Exactly why I can't stand using any laptop other than IBM/Lenovo ThinkPads. The TrackPoint "clitty stick" does take some getting used to, but the pleasure and efficiency of using it goes way beyond that of the touchpad. The new ones have both: I disabled the touchpad immediately.
I also use an IBM mouse with the trackpoint on it.
I saw a "Model M"-style (collapsing spring) keyboard that also had a trackpoint on it while browsing eBay one time. Guy was asking too much, but now I wish I had it for my docking station.
It wasn't his comment that got him fired. Like you said, he's apparently said lots of similar (perhaps worse) stuff on his program before. If it was the comment that got him fired, then by that logic he would have been fired years ago.
No, here's what led him to getting fired... 1) He makes an inappropriate, racist comment. 2) Someone senses opportunity to make political hay and gets the mainstream media involved. 3) Sharpton and Jackson get indignant and get more media involved. 4) ** Major advertisers start pulling out of Imus' show ** 5) Imus is fired.
Imus does *not* get fired unless #4 happens. To WFAN and MSNBC, this is strictly about money, nothing else. When the controversy started, they mostly just poo-pooed the critism of Imus. When the firestorm started in earnest, they suspended him for two weeks (hoping that this action would quell the controversy, and Imus could go back to being host of their top show). But when it didn't stop and the networks started seeing real dollar losses as a result of sponsers pulling out, it was over. No major sponsers were ever going to be associated with Imus ever again, and he instantly became an albatros to the networks' bottom line. Whoever replaces him permanently will probably not get the same ratings as Imus would have. Hell, his ratings now would be *huge*. But ratings aren't the issue: it's revenue, and if no one wants their name attached to Imus, he's toast.
All the racist comments in the world would not have gotten Imus fired. All the indignation in the world would not have gotten Imus fired. Money got him fired.
Or will they end up revoking all software player keys and forcing you to buy and use the hardware players? I'm betting on the latter.
I know that Microsoft has the Xbox 360 with the HD-DVD add-on drive, but surely they might have a bit of incentive to be in the "media centre" market where Vista is the focus of an HD home theatre? If there are only "hardware" solutions, they would be shut out. Could Microsoft afford that?
Yes, but everyone's already used to Saskatchewan having the good sense to not follow DST. Once DST comes around, we re-think the number of hour difference for Saskatchewan when we need to deal with Saskatchewan.
My point was that most of Canada and the States use DST, so it would be really stupid for "Eastern Daylight Time" in Canada to not be the same as "Eastern Daylight Time" in the United States for 3 weeks in the spring, then go back to being in sync for the summer, then being out of sync for (I think) another 3 weeks, then be in sync for the winter. That would suck!
I live in Canada, and I can tell you that we followed out of economic necessity, and no other reason
It still makes no sense that Canada followed the USA in this.
Canada itself has distinct 7 time zones... any one province is going more out of synch with regards to timekeeping with the rest of the country than it is with any state in the US, regardless of what the time is supposed to be just on the other side of the Canada-US border.
It makes sense because business knows how far apart in time any two locations are. Vancouver to New York is 3 hours apart. Montreal to Chicago is 1 hour apart. Halifax to Seattle is 4 hours apart. Once you know the time differences, you can cope with them.
But, if Canada didn't change with the States for DST, then for three weeks in the spring (and, what, 3 weeks in the fall?) that difference in time would be changed. For three weeks, the difference between the Eastern Time Zone in Canada and the Pacific Time Zone in the USA would be FOUR hours instead of the normal three hours. The confusion during this time would have been tremendous.
Think particularly of the manufacturing sector and "just in time" deliveries that include a border crossing. For three weeks, it's one o'clock in Detroit and noon in Sarnia. It's 5:00pm in Niagara Falls, ON and 6:00pm in Niagara Falls, NY!
No, we had no choice in the matter. It sucks, but it would have sucked harder to not have followed.
This was a widely supported idea beyond just the US - a number of countries followed suit in the idea.
I've checked Wikipedia, and I didn't see much of any countries that have followed the USA on this initiative other than Canada. Even Mexico didn't follow (assuming the ariticle is accurate).
I live in Canada, and I can tell you that we followed out of economic necessity, and no other reason. Our economy is so tied to America (in terms of cross-border business) that we realistically had no choice. But we certainly don't like it, especially those further north: with the pushing of the clock so much earlier this year, people were heading to work and kids were walking to school in pitch-black darkness again.
And, of course, we had the same PITA tech issues with the time change the Americans had. For Canadians in general, the negatives of this change outweighed the positive by a long shot.
I would love to be able to head on out to CA and be there in an hour and not have to worry about airline garbage.... Maglev and vacuum tunnels all the way man!
If the US had a network of high-speed rail lines like this, why would the infrastructure surrounding getting on and off be any different than we currently suffer through with airlines? I would think that everything that causes delays and headaches with air travel (strict/braindead security, baggage check, cramped seats, etc.) would be present just as strong with a new-fangled supertrain. Hell, you can't even say that weather delays would be eliminated: snow can wreck havoc with rails as much as it can with runways!
I'm not saying it doesn't make sense: for high-density corridors, it's an awesome idea. And having a couple of cross-country "artery" routes would also be very cool. But you're kidding yourself if you think that you'll be any less inconvenienced by the experience when/if it happens.
... there is a reason for the United States' lack of participation in international agreements of this sort.... It has to do with the autonomous legal systems of the individual states, which are protected under the U.S. Constitution. So even if the U.S. were to sign a (perfectly reasonable) treaty restricting how its courts could operate, one could argue that the federal government lacks the authority to tell the state courts how to operate.
Gee, I really wish that Congress thought that they "lacked the authority" when they ratified the WIPO copyright treaties by passing the DMCA in 1998!
Seriously, the Unitied States simply thumbs its noses at international law at every chance it gets, unless such laws were initiated by (or directly benefit) American corporate interest.
My latest problem with linux was last month when I decided to download the latest Fedora ISO to install on an old P3 500 box I had sitting in the closet. Guess what? It couldn't even get more than about 20 seconds into the installation process!
*Why* do some people always seem to think that the best way to evaluate Linux is to attempt to install the latest (and most demanding) distros on some old heap of junk they have lying around? When there are LiveCD distros these days, there is NO REASON to not give Linux a whirl on your modern PC that you are currently using to run Windows. None!
Do you seriously think Vista would suck because it would fail to install on your old P3 500 (according to Microsoft, it doesn't meet minimum requirements)? Why the puzzlement that Linux's "latest and greatest" won't work on your crap, when I think you know darned well that Microsoft's "latest and greatest" wouldn't work, either.
if the campaign garners enough attention and if Steve Ballmer maintains silence, then the community and companies behind Linux can take the silence for for the admission that it is.
There's your problem right there: it won't garner nearly enough attention.
MS knows that playing the patent-lawsuit game for real is long, expensive, and pretty darn risky. On the other hand, Ballmer can just fling FUD all over the place. The only "repercussion" MS faces is the shouts of protest from a community that is already regarded as a lunatic fringe by the majority of the people that MS wants to influence.
If you were Microsoft, which tactic would you choose?
i don't believe FUD should be taken lightly. it should be comepletly untolerated.
I didn't mean to imply that FUD can only be a small bump in the road: as you point out, it can be a major PITA. It can even, worst case, cause a project to be abandoned, or force an OSS company into bankruptcy.
BUT, it does not make the code go away. All of the work can be picked up at any time by any other party and continue to advance once again. This is the problem facing Microsoft and the defence of its dominance. FUD alone can destroy a traditional competitor. FUD alone can NEVER destroy OSS. Only legislation and favourable patent rulings can actually defeat OSS, and then only in countries that go that route.
Either file suit against the parties infringing on your precious IP, or SHUT THE FUCK UP.
That's the beauty of FUD. Microsoft's voice is always going to be louder than ours. We can tell them to STFU, but they don't have to! We can call their bluff, and demand they file their lawsuits against open-source "patent infringers". They don't have to!
FUD can kill a traditional competitor (see Amdahl vs IBM, where I believe the term was coined), but against OSS it is only a bump in the road. You're right, in that eventaully Microsoft will actually have to have friendly legislation and/or success with patents to keep its current position of dominance in the software world, but in the meantime FUD is all they have, and you can be sure that they will continue slinging it hard for the foreseeable future (whether we like it or not).
Well, I'm going to! Perhaps you have more to gain by feeding the industry through the copyright levy on media (ie: you download like a fiend without paying), but personally I don't give a crap about most music, and any that I do I buy it. I do, however, care very much about getting charged for memory cards and other blank media that will never, ever be used for any purpose that would hurt the music industry. The existing levy is already out of line.
How about this? Bring on RIAA-style lawsuits in Canada! Truth be told, the vast majority of those stuck with them in the USA were guilty as charged (of violating the copyright of the music they were sharing). And when they weren't, the industry got slammed in the press. Both are GOOD! And this scenario keeps everyone out of my pocket! The one change I'd make for Canada is to make the fines for infringement saner, so that the CRIA wouldn't be able to essentially extort you just to avoid bankruptcy over a minor civil violation.
Others have mentioned this, but I'll repeat: it is virtually guaranteed that the RIAA members required that all music sold through iTMS had to be covered by the DRM, regardless of the requirements of the smaller rights-holders. Without that, they would not have signed on with Apple. It is in the big producers' best interests to not permit the others to "undercut" them (selling unemcumbered tracks alongside their own DRM-infected tracks).
Well, we managed to go almost 8 years longer than the United States without passing more draconian copyright laws when we were under the Liberals. Seems the palms aren't quite as greasy when the Grits are in power. Perhaps Oda is more *ahem* "receptive" to their opinions than Sheila Copps ever was?
Please don't confuse me with apologizing for the Liberals: I just notice that the content industry's influence seems to be far powerful with the current Tory government.
The movie industry made a big deal out of this simply to get some good headlines. Geist's expected hatchet job on its "facts" are beside the point. Virtually no one will hear it: only those already tuned in to the lies are reading Geist's columns.
The purpose of the hype was to provide "justification" for Bev Oda to push for the reforms that she and the content industry have been working on. If this goes as I expect, watch for some more sabre-rattling headlines to come, followed quickly by a copyright reform bill that will address the content industry's wish list.
As much as I don't want another election, I hope the Conservatives' upcoming budget is defeated, so that any of Oda's bills will die on the table when the government falls.
DMCA is a nostalgic piece of law that should be revoked in favor of newer wordings that either exclude actaul programs that could be used for piracy
Are you under the impression that the inclusion of programs that could be used for piracy was not entirely intentional? The DMCA's stated purpose is to fight piracy, but its true purpose is control. I don't think (failing the fall of the current American system of government) that the DMCA will ever be revoked.
Not sure if the ratio is worse than pop rock, but there certainly is a smaller pool of talent to draw from when you're trying to fill out a "playlist" of each. That probably does more to increase the perception of crap: you run out of quality that much faster, since the supply is so much smaller.
Drive through Quebec and listen to French-language music stations sometime if you really want to hear this phenomenon! There's this booming cottage industry of French "artists" to fill in the allotment of time that these stations require. They probably are never heard outside of the province.
Oh, and my favourite ex-Sig (I rotate them quite often) remains "Look at the tomato. Isn't it sad? He can't dance. Poor tomato!":-)
Slashdot Mirror
Then by that logic the "deserved" rating for Zoom is about -2 or -3!!
Exactly why I can't stand using any laptop other than IBM/Lenovo ThinkPads. The TrackPoint "clitty stick" does take some getting used to, but the pleasure and efficiency of using it goes way beyond that of the touchpad. The new ones have both: I disabled the touchpad immediately.
I also use an IBM mouse with the trackpoint on it.
I saw a "Model M"-style (collapsing spring) keyboard that also had a trackpoint on it while browsing eBay one time. Guy was asking too much, but now I wish I had it for my docking station.
Dude, this is Zoom you're talking about! Look at the review ratings. All 8GB on the disc is crapola!
It wasn't his comment that got him fired. Like you said, he's apparently said lots of similar (perhaps worse) stuff on his program before. If it was the comment that got him fired, then by that logic he would have been fired years ago.
No, here's what led him to getting fired...
1) He makes an inappropriate, racist comment.
2) Someone senses opportunity to make political hay and gets the mainstream media involved.
3) Sharpton and Jackson get indignant and get more media involved.
4) ** Major advertisers start pulling out of Imus' show **
5) Imus is fired.
Imus does *not* get fired unless #4 happens. To WFAN and MSNBC, this is strictly about money, nothing else. When the controversy started, they mostly just poo-pooed the critism of Imus. When the firestorm started in earnest, they suspended him for two weeks (hoping that this action would quell the controversy, and Imus could go back to being host of their top show). But when it didn't stop and the networks started seeing real dollar losses as a result of sponsers pulling out, it was over. No major sponsers were ever going to be associated with Imus ever again, and he instantly became an albatros to the networks' bottom line. Whoever replaces him permanently will probably not get the same ratings as Imus would have. Hell, his ratings now would be *huge*. But ratings aren't the issue: it's revenue, and if no one wants their name attached to Imus, he's toast.
All the racist comments in the world would not have gotten Imus fired. All the indignation in the world would not have gotten Imus fired. Money got him fired.
I know that Microsoft has the Xbox 360 with the HD-DVD add-on drive, but surely they might have a bit of incentive to be in the "media centre" market where Vista is the focus of an HD home theatre? If there are only "hardware" solutions, they would be shut out. Could Microsoft afford that?
Yes, but everyone's already used to Saskatchewan having the good sense to not follow DST. Once DST comes around, we re-think the number of hour difference for Saskatchewan when we need to deal with Saskatchewan.
My point was that most of Canada and the States use DST, so it would be really stupid for "Eastern Daylight Time" in Canada to not be the same as "Eastern Daylight Time" in the United States for 3 weeks in the spring, then go back to being in sync for the summer, then being out of sync for (I think) another 3 weeks, then be in sync for the winter. That would suck!
It makes sense because business knows how far apart in time any two locations are. Vancouver to New York is 3 hours apart. Montreal to Chicago is 1 hour apart. Halifax to Seattle is 4 hours apart. Once you know the time differences, you can cope with them.
But, if Canada didn't change with the States for DST, then for three weeks in the spring (and, what, 3 weeks in the fall?) that difference in time would be changed. For three weeks, the difference between the Eastern Time Zone in Canada and the Pacific Time Zone in the USA would be FOUR hours instead of the normal three hours. The confusion during this time would have been tremendous.
Think particularly of the manufacturing sector and "just in time" deliveries that include a border crossing. For three weeks, it's one o'clock in Detroit and noon in Sarnia. It's 5:00pm in Niagara Falls, ON and 6:00pm in Niagara Falls, NY!
No, we had no choice in the matter. It sucks, but it would have sucked harder to not have followed.
I've checked Wikipedia, and I didn't see much of any countries that have followed the USA on this initiative other than Canada. Even Mexico didn't follow (assuming the ariticle is accurate).
I live in Canada, and I can tell you that we followed out of economic necessity, and no other reason. Our economy is so tied to America (in terms of cross-border business) that we realistically had no choice. But we certainly don't like it, especially those further north: with the pushing of the clock so much earlier this year, people were heading to work and kids were walking to school in pitch-black darkness again.
And, of course, we had the same PITA tech issues with the time change the Americans had. For Canadians in general, the negatives of this change outweighed the positive by a long shot.
If the US had a network of high-speed rail lines like this, why would the infrastructure surrounding getting on and off be any different than we currently suffer through with airlines? I would think that everything that causes delays and headaches with air travel (strict/braindead security, baggage check, cramped seats, etc.) would be present just as strong with a new-fangled supertrain. Hell, you can't even say that weather delays would be eliminated: snow can wreck havoc with rails as much as it can with runways!
I'm not saying it doesn't make sense: for high-density corridors, it's an awesome idea. And having a couple of cross-country "artery" routes would also be very cool. But you're kidding yourself if you think that you'll be any less inconvenienced by the experience when/if it happens.
Gee, I really wish that Congress thought that they "lacked the authority" when they ratified the WIPO copyright treaties by passing the DMCA in 1998!
Seriously, the Unitied States simply thumbs its noses at international law at every chance it gets, unless such laws were initiated by (or directly benefit) American corporate interest.
In case he didn't understand, X-Files was filmed in Vancouver, not Toronto.
*Why* do some people always seem to think that the best way to evaluate Linux is to attempt to install the latest (and most demanding) distros on some old heap of junk they have lying around? When there are LiveCD distros these days, there is NO REASON to not give Linux a whirl on your modern PC that you are currently using to run Windows. None!
Do you seriously think Vista would suck because it would fail to install on your old P3 500 (according to Microsoft, it doesn't meet minimum requirements)? Why the puzzlement that Linux's "latest and greatest" won't work on your crap, when I think you know darned well that Microsoft's "latest and greatest" wouldn't work, either.
... that the article is accompanied by a Flash ad for Hyundai, featuring the exact same kid from the ad that was pulled.
There's your problem right there: it won't garner nearly enough attention.
MS knows that playing the patent-lawsuit game for real is long, expensive, and pretty darn risky. On the other hand, Ballmer can just fling FUD all over the place. The only "repercussion" MS faces is the shouts of protest from a community that is already regarded as a lunatic fringe by the majority of the people that MS wants to influence.
If you were Microsoft, which tactic would you choose?
Easily the most amusing sendup of the "Ubuntu trio" I've ever seen.
I didn't mean to imply that FUD can only be a small bump in the road: as you point out, it can be a major PITA. It can even, worst case, cause a project to be abandoned, or force an OSS company into bankruptcy.
BUT, it does not make the code go away. All of the work can be picked up at any time by any other party and continue to advance once again. This is the problem facing Microsoft and the defence of its dominance. FUD alone can destroy a traditional competitor. FUD alone can NEVER destroy OSS. Only legislation and favourable patent rulings can actually defeat OSS, and then only in countries that go that route.
That's the beauty of FUD. Microsoft's voice is always going to be louder than ours. We can tell them to STFU, but they don't have to! We can call their bluff, and demand they file their lawsuits against open-source "patent infringers". They don't have to!
FUD can kill a traditional competitor (see Amdahl vs IBM, where I believe the term was coined), but against OSS it is only a bump in the road. You're right, in that eventaully Microsoft will actually have to have friendly legislation and/or success with patents to keep its current position of dominance in the software world, but in the meantime FUD is all they have, and you can be sure that they will continue slinging it hard for the foreseeable future (whether we like it or not).
Well, I'm going to! Perhaps you have more to gain by feeding the industry through the copyright levy on media (ie: you download like a fiend without paying), but personally I don't give a crap about most music, and any that I do I buy it. I do, however, care very much about getting charged for memory cards and other blank media that will never, ever be used for any purpose that would hurt the music industry. The existing levy is already out of line.
How about this? Bring on RIAA-style lawsuits in Canada! Truth be told, the vast majority of those stuck with them in the USA were guilty as charged (of violating the copyright of the music they were sharing). And when they weren't, the industry got slammed in the press. Both are GOOD! And this scenario keeps everyone out of my pocket! The one change I'd make for Canada is to make the fines for infringement saner, so that the CRIA wouldn't be able to essentially extort you just to avoid bankruptcy over a minor civil violation.
Others have mentioned this, but I'll repeat: it is virtually guaranteed that the RIAA members required that all music sold through iTMS had to be covered by the DRM, regardless of the requirements of the smaller rights-holders. Without that, they would not have signed on with Apple. It is in the big producers' best interests to not permit the others to "undercut" them (selling unemcumbered tracks alongside their own DRM-infected tracks).
Well, we managed to go almost 8 years longer than the United States without passing more draconian copyright laws when we were under the Liberals. Seems the palms aren't quite as greasy when the Grits are in power. Perhaps Oda is more *ahem* "receptive" to their opinions than Sheila Copps ever was?
Please don't confuse me with apologizing for the Liberals: I just notice that the content industry's influence seems to be far powerful with the current Tory government.
The movie industry made a big deal out of this simply to get some good headlines. Geist's expected hatchet job on its "facts" are beside the point. Virtually no one will hear it: only those already tuned in to the lies are reading Geist's columns.
The purpose of the hype was to provide "justification" for Bev Oda to push for the reforms that she and the content industry have been working on. If this goes as I expect, watch for some more sabre-rattling headlines to come, followed quickly by a copyright reform bill that will address the content industry's wish list.
As much as I don't want another election, I hope the Conservatives' upcoming budget is defeated, so that any of Oda's bills will die on the table when the government falls.
Are you under the impression that the inclusion of programs that could be used for piracy was not entirely intentional? The DMCA's stated purpose is to fight piracy, but its true purpose is control. I don't think (failing the fall of the current American system of government) that the DMCA will ever be revoked.
Not sure if the ratio is worse than pop rock, but there certainly is a smaller pool of talent to draw from when you're trying to fill out a "playlist" of each. That probably does more to increase the perception of crap: you run out of quality that much faster, since the supply is so much smaller.
:-)
Drive through Quebec and listen to French-language music stations sometime if you really want to hear this phenomenon! There's this booming cottage industry of French "artists" to fill in the allotment of time that these stations require. They probably are never heard outside of the province.
Oh, and my favourite ex-Sig (I rotate them quite often) remains "Look at the tomato. Isn't it sad? He can't dance. Poor tomato!"
Have to agree wholeheartedly. I've been putting Veggie quotes in my sig for a couple of years now. I love it when