10-20 years ago, beforem torrenting moveis was a thing, comercial movie theaters essentially committed a slow suicide.
Extra-high ticket prices. "Popcorn smell" pumped into the ventilation system (the chemical is known to cause lung damage). At least ten minutes of commercials preceding anything else. Commercials playing while you are waiting to the movie to "begin"---I mean by that, commercials during seating time. 10–15 minutes of previews that I don't need to see again. No "good" seats left if you are smart enough to come in 30 minutes "late" to the film. An extra charge for assigned seating, just in case you don't like being forced to watch commercials. Crying babies. Idiots on their cell phones – the whole movie through.
And so on.
I will go to art-house theaters because they have no bullshit. They also usually play great movies. Big-chain commercial theaters? Less than 10 times over the past 20 years.
Trump's statement, recorded on video with audio, is tantamount to treason.
Try it yourself. Invite an adversarial nation or state to hack servers containing potentially Top Secret information (if the nuts are to be believed), and promise them "rewards" if they do so. You will go to PMITA Federal Prison.
Who here keeps up with what the current color is for our " Terrorism Threat Level " ? * crickets *
( Who here remembers we even have one ? )
That color-coded 'terrorist' threat level was colored in an obtuse way. It was ROY B GIV. The DHS had its cluelessness on clear display in releasing that color chart (of how 'scared' you should be). The color order was wrong.
The usual standard for a color-scale is to follow the well-memorized rainbow color-order: ROY G BIV. That is, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green Blue, Indigo, and Violet.
And now Napolitano (former DHS chief) is heading-up the huge University of California System. Oy veh!
See my Comment RE the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act, above.
The act prevents manufacturers voiding the warranty, But it doesn't require manufacturers to make the technical information and diagnostic tools available, so you can use your own engineering knowhow, or hire your own engineer to diagnose and repair.
The manufacturers leverage copyright and the DMCA, along with Potting/sealing components and using special "Genuine/Counterfeit part detection" logic in software to prevent people from replacing simple components, such as analog sensors.
These days they also started keeping their schematics secret, and if you share technical information, the big company will use their lawyers and sue or threat of a suit to chill any dissemination of repair details
You are absolutely correct. When I was a rocket scientist, charged with root-cause failure analysis of components, and bound by NDAs out the wazoo, there were still issues. I was supposed to find a single, specific trace in an IC. The thing was in the third of five layers, and less than 100 micrometers long! An impossible task. It was a 'Program-Secret' component (i.e., above Top Secret, and above my clearance level). Despite the burn rate of "having a rocket ready for the launch-pad" costing $3M–$5M per day as the burn rate, it was critically important, yet delayed over the contractor's jitters. Yet, it took the manufacturer of the IC (BAE, Raytheon, or some spook company) ten days to get me the EE-oriented schematics before I could take apart the physical, real-world component. It was stupid. I needed to know where exactly to look, and for that you need a map.
So, yeah, for the average Joe, You are never going to get the schematics. Even the "nation's best experts" have great difficulty in obtaining schematics.
Go to www.sparkfun.com. But a Raspberry Pi. Buy an NI MyDAQ. You can do it on your own, but modern-day 'finished products' are almost impossible to modify on your own – by design.
Oh, don't ask if i got a bonus for saving $10M's. I did not. I received a color laser-jet printed commendation, in a plastic frame and all, for my saving a rocket launch. Fuck the MIC.
In the vein of your post, I just canceled my "Premium" subscription to LinkedIn.
They say no refunds, pro rata, but I am betting that once I do the research, California law will require such. If so, I will demand it.
I've had a LinkedIn account since 2002. I will now update my LinkedIn account to contain only a pointer to my own, personally hosted web page (on a VPS). Sure, they will still web-scrape my personal info. But, as a professional and consultant, I need that particular information out there. It's just that I won't be blowing >$450 per year for that privilege.
PS — I'm dumping Skype ASAP as well. The cloud is utter BS that should just blow away.
Iowa farmers: Please ask the state to send all property tax bills for John Deere tractors to the "owner" (John Deere) instead of the farmer. Ask for all the state sales tax money back since there was no sale. Ask JD for the liability insurance policy number for all the tractors since they apparently own them. The possibilities are endless
Youre hearing more about the DMCA iissue because shops are wising up and refusing to carry replacement and repair parts, at the behest of people like Deere that want to move more new stock in a car dealership model.
What kind of shops? If ceasing to sell parts, or repair guys deciding to not access available parts, happens. . . Well, then what? They lose business.
The only way the described scheme could work is if payola/bribes were being paid to the shops to not carry repair parts. There is no other way any shop would agree to such a scheme.
In fact, at least in auto repair, the shops absolutely hate this crap behavior, and having to buy special "code readers" along with yearly updates so that they can determine what is wrong, and stay in business by repairing cars. Jaguar is the absolute worst when it comes to this. There are myriad things that any shop could fix... but the 'car computer' must be reset by a licensed Jaguar dealer after any such repair. They trap their customers in their dealer-only service model worse than John Deere.
In fact several of the farms I grew up around are owned by Fortune 50 companies. It's just money. It's not about anything else. They pollute the environment and they just don't care about their people or the people or animals they are feeding.
They do this so that they can take tax deductions for being 'farmers', and they can also receive US government subsidies to grow – or to not grow any – crops.
Once upon a time, Lehman Brothers' HQ had a plot of land wa-a-a-ay off in the corner that housed 20 cows. Not 19; not 21; exactly 20. That is the minimum number to qualify for the 'small rancher' tax exemption.
I mean, really. No fees or taxes? Who is going to pay to maintain the roadways. Not the US Government—that is for sure.
If you really want to be 'on your own', then go ahead and do it. You will have to form your own governance and tax system—otherwise the roads will rot and you will be reduced to wagon-trains. But hey, go for it!
Oh, wait. First things first: Pay back the US Government for all of the subsidies over the decades that built your highways, that protect your borders, that regulate your life-line services (electricity, phone, internet, water, sewage).
Once you have paid the rest of us back for those 'freebies', you are free to secede.
The only thing worse for privacy is DNA... and they will be collecting that, too.
They already do.
Anyone in the USA arrested for suspicion of having committed a Class I Misdemeanor, or greater, will have their mouth swabbed to collect a sample for the FBI's US National Felon Database.
Yes, that's right. Arrested == GUILTY in the eyes of the Pigs. Good luck getting your DNA profile out of that database once a court exonerates you. (It will never happen.)
Don't be too quick to attribute to malice what may well be due to shitty Slashcode.
(FWIW, I've seen similar complaints but have yet to see any evidence of posts being "hidden" as described.)
Slashdot has been around forever, and run by computer experts.
I mark the CENSORSHIP up to MALICE.
FWIW: FB does this FAR more often. On a regular basis. And they also have a select group of 'editors' who select what is "trending" in FB. It is all a bunch of horse shit.
If my Tesla Model S is parked on the street, and some truck smashes into it, sending my car onto the sidewalk where it rolls over a pedestrian... is it Tesla's fault?
The manufacturers are not implying your warranty evaporates if you break the seal. It's more that you will never succeed in convincing them that you did not cause the problem at that point.
In a more extreme example, would you want to be a manufacturer and honor a warranty on a (spinning) hard drive with a broken seal?
Under Magnuson-Moss, the burden of proof (that the failure was caused by the consumer) is on the manufacturer, not the consumer.
Stores will lie to your face about this. Ask for a Manager. If no love, write them a letter, USPS Certified w/return-receipt. You will get movement. And in the rare case not even then, well, sue them in small claims. It is not difficult.
As Higuita indicated, they sell the $400 item to themselves on another account. Then, they can buy some expensive item or game and resell it on third-party sites like g2a or opskins, where users buy steam items for real money. This can be done with stolen credit cards as well as for money laundering, although Valve has made that a lot more difficult recently with trade restrictions and 2FA.
True enough about the 2-factor authentication. And also the waiting period sometimes imposed before selling a newly acquired item.
Don't forget all of the $400 items on the Steam CS:GO Marketplace. You know, the ones that normally sell for $0.83, but then suddenly spike momentarily to the maximum of $400 for an item?
Either there are some incredibly stupid millionaires out there, or, more likely, this is one step in any number of money-laundering schemes.
Slashdot Mirror
Oh those "IP Pirates" are really making it hard for the mega-corps to make a decent living...
Wait, this is a mega-corp pirating from an individual?
To all slashdotters: Torrent on!
See my reply to other person, above.
Many scents are pumped into stores, etc., but not diacetyl.
I mis-remembered the list of fake scents that stores are being hard-sold by marketers to pump scents into their air. Popcorn was not on the list.
A disease called "popcorn lung" is real, but that is from an ingredient in microwave popcorn, not hot-oil popped.
10-20 years ago, beforem torrenting moveis was a thing, comercial movie theaters essentially committed a slow suicide.
Extra-high ticket prices.
"Popcorn smell" pumped into the ventilation system (the chemical is known to cause lung damage).
At least ten minutes of commercials preceding anything else.
Commercials playing while you are waiting to the movie to "begin"---I mean by that, commercials during seating time.
10–15 minutes of previews that I don't need to see again.
No "good" seats left if you are smart enough to come in 30 minutes "late" to the film.
An extra charge for assigned seating, just in case you don't like being forced to watch commercials.
Crying babies.
Idiots on their cell phones – the whole movie through.
And so on.
I will go to art-house theaters because they have no bullshit. They also usually play great movies. Big-chain commercial theaters? Less than 10 times over the past 20 years.
The asked for it, and they got it.
Trump's statement, recorded on video with audio, is tantamount to treason.
Try it yourself. Invite an adversarial nation or state to hack servers containing potentially Top Secret information (if the nuts are to be believed), and promise them "rewards" if they do so. You will go to PMITA Federal Prison.
Who here keeps up with what the current color is for our " Terrorism Threat Level " ?
* crickets *
( Who here remembers we even have one ? )
That color-coded 'terrorist' threat level was colored in an obtuse way. It was ROY B GIV. The DHS had its cluelessness on clear display in releasing that color chart (of how 'scared' you should be). The color order was wrong.
The usual standard for a color-scale is to follow the well-memorized rainbow color-order: ROY G BIV. That is, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green Blue, Indigo, and Violet.
And now Napolitano (former DHS chief) is heading-up the huge University of California System. Oy veh!
See my Comment RE the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act, above.
The act prevents manufacturers voiding the warranty, But it doesn't require manufacturers to make the
technical information and diagnostic tools available, so you can use your own engineering knowhow, or hire
your own engineer to diagnose and repair.
The manufacturers leverage copyright and the DMCA, along with Potting/sealing components and using special
"Genuine/Counterfeit part detection" logic in software to prevent people from replacing simple components,
such as analog sensors.
These days they also started keeping their schematics secret, and if you share technical
information, the big company will use their lawyers and sue or threat of a suit to chill any dissemination of repair details
You are absolutely correct. When I was a rocket scientist, charged with root-cause failure analysis of components, and bound by NDAs out the wazoo, there were still issues. I was supposed to find a single, specific trace in an IC. The thing was in the third of five layers, and less than 100 micrometers long! An impossible task. It was a 'Program-Secret' component (i.e., above Top Secret, and above my clearance level). Despite the burn rate of "having a rocket ready for the launch-pad" costing $3M–$5M per day as the burn rate, it was critically important, yet delayed over the contractor's jitters. Yet, it took the manufacturer of the IC (BAE, Raytheon, or some spook company) ten days to get me the EE-oriented schematics before I could take apart the physical, real-world component. It was stupid. I needed to know where exactly to look, and for that you need a map.
So, yeah, for the average Joe, You are never going to get the schematics. Even the "nation's best experts" have great difficulty in obtaining schematics.
Go to www.sparkfun.com. But a Raspberry Pi. Buy an NI MyDAQ. You can do it on your own, but modern-day 'finished products' are almost impossible to modify on your own – by design.
Oh, don't ask if i got a bonus for saving $10M's. I did not. I received a color laser-jet printed commendation, in a plastic frame and all, for my saving a rocket launch. Fuck the MIC.
In the vein of your post, I just canceled my "Premium" subscription to LinkedIn.
They say no refunds, pro rata, but I am betting that once I do the research, California law will require such. If so, I will demand it.
I've had a LinkedIn account since 2002. I will now update my LinkedIn account to contain only a pointer to my own, personally hosted web page (on a VPS). Sure, they will still web-scrape my personal info. But, as a professional and consultant, I need that particular information out there. It's just that I won't be blowing >$450 per year for that privilege.
PS — I'm dumping Skype ASAP as well. The cloud is utter BS that should just blow away.
Iowa farmers: Please ask the state to send all property tax bills for John Deere tractors to the "owner" (John Deere) instead of the farmer. Ask for all the state sales tax money back since there was no sale. Ask JD for the liability insurance policy number for all the tractors since they apparently own them. The possibilities are endless
Brilliant response!!!
But ONLY if they will support a Universal Right to Repair law.
Cars and Tractors should not be special. We should have the same rights to ALL DEVICES mechanical and electronic.
We do. People are just unaware, or are cowed by aggressive salespeople.
See my Comment RE the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act, above. It has an href link.
Yes indeed. John Deere is trying to destroy the "doctrine of first sale", or of any sale at all. This is illegal.
See the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act of 1975.
Youre hearing more about the DMCA iissue because shops are wising up and refusing to carry replacement and repair parts, at the behest of people like Deere that want to move more new stock in a car dealership model.
What kind of shops? If ceasing to sell parts, or repair guys deciding to not access available parts, happens. . . Well, then what? They lose business.
The only way the described scheme could work is if payola/bribes were being paid to the shops to not carry repair parts. There is no other way any shop would agree to such a scheme.
In fact, at least in auto repair, the shops absolutely hate this crap behavior, and having to buy special "code readers" along with yearly updates so that they can determine what is wrong, and stay in business by repairing cars. Jaguar is the absolute worst when it comes to this. There are myriad things that any shop could fix... but the 'car computer' must be reset by a licensed Jaguar dealer after any such repair. They trap their customers in their dealer-only service model worse than John Deere.
In fact several of the farms I grew up around are owned by Fortune 50 companies. It's just money. It's not about anything else. They pollute the environment and they just don't care about their people or the people or animals they are feeding.
They do this so that they can take tax deductions for being 'farmers', and they can also receive US government subsidies to grow – or to not grow any – crops.
Once upon a time, Lehman Brothers' HQ had a plot of land wa-a-a-ay off in the corner that housed 20 cows. Not 19; not 21; exactly 20. That is the minimum number to qualify for the 'small rancher' tax exemption.
I built an AM radio – with no battery – that would audibly play local stations. This was in the 1970s.
Surely many slashdotters did the same. Heath-Kit.
Smells like secession.
I mean, really. No fees or taxes? Who is going to pay to maintain the roadways. Not the US Government—that is for sure.
If you really want to be 'on your own', then go ahead and do it. You will have to form your own governance and tax system—otherwise the roads will rot and you will be reduced to wagon-trains. But hey, go for it!
Oh, wait. First things first: Pay back the US Government for all of the subsidies over the decades that built your highways, that protect your borders, that regulate your life-line services (electricity, phone, internet, water, sewage).
Once you have paid the rest of us back for those 'freebies', you are free to secede.
The only thing worse for privacy is DNA... and they will be collecting that, too.
They already do.
Anyone in the USA arrested for suspicion of having committed a Class I Misdemeanor, or greater, will have their mouth swabbed to collect a sample for the FBI's US National Felon Database.
Yes, that's right. Arrested == GUILTY in the eyes of the Pigs. Good luck getting your DNA profile out of that database once a court exonerates you. (It will never happen.)
Don't be too quick to attribute to malice what may well be due to shitty Slashcode.
(FWIW, I've seen similar complaints but have yet to see any evidence of posts being "hidden" as described.)
Slashdot has been around forever, and run by computer experts.
I mark the CENSORSHIP up to MALICE.
FWIW: FB does this FAR more often. On a regular basis. And they also have a select group of 'editors' who select what is "trending" in FB. It is all a bunch of horse shit.
Seriously, by going to an AC motor, as opposed to DC, they could improve their efficiency, lower costs, and increase torque.
And the efficient AC power source for a battery-powered electric car? Where would that come from?
DC–>AC Converters are expensive, and they wear out. Ask anyone in the solar energy industry.
Neodymium is a rare earth element.
All of them are heavy.
It's not too shocking right?
I'm in the market for a new kitchen table. Any ideas on where I can rent one for the next 20–30 years?
If my Tesla Model S is parked on the street, and some truck smashes into it, sending my car onto the sidewalk where it rolls over a pedestrian... is it Tesla's fault?
This article reads like a hit piece.
Anyone can put up a sign, or write a "no returns" clause on consumer merchandise receipts. Lying is not illegal.
Now, refusing to take a warrantied return---that is illegal.
The manufacturers are not implying your warranty evaporates if you break the seal. It's more that you will never succeed in convincing them that you did not cause the problem at that point.
In a more extreme example, would you want to be a manufacturer and honor a warranty on a (spinning) hard drive with a broken seal?
Under Magnuson-Moss, the burden of proof (that the failure was caused by the consumer) is on the manufacturer, not the consumer.
Stores will lie to your face about this. Ask for a Manager. If no love, write them a letter, USPS Certified w/return-receipt. You will get movement. And in the rare case not even then, well, sue them in small claims. It is not difficult.
As Higuita indicated, they sell the $400 item to themselves on another account. Then, they can buy some expensive item or game and resell it on third-party sites like g2a or opskins, where users buy steam items for real money. This can be done with stolen credit cards as well as for money laundering, although Valve has made that a lot more difficult recently with trade restrictions and 2FA.
True enough about the 2-factor authentication. And also the waiting period sometimes imposed before selling a newly acquired item.
Don't forget all of the $400 items on the Steam CS:GO Marketplace. You know, the ones that normally sell for $0.83, but then suddenly spike momentarily to the maximum of $400 for an item?
Either there are some incredibly stupid millionaires out there, or, more likely, this is one step in any number of money-laundering schemes.
Tell me how I am wrong here.