The case did only involve a civil complaint, so it probably would have ultimately ended up with a financial settlement and some sort of compromised "corrective" measures like we see here, but I really think this is an injustice for the people who had their identities and privacy compromised, and for HP shareholders in the long run. The evidence that senior executives at HP, potentially including Mark Hurd, either ignored or were ignorant of the ongoing, "probably illegal" actions is pretty well documented, and pretty overwhelming.
Patricia Dunn took pretty much all the heat for this, and that's unfortunate for her and HP. It seems to me like she should have had a better grip on what was happening at HP, but it doesn't seem to me like she should have been the only one with that responsibility. A full, objective, and independent investigation should have been the first think on everybody's list. Instead, this case is now settled, Congress has moved on, and Dunn will be focussed on proving her innocence.
The unfortunate thing for Mark Hurd is that his level of responsibility and accountability wasn't determined in this process. The second HP hits a performance blip, this scandal will be the first thing on every shareholder's mind when they're thinking of who to blame. When that day comes, I wouldn't want to be in Mark Hurd's shoes.
I would advise against operating a BlackBerry while simultaneously operating an automobile at 90 mph. In fact, I would advise against operating an automobile at 90 mph, almost anywhere in Canada or the United States, at all.
I, unfortunately, happen to know that the fine Commonwealth of Virginia will consider it to be reckless driving, and will not hesitate to ticket you as such.
It must be a sign that Slashdot folk are aging (and maturing, and having kids, etc.) when photos of elementary school children on a field trip is now a top story.
It is true that seismologist Vladimir Keilis-Borok predicted a quake around this magnitude for this year. This quake missed his six-month timeframe by just over three weeks. And it is notably further south.
That would still be a little too close for coincedence for me, except the day before the deadline for the earthquake to occur Dr. Keilis-Borok announced the prediction was based on false data.
So was he covering his tail and reputation back then at the expense of being a little too north and a little too early?
Ironically, the Senate requires a supermajority in order to eliminate the supermajority/cloture/filibuster mechanism (or to strategically limit it as Senator Frist hopes to do). This makes what Frist is doing seem well outside the rulebook.
And you're entirely correct about how much power just exists and that depends on respect from everyone to continue to exist. Many other countries do not have a constitution that is as detailed, or sometimes even written at all. Yet, the leaders wouldn't dare violate the unwritten constitution or laws...
Unfortunately, it seems, Senator Frist and others haven't heard that the future productivity of Congress depends on everyone respecting the rules (Constitutional, written, and unwritten).
(For the benefit of the kind gentleman a level or two up: Senator Frist, being a Republican, is not alone in his disregard for operating tradition. A Democratic Congressman a few months ago broke with a several-year-old "truce" and filed a complaint against a Texas Republican. Of course, a rule a few years old that was essentially created to protect the Newt Gingriches of the world from further criticism can barely compare to the well-worn institution that is cloture.)
I pointed out the "spirit" of the law, rather than the letter of it. You've defined a great example of it here with a clause considered to be illustrative, not exhaustive. In fact, the constitutional basis of cloture is contained in the clause you've mentioned, along with an allowance for the evolution of congressional rules in article I, section 5. Senate Rule 22 provides the clearer procedures and policies for the filibuster.
And "clearly" is not a word to be used when discussing the Constitution. It says nothing clearly, unless you want it to.
Well, if there's a hole any politician can slither through, you can bet they'll find it sooner or later.
The particular way they apparently plan to do this, though, is dubious. The Supreme Court tends to look, not only at the letter of the law (in this case ths Constitution), but also its spirit. Clearly, Senator Frist is trying to subvert the super majority requirement written into the Constitution.
I have some doubt the Republicans would go with this. It'll only further energize the Democrats. But if they do, I have a strong feeling the Supreme Court will pretty strongly rebuke them. (Funny that the third branch of the government has to step in and make the second branch follow its own damn rules.)
We may well see an Eliminate the Fillibuster constitutional amendment to go along with the Defense of Marriage one. Maybe Senator Frist really is just itchin' to revamp the whole document, and add his name to the bottom.
Forget about that Dell business. Michael is a pawn of Bush (or is it the other way around?) and their former spokesman was fired for a joint. (Word is he's now the spokesman for Dell Canada, instead?)
Vonage and most of the other consumer-oriented VoIP providers offer a forwarder which hopefully connects you with emergency services when you dial 911 from your handset.
You almost always have to enable the service, after you've signed up, by providing a real physical address to your house. The service provider then determines your nearest Public Safety Answering Point (called PSAPs), which is what operators used to do when you dialed "0" and said "HELP!"
This is not the typical "911 Center" that most people would think it is, and they don't automatically have your address when you call. You'll likely have to state what type of emergency you have, wait on hold, and then provide them with your address.
Beyond all of this, Vonage, in particular, highly advises you to not depend on their 911 service. An outage on their behalf, upstream from them, of your broadband, or of your electricity would eliminate your ability to dial 911 from your Vonage service. There are many weak links in that chain, and they're smart to tell you so.
I read earlier that someone suggested picking up a wireless phone that has good signal but isn't subscribed to any particular service. Cell phones almost universally will dial 911 if they can, subscribed or not. (Double-check that, though.) There again, though, remember they'll likely not have your physical address.
All that said, if you have some higher-than-average-reason to need 911 services, I'd not depend on anything but an ILEC landline. (Even CLECs tend to save money by ditching the E911 tandem, which, even though unlikely, could cause a problem.)
So who gets to decide what culture we should all be amalgamated into?
At the risk of veering further off-topic:
We shouldn't try to make our differences disappear, we should try to respect them.
It isn't just a warm and fuzzy statement, it's a reality that would make this world a much better place to live in. In the meantime, however, game companies should be respecting the cultural and linguistic differences in the markets which they hope to sell their game in. If they can't respect those differences, and adhere to those laws, then they shouldn't (and won't) be able to sell the products there.
It's funny that the anglophones call the francophones arrogant for asking that products in the francophone markets be, well, francophone.
The bottom line is that it isn't just a good policy to translate the game and its packaging, it's a smart business move. The more people that can actually read and understand the packaging, potentially, counts as more people who might buy it.
I've done some work for a travel company out in California, and I know cold call telephone marketing has been a debate there for a while. The argument has always swung towards not doing it, but I think there are good arguments, similar to yours, that are weighed in favor of giving it a try.
The reality is that there are some niches where customers might be interested in learning more by phone. The company does Scandinavian travel, Antarctica, and such... And there aren't too many companies that specialize in that, but they have partnered with a few that do. There might have once been the possibility of (legally, and within the other company's privacy policy) utilizing a call list for similar customers. It didn't end up happening, but I wonder if folks would've objected?
I actually learned about Vonage in a similar manner, and I'm pretty damned glad that telemarketer called me!
Seems like an interesting use of technology, but it isn't new. (Exchange has had this, of course, for intra-Exchange users, for ages. America Online recently started testing a similar service for their members.)
It is unique in that it has the possibility of accomodating users across mail services, platforms, and other traditional barriers.
However, being the paranoid schizo that I am, I can't imagine I would ever subscribe to or accomodate such a service. Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but such a centralized system has an incredible ability to be abused by sources internal and external.
The struggle within technology and entertainment conglomerates (the newly rechristened Time Warner, Sony, Viacom, even Apple) is an interesting one. I'd love to be a fly on the wall of those board rooms.
But I'd like to disagree with part of and seek clarification on part of your second comment.
How does Apple promote piracy on their Mac platform? Do they do so anymore than, as you mention, Dell, or other technology companies? And Michael Eisner did, actually, attack other companies, including hp, which is a considerably larger company than Dell.
(Admittedly, I think Mr. Eisner was a little off his rocker on that day in particular. But I bet that Mike, off his rocker, is probably more sane than some of the folks at Time Warner and Sony.)
As Martha would say, this is a damned Good Thing(C).
It is interesting to note that Paul Allen is the chairman of Charter, and has been since he bought the company in 1998. Perhaps this will give fuel to the entertainment industry to say that technology, technology companies, and anybody tainted by either, are evil? (See here.)
Nonetheless, it is important that formidable companies stand up to the entertainment industry and its henchmen. Charter and Verizon (see story) are two folks who you'd want on your side.
Each PowerBook in Apple's current professional lineup can handle (according to the tech specs) close to your requirements.
Operating extremes are: 50 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 35 degrees Celsius) for temperature; 20% to 80% relative humidity, non-condensing. Maximum operating altitude is at 10,000 feet.
Storage extremes are: 40 below to 116 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 to 47 degrees Celsius) for temperature; 15,000 feet maximum altitude.
Cassady & Greene truly marketed some of the most innovative programs on the Mac. Conflict Catcher rightly earned all of the awards (and hearts) it did over the years. And Cassady & Greene is arguably the grandmother of Apple's "digital hub" strategy: iTunes was borne of SoundJam Pro, originally marketed by C&G. (The original developers of iTunes now work for Apple.)
On the most basic level, some of these ideas exist in tangible forms today.
Salling Software's Clicker is a pretty cool piece of software that does some nifty remote control things with Bluetooth-enabled Sony Ericsson phones. But the really nifty stuff are its "proximity sensor" features. When it senses the phone leaves the computer's general area, it pauses iTunes; when you return, it resumes playing. It can also be AppleScript-enabled, letting you do any number of other proximity-to-computer related tasks.
Just a thought. (No, I don't work for Salling Software.)
Something like Minority Report's smart advertising based on a retina scan comes to mind. Basing this off of wireless phones, it seems very much like this idea might be widespread within a few years.
Be, Inc. (what's left of it, anyway) retains the rights to the phrase and trademark "Be" and "Be, Inc." "BeOS" and "BeIA" (their attempt to create an Internet appliance platform), as trademarks, were taken over by Palm.
Simply because the Tomb Raider franchise was so successful in theatres doesn't mean that the film and game industries should start making babies.
There are many, many things specific to Tomb Raider that helped build its success as a movie. Primarily, there is a popular need for additional female-driven action movies.
Jinx, played by Halle Berry, from the James Bond series is a good example of things to come. She's also looking at Catwoman. Ashley Judd in upcoming The Blackout Murders and, of course, there's always Charlie's Angels.
Anyway, it isn't affirmative action for the sake of affirmative action... It's a need...
Canada signed Kyoto back in the Spring of 1998. Canada's goal is based on a 6% reduction from 1990 levels by 2012. (It should be noted that a 6% reduction is a massive reduction.)
Unfortunately, they don't have to begin meeting that target until 2008. (There are reasons for this: upgrading their entire non-hyrdo power infrastructure, strengthening their already tight auto regulations, etc.)
So, until then, unfortunately, industry is taking advantage of their last shot to try to murder the environment, before their January 1, 2008 death sentence...
justen
(It's also worth noting that even with the increase since 1998, adjusted for population difference, Canada produces a quarter less pollution than the United States does.)
The FTC? What a Joke...
on
FTC vs Spammers
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
The FTC has become a joke lately. Even Congress thinks so (on the issue of privacy).
From credit to business mergers to privacy, and, yes, spam, the FTC seems to always screw up something. (While the companies were busy forgetting due diligence, you can bet the FTC was, too...)
They'll likely compile a list of all the email addresses that were spammed to and make them available to spammers.
Slashdot Mirror
The case did only involve a civil complaint, so it probably would have ultimately ended up with a financial settlement and some sort of compromised "corrective" measures like we see here, but I really think this is an injustice for the people who had their identities and privacy compromised, and for HP shareholders in the long run. The evidence that senior executives at HP, potentially including Mark Hurd, either ignored or were ignorant of the ongoing, "probably illegal" actions is pretty well documented, and pretty overwhelming.
Patricia Dunn took pretty much all the heat for this, and that's unfortunate for her and HP. It seems to me like she should have had a better grip on what was happening at HP, but it doesn't seem to me like she should have been the only one with that responsibility. A full, objective, and independent investigation should have been the first think on everybody's list. Instead, this case is now settled, Congress has moved on, and Dunn will be focussed on proving her innocence.
The unfortunate thing for Mark Hurd is that his level of responsibility and accountability wasn't determined in this process. The second HP hits a performance blip, this scandal will be the first thing on every shareholder's mind when they're thinking of who to blame. When that day comes, I wouldn't want to be in Mark Hurd's shoes.
--
justen
justen.blogspot.com
I would advise against operating a BlackBerry while simultaneously operating an automobile at 90 mph. In fact, I would advise against operating an automobile at 90 mph, almost anywhere in Canada or the United States, at all.
:)
I, unfortunately, happen to know that the fine Commonwealth of Virginia will consider it to be reckless driving, and will not hesitate to ticket you as such.
In any event, your mileage may vary.
justen
It must be a sign that Slashdot folk are aging (and maturing, and having kids, etc.) when photos of elementary school children on a field trip is now a top story.
justen
Eek. Error correction: the quake was notably further north, not south.
The Agence France-Presse says otherwise, sadly.
It is true that seismologist Vladimir Keilis-Borok predicted a quake around this magnitude for this year. This quake missed his six-month timeframe by just over three weeks. And it is notably further south.
That would still be a little too close for coincedence for me, except the day before the deadline for the earthquake to occur Dr. Keilis-Borok announced the prediction was based on false data.
So was he covering his tail and reputation back then at the expense of being a little too north and a little too early?
We'll have to wait to see what he says, I guess.
justen
Ironically, the Senate requires a supermajority in order to eliminate the supermajority/cloture/filibuster mechanism (or to strategically limit it as Senator Frist hopes to do). This makes what Frist is doing seem well outside the rulebook.
And you're entirely correct about how much power just exists and that depends on respect from everyone to continue to exist. Many other countries do not have a constitution that is as detailed, or sometimes even written at all. Yet, the leaders wouldn't dare violate the unwritten constitution or laws...
Unfortunately, it seems, Senator Frist and others haven't heard that the future productivity of Congress depends on everyone respecting the rules (Constitutional, written, and unwritten).
(For the benefit of the kind gentleman a level or two up: Senator Frist, being a Republican, is not alone in his disregard for operating tradition. A Democratic Congressman a few months ago broke with a several-year-old "truce" and filed a complaint against a Texas Republican. Of course, a rule a few years old that was essentially created to protect the Newt Gingriches of the world from further criticism can barely compare to the well-worn institution that is cloture.)
justen
I pointed out the "spirit" of the law, rather than the letter of it. You've defined a great example of it here with a clause considered to be illustrative, not exhaustive. In fact, the constitutional basis of cloture is contained in the clause you've mentioned, along with an allowance for the evolution of congressional rules in article I, section 5. Senate Rule 22 provides the clearer procedures and policies for the filibuster.
And "clearly" is not a word to be used when discussing the Constitution. It says nothing clearly, unless you want it to.
justen
Well, if there's a hole any politician can slither through, you can bet they'll find it sooner or later.
The particular way they apparently plan to do this, though, is dubious. The Supreme Court tends to look, not only at the letter of the law (in this case ths Constitution), but also its spirit. Clearly, Senator Frist is trying to subvert the super majority requirement written into the Constitution.
I have some doubt the Republicans would go with this. It'll only further energize the Democrats. But if they do, I have a strong feeling the Supreme Court will pretty strongly rebuke them. (Funny that the third branch of the government has to step in and make the second branch follow its own damn rules.)
We may well see an Eliminate the Fillibuster constitutional amendment to go along with the Defense of Marriage one. Maybe Senator Frist really is just itchin' to revamp the whole document, and add his name to the bottom.
justen
Forget about that Dell business. Michael is a pawn of Bush (or is it the other way around?) and their former spokesman was fired for a joint. (Word is he's now the spokesman for Dell Canada, instead?)
Two-words: Apple SoHo.
justen
(A Mac-fanatic Democrat, in case you couldn't tell...)
p.s. You might wanna' ask Her Majesty about customs and such.
In SunCom's case, they're good for at least another year.
http://www.tritonpcs.com/news/pr_111103.shtml
Also, Rogers AT&T Wireless in Canada is in the process of eliminating "AT&T" from its name.
justen
Vonage and most of the other consumer-oriented VoIP providers offer a forwarder which hopefully connects you with emergency services when you dial 911 from your handset.
You almost always have to enable the service, after you've signed up, by providing a real physical address to your house. The service provider then determines your nearest Public Safety Answering Point (called PSAPs), which is what operators used to do when you dialed "0" and said "HELP!"
This is not the typical "911 Center" that most people would think it is, and they don't automatically have your address when you call. You'll likely have to state what type of emergency you have, wait on hold, and then provide them with your address.
Beyond all of this, Vonage, in particular, highly advises you to not depend on their 911 service. An outage on their behalf, upstream from them, of your broadband, or of your electricity would eliminate your ability to dial 911 from your Vonage service. There are many weak links in that chain, and they're smart to tell you so.
I read earlier that someone suggested picking up a wireless phone that has good signal but isn't subscribed to any particular service. Cell phones almost universally will dial 911 if they can, subscribed or not. (Double-check that, though.) There again, though, remember they'll likely not have your physical address.
All that said, if you have some higher-than-average-reason to need 911 services, I'd not depend on anything but an ILEC landline. (Even CLECs tend to save money by ditching the E911 tandem, which, even though unlikely, could cause a problem.)
justen
So who gets to decide what culture we should all be amalgamated into?
At the risk of veering further off-topic:
We shouldn't try to make our differences disappear, we should try to respect them.
It isn't just a warm and fuzzy statement, it's a reality that would make this world a much better place to live in. In the meantime, however, game companies should be respecting the cultural and linguistic differences in the markets which they hope to sell their game in. If they can't respect those differences, and adhere to those laws, then they shouldn't (and won't) be able to sell the products there.
justen
It's funny that the anglophones call the francophones arrogant for asking that products in the francophone markets be, well, francophone.
The bottom line is that it isn't just a good policy to translate the game and its packaging, it's a smart business move. The more people that can actually read and understand the packaging, potentially, counts as more people who might buy it.
justen
I've done some work for a travel company out in California, and I know cold call telephone marketing has been a debate there for a while. The argument has always swung towards not doing it, but I think there are good arguments, similar to yours, that are weighed in favor of giving it a try.
The reality is that there are some niches where customers might be interested in learning more by phone. The company does Scandinavian travel, Antarctica, and such... And there aren't too many companies that specialize in that, but they have partnered with a few that do. There might have once been the possibility of (legally, and within the other company's privacy policy) utilizing a call list for similar customers. It didn't end up happening, but I wonder if folks would've objected?
I actually learned about Vonage in a similar manner, and I'm pretty damned glad that telemarketer called me!
justen deal
Seems like an interesting use of technology, but it isn't new. (Exchange has had this, of course, for intra-Exchange users, for ages. America Online recently started testing a similar service for their members.)
:)
It is unique in that it has the possibility of accomodating users across mail services, platforms, and other traditional barriers.
However, being the paranoid schizo that I am, I can't imagine I would ever subscribe to or accomodate such a service. Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but such a centralized system has an incredible ability to be abused by sources internal and external.
Nice idea. But so is RFID for every human.
justen
The struggle within technology and entertainment conglomerates (the newly rechristened Time Warner, Sony, Viacom, even Apple) is an interesting one. I'd love to be a fly on the wall of those board rooms.
But I'd like to disagree with part of and seek clarification on part of your second comment.
How does Apple promote piracy on their Mac platform? Do they do so anymore than, as you mention, Dell, or other technology companies? And Michael Eisner did, actually, attack other companies, including hp, which is a considerably larger company than Dell.
(Admittedly, I think Mr. Eisner was a little off his rocker on that day in particular. But I bet that Mike, off his rocker, is probably more sane than some of the folks at Time Warner and Sony.)
justen
As Martha would say, this is a damned Good Thing(C).
It is interesting to note that Paul Allen is the chairman of Charter, and has been since he bought the company in 1998. Perhaps this will give fuel to the entertainment industry to say that technology, technology companies, and anybody tainted by either, are evil? (See here.)
Nonetheless, it is important that formidable companies stand up to the entertainment industry and its henchmen. Charter and Verizon (see story) are two folks who you'd want on your side.
justen
Not perfect, but close.
Each PowerBook in Apple's current professional lineup can handle (according to the tech specs) close to your requirements.
Operating extremes are: 50 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 35 degrees Celsius) for temperature; 20% to 80% relative humidity, non-condensing. Maximum operating altitude is at 10,000 feet.
Storage extremes are: 40 below to 116 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 to 47 degrees Celsius) for temperature; 15,000 feet maximum altitude.
And, of course, Linux on PowerPC kicks ass (as does OS X).
Best of luck.
justen
I guess it depends on who scares you the most, then: Disney or Clear Channel.
My bets are with the Mouse.
justen
Cassady & Greene truly marketed some of the most innovative programs on the Mac. Conflict Catcher rightly earned all of the awards (and hearts) it did over the years. And Cassady & Greene is arguably the grandmother of Apple's "digital hub" strategy: iTunes was borne of SoundJam Pro, originally marketed by C&G. (The original developers of iTunes now work for Apple.)
It's been great.
Goodnight.
justen
On the most basic level, some of these ideas exist in tangible forms today.
Salling Software's Clicker is a pretty cool piece of software that does some nifty remote control things with Bluetooth-enabled Sony Ericsson phones. But the really nifty stuff are its "proximity sensor" features. When it senses the phone leaves the computer's general area, it pauses iTunes; when you return, it resumes playing. It can also be AppleScript-enabled, letting you do any number of other proximity-to-computer related tasks.
Just a thought. (No, I don't work for Salling Software.)
Something like Minority Report's smart advertising based on a retina scan comes to mind. Basing this off of wireless phones, it seems very much like this idea might be widespread within a few years.
Interesting technology. That's all.
justen
Sort of.
Be, Inc. (what's left of it, anyway) retains the rights to the phrase and trademark "Be" and "Be, Inc." "BeOS" and "BeIA" (their attempt to create an Internet appliance platform), as trademarks, were taken over by Palm.
justen
Simply because the Tomb Raider franchise was so successful in theatres doesn't mean that the film and game industries should start making babies.
There are many, many things specific to Tomb Raider that helped build its success as a movie. Primarily, there is a popular need for additional female-driven action movies.
Jinx, played by Halle Berry, from the James Bond series is a good example of things to come. She's also looking at Catwoman. Ashley Judd in upcoming The Blackout Murders and, of course, there's always Charlie's Angels.
Anyway, it isn't affirmative action for the sake of affirmative action... It's a need...
Good luck to these movies, though.
justen
Don't be down on Canada just yet.
Canada signed Kyoto back in the Spring of 1998. Canada's goal is based on a 6% reduction from 1990 levels by 2012. (It should be noted that a 6% reduction is a massive reduction.)
Unfortunately, they don't have to begin meeting that target until 2008. (There are reasons for this: upgrading their entire non-hyrdo power infrastructure, strengthening their already tight auto regulations, etc.)
So, until then, unfortunately, industry is taking advantage of their last shot to try to murder the environment, before their January 1, 2008 death sentence...
justen
(It's also worth noting that even with the increase since 1998, adjusted for population difference, Canada produces a quarter less pollution than the United States does.)
The FTC has become a joke lately. Even Congress thinks so (on the issue of privacy).
From credit to business mergers to privacy, and, yes, spam, the FTC seems to always screw up something. (While the companies were busy forgetting due diligence, you can bet the FTC was, too...)
They'll likely compile a list of all the email addresses that were spammed to and make them available to spammers.
Now that's my government working for me!
justen