According to the Safeway Privacy Statement for their card, all the cops have to do is ask nicely for some specific question:
Safeway may disclose personally-identifying information in response to a subpoena, court order or a specific request by a law enforcement agency, or as required by law.
There's also two things missing from this -- a deadline and a schedule. (And all the associated baggage.)
Yes, they were racing to get something done to get it on the master disk, but if they missed it, it was personal. They didn't have project managers crawling up their ass asking for work estimates, work breakdowns, timesheet reporting, starus reports, weekly and even daily meetings, change control, requirements churn, 1:1 meetings, skip-level meetings, compliance training, production support issues, etc.
Imagine that 12-hour day with all that extra crap on top of it.
I, being born in 1975, was a kid when this came out. I have found that lots of things that came out when I was a kid were actually really bad.
Well, I was 19. I remember it as being pretty bad. It's not allegory when you make the symbol of the V ships a truncates swastika. And the water thing? Sheesh. The humans-as-batteries device in The Matrix is almost as bad, but leaves wiggle room.
Maybe the new one won't suck. I'll probably watch, either way.
It's not that they're being SOLD that makes this a DMCA issue, it's the fact that they're being SOLD VIA THE WEB that makes this a DMCA issue.
Sort of like having harsher penalties for when you commit a crime with a gun than with a pointed stick. Or a banana.
FWIW, I think that's goofy as well.
But, from the DMCA text here, I still don't see how DMCA applies.
It *might* create the right to subpoena the ISP, it establishes exemptions for the ISP, and stuff like that. Still, the DMCA has some really weird crap in it. Look at the part on "vessel hulls", for example.
The key is that my reading of the DMCA doesn't have a "use a computer to commit a crime, go to jail" type clause. At least not one that I can find. (I'm not a lawyer, though. They can find anything in nothing.)
So while DMCA may be hated on Slashdot, I believe McCalls has a right to protect their copyrighted materials, which they want to have removed from the marketplace.
That's fine, but it's the invoking of the DMCA that makes this goofy. How does that affect grabbing something out of someone's trash and selling it? Granted, it might not be legal, but it doesn't appear to involve the DMCA except to get some press time.
If you want some really overt symbolism try watching Cool Hand Luke.
Religiousfolk tend to consider their literature to be Revealed Truth(tm) so whenever someone makes such allusions, they get all antsy and nervous, especially when the borrowing is not subtle. Some react with disgust, others rationalize. The literary allusions are somewhat overt in Cool Hand Luke, but they're buried in the story. The casual viewer won't pick up on it, as for them it's just a prison movie with memorable dialogue.
I'm actually surprised that The Matrix hasn't seen more of a (public) Christian backlash because of the more explicit references, but this type of rationalization is clear evidence of that discomfort.
Once they start down the IPO road, there's going to be demands the they start making money not by creating something that's useful, but by something that appears to be useful. Stuff that sells, or if it doesn't sell, it at least looks good in CBA meetings with MBAs. Endless personalization, tracking based on user profiles, custom emails, etc.
All of that sucks up design time and development time that could be spent on better things.
When you go to withdraw cash, you have the option to buy so many lottery tickets, using funds from your account. If you lose, too bad. But if you win, instant payout.
Heck, why not have an option to receive your Income Tax refund in lottery tickets?
Or maybe a certain percentage of your paycheck? Wait -- they call that stock options.
Nah, get one of these little PCs, stick it in a tower case, then you've got the whole damned thing for cold cathode lights, improbable-looking water cooling systems, etc.
I can't help but think of Lode Runner this every time someone refers to the testing app, LoadRunner. Hell, "Mercury Interactive" sounds more like a game company anyway.
The problem is that compilers like to optimize, and it is possible to end up with the same asm generated from different source.
They also need to show (ahem: I'm not a laywer)that what they're doing in the source is non-obvious. For example, if you have a routine that calculates the sum of values in an array and you just iterate through the array and keep a total going, well yeah, it's copyrightable, but it's nothing you could sue over.
I've had a burgundy-red Swingline 767 for quite a while. VirtualStapler has documented such a beast here. Now, the red 747 does appear to be new, though.
What if you're under 18 and you buy some software and click through the EULA. Most states say you have to be over 18 to sign/agree to a contract. Wouldn't that make the EULA void?
I'm not a lawyer, but if that were the case, then the 18-year old has no right to click through the EULA in the first place. That wouldn't render the EULA void, but it might mean that the license to use the software is void and the kid would be legally obliged to stop using the software.
Sort of like requiring you to be 21 to buy beer. Just because a 16 year old managed to buy a six-pack doesn't mean the kid's entitled to keep it just because the clerk failed to check ID.
Did anyone else notice that the MHz ratings for a Pentium "Classic" are equal to the MTOPS rating?
Seems the MTOPS rating is nothing more than a glorified version of the now-defunct "Pentium Rating" used by Intel competitors. It also makes one wonder if Intel had a hand in designing the spec.
Watch The Video!!
on
Binary Watch
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
From the looks of their video, they definitely need to hang out with some marketing folks, if only for a couple hours over a few beers. Still, the video has an enduring, ineffable charm. All the qualities of amateur pr0n. Without the pr0n. (Be sure to turn up the volume in order to hear the dialogue in the live-action scene -- unlike pr0n, the dialogue makes the magic.)
Douglas Adams Strikes Again
on
Virtual Keyboard
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Imagine the effort it will take to not type, if every movement is interpreted as a potential keystroke. I was reminded of this passage from the Hitchhiker's Guide:
A loud clatter of gunk music flooded through the Heart of Gold cabin as Zaphod searched the sub-etha radio wavebands for news of himself. The machine was rather difficult to operate. For years radios had been operated by means of pressing buttons and turning dials; then as the technology became more sophisticated the controls were made touch-sensitive - you merely had to brush the panels with your fingers; now all you had to do was wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope. It saved a lot of muscular expenditure of course, but meant that you had to sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same programme.
*sigh*. I love it when people write conspiracy theories when it's really just a standard Dynamic DNS client that is poking around on the network. [...] Dynamic DNS registration [is] turned on by default on all Windows 2000 clients
Yep. It's turned on by default in XP too. Even XP Home Edition. It can easily be disabled, though. Uncheck the box that says "register this computer's addresses in DNS" (if someone doesn't know how to get there, they shouldn't worrying about such things) and the traffic should go away.
It sounded fake to me. Why hire this guy in the first place?
The only reason I can figure is that the author was really looking to promote these "hyperproductive", buzzword-compliant, chained-to-the-keyboard, 8-to-5 team development techniques and if he hired a stereotype he could later fire him and use him as an example. If you get the developers working like machines and thinking that productivity (rather than good software) is the goal, they won't gripe when they're thrown ridiculous/mutable requirements or insane deadlines, and if they see a really bad example of non-conformist behavior getting the boot, they'll be more likely to accept a cage, a water bottle, and food pellets and then they can boast about how many lines of code they churned out when they're on the exercise wheel.
Yes, the era of the hero developer is coming to a close. That's inevitable, but that doesn't mean the era of experts is over, and it definitely doesn't mean individuality should be devalued. Individuals contributing to a team produce better results that team players contributing to a team, and a casual environment promotes creative thinking. Businessfolk have been trying to reduce development to grunt-labor status for years, and it will never work.
If the quirky guru contributes, he's valuable. If he doesn't contribute, and you thought if you hired a stinky, fat, bearded guy because those atrributes are the marks of a guru and you wanted him to be the Jesus for your project, you're simply a fool.
You know...
on
GPS Drawings
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Maybe I've read too many marginal novels, but I imagine using this as a way to communicate covertly. Granted, it'd be a royal pain in the ass.
Drive or walk your message, while transmitting your location. Glyphs could stand for entire blocks of meaning. Encrypt the message into glyphs, then walk them while transmitting encrypted GPS data. The data would then be smoothed (in space and time domains? What about traffic jams?) in order to recover the glyphs. Encrypted sign language in the large.
But most of all, it reminds me of the alphabet-walking man in Paul Auster's City of Glass.
Actually it is censorship, because stations are usually free to set their own playlists. That's why stations have program directors. When the PDs and jocks are choosing what to program, because they know their audience and local market best, that's "choice". It's "censorship" if corporate HQ is telling the stations "you can't play this". It's "choice" if they're telling the stations "we recommend you don't play this".
The fact that the authority making and enforcing this decision is not the government -- that's a meaningless distinction.
Look up the definition of "censorship" if you still think that state censorship is the only kind. And guess what -- just because it's "censorship" doesn't mean it's illegal. State censorship is illegal (in the US at least), private censorship is legal. Your point should not be "it's not censorship" but "sure it's censorship, but it's perfectly legal". Or, "just because it's censorship doesn't make it bad".
Yes, they have the right to dictate to their stations that they play this or that song and not play others. The fact that they have the legal right to censor their stations doesn't make it reasonable nor sensible. I'm sure this list made them feel like they were doing something, however reactionary and pointless.
Slashdot Mirror
There's also two things missing from this -- a deadline and a schedule. (And all the associated baggage.)
Yes, they were racing to get something done to get it on the master disk, but if they missed it, it was personal. They didn't have project managers crawling up their ass asking for work estimates, work breakdowns, timesheet reporting, starus reports, weekly and even daily meetings, change control, requirements churn, 1:1 meetings, skip-level meetings, compliance training, production support issues, etc.
Imagine that 12-hour day with all that extra crap on top of it.
-W-
Maybe the new one won't suck. I'll probably watch, either way.
Sort of like having harsher penalties for when you commit a crime with a gun than with a pointed stick. Or a banana.
FWIW, I think that's goofy as well.
But, from the DMCA text here, I still don't see how DMCA applies.
It *might* create the right to subpoena the ISP, it establishes exemptions for the ISP, and stuff like that. Still, the DMCA has some really weird crap in it. Look at the part on "vessel hulls", for example.
The key is that my reading of the DMCA doesn't have a "use a computer to commit a crime, go to jail" type clause. At least not one that I can find. (I'm not a lawyer, though. They can find anything in nothing.)
No.
-W-It said, "TO BE CONCLUDED." Very important difference there.
Religiousfolk tend to consider their literature to be Revealed Truth(tm) so whenever someone makes such allusions, they get all antsy and nervous, especially when the borrowing is not subtle. Some react with disgust, others rationalize. The literary allusions are somewhat overt in Cool Hand Luke, but they're buried in the story. The casual viewer won't pick up on it, as for them it's just a prison movie with memorable dialogue.
I'm actually surprised that The Matrix hasn't seen more of a (public) Christian backlash because of the more explicit references, but this type of rationalization is clear evidence of that discomfort.
All of that sucks up design time and development time that could be spent on better things.
Heck, why not have an option to receive your Income Tax refund in lottery tickets?
Or maybe a certain percentage of your paycheck? Wait -- they call that stock options.
See here (info on Norton) and here (more Clamper info in the second article as well).
-W-
From their site (go hunt for it -- Sammy's Mind)
"We contribute to creation and development of culture with our creativity and foreseeing in entertainment while moving forward with people."
They do admit it's a translation.
Nah, get one of these little PCs, stick it in a tower case, then you've got the whole damned thing for cold cathode lights, improbable-looking water cooling systems, etc.
-W-
I can't help but think of Lode Runner this every time someone refers to the testing app, LoadRunner. Hell, "Mercury Interactive" sounds more like a game company anyway.
The problem is that compilers like to optimize, and it is possible to end up with the same asm generated from different source.
They also need to show (ahem: I'm not a laywer)that what they're doing in the source is non-obvious. For example, if you have a routine that calculates the sum of values in an array and you just iterate through the array and keep a total going, well yeah, it's copyrightable, but it's nothing you could sue over.
I've had a burgundy-red Swingline 767 for quite a while. VirtualStapler has documented such a beast here. Now, the red 747 does appear to be new, though.
I'm not a lawyer, but if that were the case, then the 18-year old has no right to click through the EULA in the first place. That wouldn't render the EULA void, but it might mean that the license to use the software is void and the kid would be legally obliged to stop using the software.
Sort of like requiring you to be 21 to buy beer. Just because a 16 year old managed to buy a six-pack doesn't mean the kid's entitled to keep it just because the clerk failed to check ID.
Did anyone else notice that the MHz ratings for a Pentium "Classic" are equal to the MTOPS rating?
Seems the MTOPS rating is nothing more than a glorified version of the now-defunct "Pentium Rating" used by Intel competitors. It also makes one wonder if Intel had a hand in designing the spec.
From the looks of their video, they definitely need to hang out with some marketing folks, if only for a couple hours over a few beers. Still, the video has an enduring, ineffable charm. All the qualities of amateur pr0n. Without the pr0n. (Be sure to turn up the volume in order to hear the dialogue in the live-action scene -- unlike pr0n, the dialogue makes the magic.)
Yep. It's turned on by default in XP too. Even XP Home Edition. It can easily be disabled, though. Uncheck the box that says "register this computer's addresses in DNS" (if someone doesn't know how to get there, they shouldn't worrying about such things) and the traffic should go away.
The only reason I can figure is that the author was really looking to promote these "hyperproductive", buzzword-compliant, chained-to-the-keyboard, 8-to-5 team development techniques and if he hired a stereotype he could later fire him and use him as an example. If you get the developers working like machines and thinking that productivity (rather than good software) is the goal, they won't gripe when they're thrown ridiculous/mutable requirements or insane deadlines, and if they see a really bad example of non-conformist behavior getting the boot, they'll be more likely to accept a cage, a water bottle, and food pellets and then they can boast about how many lines of code they churned out when they're on the exercise wheel.
Yes, the era of the hero developer is coming to a close. That's inevitable, but that doesn't mean the era of experts is over, and it definitely doesn't mean individuality should be devalued. Individuals contributing to a team produce better results that team players contributing to a team, and a casual environment promotes creative thinking. Businessfolk have been trying to reduce development to grunt-labor status for years, and it will never work.
If the quirky guru contributes, he's valuable. If he doesn't contribute, and you thought if you hired a stinky, fat, bearded guy because those atrributes are the marks of a guru and you wanted him to be the Jesus for your project, you're simply a fool.
Drive or walk your message, while transmitting your location. Glyphs could stand for entire blocks of meaning. Encrypt the message into glyphs, then walk them while transmitting encrypted GPS data. The data would then be smoothed (in space and time domains? What about traffic jams?) in order to recover the glyphs. Encrypted sign language in the large.
But most of all, it reminds me of the alphabet-walking man in Paul Auster's City of Glass.
Answer: nowhere
You read that into it yourself.
Look up the definition of "censorship" if you still think that state censorship is the only kind. And guess what -- just because it's "censorship" doesn't mean it's illegal. State censorship is illegal (in the US at least), private censorship is legal. Your point should not be "it's not censorship" but "sure it's censorship, but it's perfectly legal". Or, "just because it's censorship doesn't make it bad".
Yes, they have the right to dictate to their stations that they play this or that song and not play others. The fact that they have the legal right to censor their stations doesn't make it reasonable nor sensible. I'm sure this list made them feel like they were doing something, however reactionary and pointless.
It can be found at metalab.unc.edu under pub/Linux/science/cartography/drawmap-2.4.tar.gz