. some of 2K's (and NT's before it) stability came at the cost of desirable functionality. With XP Pro, I can run all my multimedia apps and productivity stuff side by side.
:-)
Another thought on the stability: I generally don't run any games on the PC (I have consoles for that) which may differentiate me from the "typical" user, and may also be involved in my higher average uptime.
From yours and every other comment on the topic I've heard, I consider myself fortunate to have never touched an ME box.
I love wasting people's mod points. :-)
Now let's see if your post warrants a + 1 Funny, -1 Offtopic war!