I Dream of Google Usenet
on
Deja For Sale
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· Score: 3
Usenet would be a very natural fit for Google's search-focused, keyword-focused ad placement site. While Google buying out part of Deja as a company is sketchy, I can see them buying out their Usenet archive separately and integrating Usenet with some of their expertise. Man, with Usenet on Google I'd never leave my chair^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Htheir site.
unless i am mistaken it was a world market for 5 computers not 10
I believe you may have confused the IBM quote with a quote from Prof. Frink from The Simpsons. Presenting the Frinkiac-7, he remarked that it looked impressive, "But I predict that within a hundred years, computers will be twice as powerful, 10,000 times larger, and so expensive that only the five richest kings of Europe will own them."
Like ACM Lite? I'm an ACM member, but then again I'm into the scientific and research aspect of computers. There isn't really a similar organization for those who are more sort of, hmm, how should I say this in the vocabulary of Tron... ah yes, users.
Hmm. Just now I had a profound thought. What about a new fraternal organization for the high-tech, you know, like the Elks, Masons, Moose, or Water Buffalos? Yeah, I could dig that... Anyone know of one? I think someone needs to get going on that right away.
I'm sure in due time if the Moon gets colonized someone will build a protective dome over at least Apollo 11's landing site.
I agree. We should protect that site, as a reminder of Humanity's first steps into space. Maybe a dome covered with a diamond film coating, a la Arthur C. Clarke's 2061.
I disagree. We should replace the original lunar lander on that site, as a tourist attraction. Maybe a nearby amusement park too, a la Matt Groening's Futurama.
I love the word "literally," because it reminds you just how much hyperbole and metaphor we use in daily conversation. Examples like that happen when it's abused as a synonym for "really" or "truly" in an already-hyperbolic phrase. My favorite has to be (actually heard this on a sports show): "He literally exploded onto the national scene." True if you're a terrorist, I guess, but thankfully not in college basketball.
Re:The Things People Register
on
Typosquatting
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· Score: 1
You actually checked all those? If I checked them, by the time I got to twenty Z's I would be the one saying "Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz."
By the way, I'm sometimes amused by OneWordDomainNames.com. It has a list of what English-word domains are available (not in.com, of course!) and, intruigingly, of not-yet-paid-for expiring one-word.com domains.
Hmm. So even if I have a computer dedicated to nothing but circumventing access controls, it doesn't count because it's not manufactured or marketed with that intent? How phoney! =^)
Actually, the Fisher company does pretty well for itself, and did so even before the Space Pen, I understand. When I lived in Boulder City, they were a cornerstone of the business community, but had just moved there in the late 70's (perhaps abandoning their multi-million-dollar research compound;^). Although $2M might be exaggerated, I imagine the equipment to produce that special ink and nitrogen-pressurized ink cartridges could get costly. But hey, they still do quite a business (and are still on every manned NASA mission), so it was an excellent investment whatever the actual price was.
By the way, have a look at these comments if you were wondering why I feel it's fortunate that the AHRA's scope doesn't extend past consumer electronics intended for that use (and into the realm of computers).
I would be curious to know where Hasbro actually got the rights to Asteroids. Asteroids seems awfully close to MIT's Spacewar.
Then you haven't seen Atari's first game, Computer Space. Check out this picture of the very first (and very mod) arcade game. If the ugly word "rip-off" has to be used, CS is near the front of the rip-off line -- it's Spacewar for the arcade.
However, in an era where games quite freely, er, "shared" elements, Asteroids was rather novel at the time. I would certainly say that the gameplay, independent of the fact that it was a space game, was a revelation (of course, Robotron later took that gameplay to a new level). Check out the articl e about Asteroids from Microsoft Arcade.
The AHRA (Chapter 10 of the Copyright Code) uses a very sensible definition of the devices it covers and does not cover. I assume you read the first sentence of Section 1001, which says that the meanings are provided for terms as they are used in that chapter, not as they are used in the language at large. It seems like a reasonable convention to me.
Let me give another (somewhat random) example, from 7 U.S.C. 6802 (2)(A)(ii), regarding "Fresh Cut Flowers and Fresh Cut Greens Promotion and Information" (whatever):
The term "cut greens" includes all cultivated or noncultivated decorative foliage cut from growing plants that are used as fresh-cut decorative foliage (except Christmas trees) and that are produced under cover or in field operations.
So, even though all the Douglas firs I've had as Christmas trees I've are clearly "greens" and certainly "cut," they're not cut greens. Even if I don't celebrate Christmas, it doesn't count -- because it's traditionally a "Christmas tree." Well, that's why the definition is important. The choice was made by the drafters of the law not to apply it to Christmas trees. They didn't do that accidentally. The definition is just a way to avoid repeating the applicability constraint dozens of times.
My point, of course, is that the definition of terms embodies the intent of the law. It provides a context and scope for the legislation, which is good. The AHRA seeks to narrowly define (thank goodness) the devices it covers. Maybe I'm assuming a level of sophistication that I shouldn't, but that seems sensible to me, and that's why I didn't understand what your contention was.
By the way, I don't mean to say that the story was not without quality (or that I want to remove personality from Slashdot). But I would like to amplify Stickboy's comments on the quality of Slashdot's posts since they have a reflection on the comments that are posted and the substance of discussions here. OK, enough whining;)
Seriously, it's nothing personal, timothy. I know we can all identify with the sentiment. But I really think it could have been stated in a more productive way.
Getting back to the subject at hand, I'm not sure I understand quite what plain facts were turned on their head by the AHRA's definition (in 1992) of a digital audio recording device. Could you elaborate?
As a frequent Slashdot reader, I really wonder what people think when their first impression of the site is a story like this. I hope that Slashdot authors are cognizant of the bratty attitude they perpetuate with remarks like those in the story. Even though that attitude may not be present, it's harder to give the benefit of doubt in this situation than it should be.
I agree completely with your assessment of this situation. If Slashdot wants to maintain the quality of discussion, quality has to be present in what's presented for discussion.
Yo, how can you understand the concept of "robbery" without an already-understood definition of "property?" I may not be a philosopher, but that's some wack Frenchy logic.
By the way, for all y'all who you don't like the RIAA, don't listen to their member companies' music -- no problem. After all, there's plenty of other music out there from promising local bands, who could probably use your support. Maybe I'm just cynical, but I find it comical that people take up the cause of vigilante justice against the oppressed musician proletariat by downloading as much major-label music as strikes their fancy.
Come on people, you know you want it. Don't be coy. Tell major record labels that you're going to fill multiple hard drives with the music they sell, not because it's anything personal, but because you can. That's what you really want to say, isn't it?
Give me a break, without Linux do you really think FreeBSD would have garnered the spotlight? I doubt it.
Oh my. Is that what's important to an OS, the spotlight?
FreeBSD still has inferior hardware support, applications support, etc.
Yes, FreeBSD is inferior to the leader in those categories, Windows 98. Such is life.
Ah yes, speaking of Windows, I believe your quote that the previous poster responded to was:
without RMS or another hard liner who stuck to his guns and just plain simply refused to give an inch we'd not have all the wonderful choices we have today, we'd all be running Windows 95
While I'm not sure if you still want to argue this, I think we can all agree with your new claim:
The FSF has had a very significant impact on computing in general, [...]
Which is, I think, quite more reasonable.
and to dismiss it all by naming two projects which would be basically nowhere without the FSF, and a third which is used by almost nobody, is pretty, well, stupid.
Mmmkay, so FreeBSD and X11 would be nowhere without the FSF. Well, speculation being what it is, it could also be everywhere depending on which what-if scenario you consider. OK, and lcc is used by almost nobody. Now really, iCEBaLM, even if I was the only person who knew about it, it could still be a high-quality compiler, right? It's too bad you've never seen the lcc book, it's quite nifty. Check it out. And hey, be kind to your fellow Slashdotters, eh?
Re:GPL and internal-use software
on
Qt Going GPL
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· Score: 2
The GPL and QPL seem similar in this regard: you cannot keep an internal *product* private, only stuff in development can ignore the terms of the GPL. If you write an in-house word processor and give it to your HR department to use, you may not restrict them from redistributing it.
Assuming it's only a question of copyright violation, I doubt that's true. Of course, if you're giving this GNU GPL'd software as a personal gift to members of your HR department, sure, you've distributed it. But in the situation you suggested, even though the company has copied their own (GPL'd) work, they really haven't redistributed it. The company has given copies, or access to copy, to company employees acting as such, not to a separate recipient. The HR department can no more redistribute or copy it at will than they can take home office supplies at will.
If it's strictly a question of misappropriating trade secrets and/or violating an NDA, it gets a little confusing, but I still very much doubt it. The difficulty is that the copyright license allows a recipient to redistribute a GPL'd work, yet it may still be considered confidential. For example, software for monitoring a specialized manufacturing facility could embody many trade secrets, even if the code itself was not of particular independent economic value.
The GPL forbids further restrictions, such as an NDA, on those who are distributed works under its terms. But even though it's improper to do so, that does not mean that the NDA has lost effect, or that reasonable secrecy measures were not taken. Therefore, the work and information in the work would still be eligible for protection as a trade secret.
For example, let's assume such a thing happened: a company distributed a copy of GPL'd trade secret code to a third party under an NDA. The third party discloses the code publicly. Will the NDA be nullified in order to comply with the GPL? Unlikely, I think. The originating company will be at fault for violating the original work's GPL and maybe also for providing the third party with the GPL'd work under false pretenses. Meanwhile, the third party will still be at fault for violating the NDA.
Oh, by the way, I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. (Customer activation required. Cape does not enable wearer to fly. Tax-free in 49 states -- sorry, Tennessee!)
[Re: numerical estimates of English-speakers] My guess is that whoever gives the 470M figure has a very liberal definition of what "English" is, and includes speakers of English-based creoles.
Some things never change. Speaking of which, no surprise to see Nintendo is still hanging onto the proprietary media for "counterfeit crotection." Sure, that and crotecting the high manufacturing prices they've enjoyed throughout the cartridge era.
By the way, I thought the Game Sphere was a promising idea that was rejected without, I thought, proper consideration.
If I was running a business, I wouldn't want to hire someone who would sign a contract without reading it.
Yeah, I'd feel suspicious about that too, but it would hardly stand in my way as an employer, especially in this market climate. I can't imagine being the dude in the hiring meeting protesting, "But he hardly skimmed the NDA! How could he trust us that much after just talking to one of us on the phone?"
Also, let me point out that I generally read NDA's as fast as I possibly can to make sure there's nothing odious involved. I could be counted as one of those who didn't "actually read" the NDA even though I've read it to my satisfaction. After all, this is an interview, and the appearance of good faith (even to the point of false naïveté) and an easygoing nature works in my favor...
Re:Gamecenter's bust to the RTS far from credible
on
Vanishing Game Genres
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· Score: 2
Eww. Actually did not know about that. Well, priorities being priorities and all, I guess that makes sense. I really don't envy their, er, place in the product cycle.
Let me rant a little about location. Oddworld Inhabitants is in San Luis Obispo. That's in Central California, pretty much exactly halfway between LA and the Bay Area -- equally remote (about 200 miles) from either.
Personally, I worry a little about isolated places like OWI. By that I mean not only are they a good distance outside the major game industry hubs (the Bay Area, LA/OC/San Diego, Seattle, Austin, Dallas, and Chicago,) but they're also in a pretty sparse region. Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure SLO is beautiful, and I know they wanted to get away from LA. But what's wrong with, say, Ojai, which is a comfortable 80 miles outside LA?
Look, if you're starting a game company with your friends and won't need access to good mid-level art and game programming talent, put your business in Antarctica for all it matters. But unless you're Square, you're not going to be attracting the same level of overall talent with an operation far away from your potential employees. Hey, ask Don Bluth and Gary Goldman.
But soft. Let me point out that a game company that has a decent-sized region or metro area mostly to itself can also do well in the staffing department. They're like regional collectors of game development talent. I'm thinking of companies like Bioware, Raven, Eidetic, Westwood and (before the Dallas area grew to outstrip the talent supply) id Software.
However, and no offense intended, Central California does not seem like a terribly talent-rich region. [cough...Sierra...cough...] I hope OWI gets along well, though, they seem to have their heads screwed on straight and are a truly unique and fascinating study.
Slashdot Mirror
Usenet would be a very natural fit for Google's search-focused, keyword-focused ad placement site. While Google buying out part of Deja as a company is sketchy, I can see them buying out their Usenet archive separately and integrating Usenet with some of their expertise. Man, with Usenet on Google I'd never leave my chair^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Htheir site.
I believe you may have confused the IBM quote with a quote from Prof. Frink from The Simpsons. Presenting the Frinkiac-7, he remarked that it looked impressive, "But I predict that within a hundred years, computers will be twice as powerful, 10,000 times larger, and so expensive that only the five richest kings of Europe will own them."
Hmm. Just now I had a profound thought. What about a new fraternal organization for the high-tech, you know, like the Elks, Masons, Moose, or Water Buffalos? Yeah, I could dig that... Anyone know of one? I think someone needs to get going on that right away.
I agree. We should protect that site, as a reminder of Humanity's first steps into space. Maybe a dome covered with a diamond film coating, a la Arthur C. Clarke's 2061.
I disagree. We should replace the original lunar lander on that site, as a tourist attraction. Maybe a nearby amusement park too, a la Matt Groening's Futurama.
I love the word "literally," because it reminds you just how much hyperbole and metaphor we use in daily conversation. Examples like that happen when it's abused as a synonym for "really" or "truly" in an already-hyperbolic phrase. My favorite has to be (actually heard this on a sports show): "He literally exploded onto the national scene." True if you're a terrorist, I guess, but thankfully not in college basketball.
By the way, I'm sometimes amused by OneWordDomainNames.com. It has a list of what English-word domains are available (not in .com, of course!) and, intruigingly, of not-yet-paid-for expiring one-word .com domains.
Hmm. So even if I have a computer dedicated to nothing but circumventing access controls, it doesn't count because it's not manufactured or marketed with that intent? How phoney! =^)
Occasional Slashdot poster and presidential candidate Leo Schwab, you mean.
Actually, the Fisher company does pretty well for itself, and did so even before the Space Pen, I understand. When I lived in Boulder City, they were a cornerstone of the business community, but had just moved there in the late 70's (perhaps abandoning their multi-million-dollar research compound ;^). Although $2M might be exaggerated, I imagine the equipment to produce that special ink and nitrogen-pressurized ink cartridges could get costly. But hey, they still do quite a business (and are still on every manned NASA mission), so it was an excellent investment whatever the actual price was.
Then you haven't seen Atari's first game, Computer Space. Check out this picture of the very first (and very mod) arcade game. If the ugly word "rip-off" has to be used, CS is near the front of the rip-off line -- it's Spacewar for the arcade.
However, in an era where games quite freely, er, "shared" elements, Asteroids was rather novel at the time. I would certainly say that the gameplay, independent of the fact that it was a space game, was a revelation (of course, Robotron later took that gameplay to a new level). Check out the articl e about Asteroids from Microsoft Arcade.
Let me give another (somewhat random) example, from 7 U.S.C. 6802 (2)(A)(ii), regarding "Fresh Cut Flowers and Fresh Cut Greens Promotion and Information" (whatever):
So, even though all the Douglas firs I've had as Christmas trees I've are clearly "greens" and certainly "cut," they're not cut greens. Even if I don't celebrate Christmas, it doesn't count -- because it's traditionally a "Christmas tree." Well, that's why the definition is important. The choice was made by the drafters of the law not to apply it to Christmas trees. They didn't do that accidentally. The definition is just a way to avoid repeating the applicability constraint dozens of times.
My point, of course, is that the definition of terms embodies the intent of the law. It provides a context and scope for the legislation, which is good. The AHRA seeks to narrowly define (thank goodness) the devices it covers. Maybe I'm assuming a level of sophistication that I shouldn't, but that seems sensible to me, and that's why I didn't understand what your contention was.
By the way, I don't mean to say that the story was not without quality (or that I want to remove personality from Slashdot). But I would like to amplify Stickboy's comments on the quality of Slashdot's posts since they have a reflection on the comments that are posted and the substance of discussions here. OK, enough whining ;)
Getting back to the subject at hand, I'm not sure I understand quite what plain facts were turned on their head by the AHRA's definition (in 1992) of a digital audio recording device. Could you elaborate?
I agree completely with your assessment of this situation. If Slashdot wants to maintain the quality of discussion, quality has to be present in what's presented for discussion.
By the way, for all y'all who you don't like the RIAA, don't listen to their member companies' music -- no problem. After all, there's plenty of other music out there from promising local bands, who could probably use your support. Maybe I'm just cynical, but I find it comical that people take up the cause of vigilante justice against the oppressed musician proletariat by downloading as much major-label music as strikes their fancy.
Come on people, you know you want it. Don't be coy. Tell major record labels that you're going to fill multiple hard drives with the music they sell, not because it's anything personal, but because you can. That's what you really want to say, isn't it?
Oh my. Is that what's important to an OS, the spotlight?
FreeBSD still has inferior hardware support, applications support, etc.
Yes, FreeBSD is inferior to the leader in those categories, Windows 98. Such is life.
Ah yes, speaking of Windows, I believe your quote that the previous poster responded to was:
without RMS or another hard liner who stuck to his guns and just plain simply refused to give an inch we'd not have all the wonderful choices we have today, we'd all be running Windows 95
While I'm not sure if you still want to argue this, I think we can all agree with your new claim:
The FSF has had a very significant impact on computing in general, [...]
Which is, I think, quite more reasonable.
and to dismiss it all by naming two projects which would be basically nowhere without the FSF, and a third which is used by almost nobody, is pretty, well, stupid.
Mmmkay, so FreeBSD and X11 would be nowhere without the FSF. Well, speculation being what it is, it could also be everywhere depending on which what-if scenario you consider. OK, and lcc is used by almost nobody. Now really, iCEBaLM, even if I was the only person who knew about it, it could still be a high-quality compiler, right? It's too bad you've never seen the lcc book, it's quite nifty. Check it out. And hey, be kind to your fellow Slashdotters, eh?
Assuming it's only a question of copyright violation, I doubt that's true. Of course, if you're giving this GNU GPL'd software as a personal gift to members of your HR department, sure, you've distributed it. But in the situation you suggested, even though the company has copied their own (GPL'd) work, they really haven't redistributed it. The company has given copies, or access to copy, to company employees acting as such, not to a separate recipient. The HR department can no more redistribute or copy it at will than they can take home office supplies at will.
If it's strictly a question of misappropriating trade secrets and/or violating an NDA, it gets a little confusing, but I still very much doubt it. The difficulty is that the copyright license allows a recipient to redistribute a GPL'd work, yet it may still be considered confidential. For example, software for monitoring a specialized manufacturing facility could embody many trade secrets, even if the code itself was not of particular independent economic value.
The GPL forbids further restrictions, such as an NDA, on those who are distributed works under its terms. But even though it's improper to do so, that does not mean that the NDA has lost effect, or that reasonable secrecy measures were not taken. Therefore, the work and information in the work would still be eligible for protection as a trade secret.
For example, let's assume such a thing happened: a company distributed a copy of GPL'd trade secret code to a third party under an NDA. The third party discloses the code publicly. Will the NDA be nullified in order to comply with the GPL? Unlikely, I think. The originating company will be at fault for violating the original work's GPL and maybe also for providing the third party with the GPL'd work under false pretenses. Meanwhile, the third party will still be at fault for violating the NDA.
Oh, by the way, I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. (Customer activation required. Cape does not enable wearer to fly. Tax-free in 49 states -- sorry, Tennessee!)
My guess is that whoever gives the 470M figure has a very liberal definition of what "English" is, and includes speakers of English-based creoles.
Including, for example, Jeff K.?
Some things never change. Speaking of which, no surprise to see Nintendo is still hanging onto the proprietary media for "counterfeit crotection." Sure, that and crotecting the high manufacturing prices they've enjoyed throughout the cartridge era.
By the way, I thought the Game Sphere was a promising idea that was rejected without, I thought, proper consideration.
Wow. You've completely destroyed my mental image of the Kit-Kat line consisting solely of two giant vats labeled "Kit" and "Kat."
Yeah, I'd feel suspicious about that too, but it would hardly stand in my way as an employer, especially in this market climate. I can't imagine being the dude in the hiring meeting protesting, "But he hardly skimmed the NDA! How could he trust us that much after just talking to one of us on the phone?"
Also, let me point out that I generally read NDA's as fast as I possibly can to make sure there's nothing odious involved. I could be counted as one of those who didn't "actually read" the NDA even though I've read it to my satisfaction. After all, this is an interview, and the appearance of good faith (even to the point of false naïveté) and an easygoing nature works in my favor...
Let me rant a little about location. Oddworld Inhabitants is in San Luis Obispo. That's in Central California, pretty much exactly halfway between LA and the Bay Area -- equally remote (about 200 miles) from either.
Personally, I worry a little about isolated places like OWI. By that I mean not only are they a good distance outside the major game industry hubs (the Bay Area, LA/OC/San Diego, Seattle, Austin, Dallas, and Chicago,) but they're also in a pretty sparse region. Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure SLO is beautiful, and I know they wanted to get away from LA. But what's wrong with, say, Ojai, which is a comfortable 80 miles outside LA?
Look, if you're starting a game company with your friends and won't need access to good mid-level art and game programming talent, put your business in Antarctica for all it matters. But unless you're Square, you're not going to be attracting the same level of overall talent with an operation far away from your potential employees. Hey, ask Don Bluth and Gary Goldman.
But soft. Let me point out that a game company that has a decent-sized region or metro area mostly to itself can also do well in the staffing department. They're like regional collectors of game development talent. I'm thinking of companies like Bioware, Raven, Eidetic, Westwood and (before the Dallas area grew to outstrip the talent supply) id Software.
However, and no offense intended, Central California does not seem like a terribly talent-rich region. [cough...Sierra...cough...] I hope OWI gets along well, though, they seem to have their heads screwed on straight and are a truly unique and fascinating study.
Heh. Note that they didn't call it the "World Climatologists' Warning to Humanity" either. I find that absolutely fascinating as well...
Halo? Duh. Sorry, substitute Hand of Odd in place of Halo.