It's a classic example of public assumption. Everybody assumes that if something is copyrighted, it can't be distributed legally. In truth, it depends on the will of the copyright holder. I don't remember how many times I've heard people say "Linux isn't copyrighted" or "BSD isn't copyrighted." They both are, but the copyright holders choose licenses that don't include the phrase "All rights reserved."
But trying to clarify that is like telling an internet user that a "cracker" broke into their computer, not a "hacker." (However, I'll note that the copyright legality clarification is probably more important than that of the cracker/hacker.)
What if you coated two sides of a sheet of glass...if you could use a polarized-light arrangement, you could come out with a screen with actual depth. Each layer would look like a checkerboard, with sections with the LCD coating in laid in, and sections where it is not. The two layers would have perpendicular angles of polarization, and the three-d appearance would be completed with polarized glasses.
Another concept could take gridded sheets of LEDs or some such, and layer them to a useful depth. You now have a 3D grid of light sources that allow you to form 3D pictures without the aid of glasses.
By the way...both of those ideas just found their way into the public domain.
If a reflective protein could be embedded in a cell membrane, you might be able to make bacteria reflective...but then you'll piss off a lot of people about contaminating space with life forms.
Not to mention the kernel version in question. When was the infringing code introduced? Who introduced it? Has it ever been modified? Who claims current copyright over the file?
If there's any similarities, it's going to be a big mess. Kernel developers (not just Linus) are going to be called in to witness. CVS (and BitKeeper) records are going to be submitted as evidence, and life is going to be real miserable for some people.
This could be a serious problem in ways that I haven't seen anyone talk about. What happens if kernel developers get in hot water? Forget driving off potential customers, SCO could very easily stymie kernel development participation. If you're afraid you're going to get thrown in court for improving some bit of the kernel, are you likely to contribute at all?
In short, if this lawsuit is malicious towards Linux, then I'd be real worried for kernel developers.
If I remember my history class right, the French came out with a killer system, but since England was at war with them, their pride forced them to stay away from it. Later, of course, they adopted it, but not before the American colonies had their allotment of pride versus England.
But it's kindof pointless (at least for me) to filter out news. Instead of getting a new article approximately every hour or so, you'll have to go two or maybe even three hours between articles.
Between "not a large amount of money" and "not a significant amount of money."
A corporation may be worth hundreds of billions, but budgets for departments/projects may still be tight. I'd gauge the significance of the amount by the profit margin of the company...
They sort of do. As I understand it, patents are available to be challenged with prior art before they're granted. AFAIK, anyone can demonstrate the prior art.
I understand what you mean, though, and I like it: Patents should be available with full power on application, with legal action allowed. This should help flush out prior art, and make the (as yet non-official) patent gain more public attention.
Perhaps patents should be treated as trademarks, where you have to persue violators or you lose the patent. Of course, you could license the patent (at any or no cost) as you see fit.
Other issues aside, video DRM folks will still have a lot of trouble detecting watermarks in anything encoded in a lossy compression format. (read, mpeg2 in DVD audio and video)
Slashdot Mirror
YOU try convincing my grandparents to use it, with their "ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude.
The vast majority of internet users want something that "just works," and don't want to bother "tweaking" their setup.
My mother used to blame my Win95 box's crashing on my constantly "fiddling" with it.
Clicky
It's a classic example of public assumption. Everybody assumes that if something is copyrighted, it can't be distributed legally. In truth, it depends on the will of the copyright holder. I don't remember how many times I've heard people say "Linux isn't copyrighted" or "BSD isn't copyrighted." They both are, but the copyright holders choose licenses that don't include the phrase "All rights reserved."
But trying to clarify that is like telling an internet user that a "cracker" broke into their computer, not a "hacker." (However, I'll note that the copyright legality clarification is probably more important than that of the cracker/hacker.)
You know...666 makes sense. World readable and writable; everyone has their own idea of what the Beast is like.
... they want to execute Satan. :)
As for proof that gambling is is a Godsend? Slot machines with "777"
Two panes...hmm.
What if you coated two sides of a sheet of glass...if you could use a polarized-light arrangement, you could come out with a screen with actual depth. Each layer would look like a checkerboard, with sections with the LCD coating in laid in, and sections where it is not. The two layers would have perpendicular angles of polarization, and the three-d appearance would be completed with polarized glasses.
Another concept could take gridded sheets of LEDs or some such, and layer them to a useful depth. You now have a 3D grid of light sources that allow you to form 3D pictures without the aid of glasses.
By the way...both of those ideas just found their way into the public domain.
At 20 years old, and with a 5-digit Slashdot uid, I've been accused of being born with ethernet growing out of my ears.
If a reflective protein could be embedded in a cell membrane, you might be able to make bacteria reflective...but then you'll piss off a lot of people about contaminating space with life forms.
And that stereotype about evil people having glowing red eyes? I swear, it's those time traveler cult-people.
We did that, too, a long time ago. I was in 5th grade, and in a waiting room at the local mental health clinic (Pine Rest) ... We're much better now.
Not to mention the kernel version in question. When was the infringing code introduced? Who introduced it? Has it ever been modified? Who claims current copyright over the file?
If there's any similarities, it's going to be a big mess. Kernel developers (not just Linus) are going to be called in to witness. CVS (and BitKeeper) records are going to be submitted as evidence, and life is going to be real miserable for some people.
This could be a serious problem in ways that I haven't seen anyone talk about. What happens if kernel developers get in hot water? Forget driving off potential customers, SCO could very easily stymie kernel development participation. If you're afraid you're going to get thrown in court for improving some bit of the kernel, are you likely to contribute at all?
In short, if this lawsuit is malicious towards Linux, then I'd be real worried for kernel developers.
If I remember my history class right, the French came out with a killer system, but since England was at war with them, their pride forced them to stay away from it. Later, of course, they adopted it, but not before the American colonies had their allotment of pride versus England.
Yeah...look for Netscape.
But it's kindof pointless (at least for me) to filter out news. Instead of getting a new article approximately every hour or so, you'll have to go two or maybe even three hours between articles.
shudder...
Yeah...regex is is Lucifer's Hammer...It's had quite an impact. I think even Microsoft's .NET libraries support it.
Between "not a large amount of money" and "not a significant amount of money."
A corporation may be worth hundreds of billions, but budgets for departments/projects may still be tight. I'd gauge the significance of the amount by the profit margin of the company...
Vendor-specific patents and such. Be glad the GPUs can be plugged into a high-speed expansion bus, as-is.
They sort of do. As I understand it, patents are available to be challenged with prior art before they're granted. AFAIK, anyone can demonstrate the prior art.
I understand what you mean, though, and I like it: Patents should be available with full power on application, with legal action allowed. This should help flush out prior art, and make the (as yet non-official) patent gain more public attention.
Perhaps patents should be treated as trademarks, where you have to persue violators or you lose the patent. Of course, you could license the patent (at any or no cost) as you see fit.
doh...That should be "Prime factorization of large numbers"
Now that's just silly. Legally, it's too dangerous for SETI to get involved with DRM cracking. Wait until that portion of the DMCA is invalidated.
Large prime factorization would be cool, though.
I sorta figured that a switch to JXTA would bring along greater decentralization. Any central server ought to have their load reduced, that way.
I must be in the wrong thread...I thought this was about 3D modelling. What's Elgoog have to do with it?
I've found the new modutils to be backwards-compatible under Debian, but that's just me.
Other issues aside, video DRM folks will still have a lot of trouble detecting watermarks in anything encoded in a lossy compression format. (read, mpeg2 in DVD audio and video)
Uh, check your Slashdot Japan link. (free Babelfish translation)
Fool! Hurry up and implement it!
I'd suggest radiating from the poles...you get months of darkness at a time down there. Your apparatus would be limited in height, though.