You'll note that in my original post that I said that FUD in SCO's case so far has not resulted in any charges of perjury or irreperable harm to the company. This may change, and I consider their strategy highly unethical, but so far their execution of this FUD strategy has been deemed to be within the limits of the law.
Jumping from a press release with dubious claims (at worst perjury or libel) to murder (a federal offence) is a bit of a stretch.
Although FUD needs to be constantly and consistently fought in corporations by knowledgable IT employees, FUD is a legitimate marketing technique. It ~works~. Few, if any, businessmen knew who SCO was 2 years ago, but now they have almost universal brand-name recognition.
So, full marks for their marketing and communications strategy. Its distasteful and full of lies, but so far they've been effective at getting their message out, and have avoided any consequences (e.g. perjury; public backlash) to this date.
The real question, though, is whether they will be able to translate this notoreity into $. Can they execute a business plan that will translate into consistent streams of revenue? Given their poor execution so far (e.g. they have not strategy outside of lawyers) I think not. If they get out of this intact, or maybe with a blip of one time profit on their books, they should count themselves lucky!
I work at another Canadian bank, but can confirm that some of my contacts (ex-colleague of mine, actually) in the IT section of RBC are *very* happy with the investment banking's decision to pull out of SCO. For once it appears like the right hand knows what the left hand is doing... their IT department has a few linux pilot projects (one including desktop replacement!) which suggest a conflict of interest internally.
Thanks for the clarification. Your memory for the details supercedes mine... you've jogged my memory...I remember all these details now from the tour a few years ago.
Origin of the phrase "one for the road".
In London, while on the way to the gallows, the cart would stop at each pub along the way. The criminal would be allowed a drink at every pub, almost always 'on the house' so that the soul would not come back to make due on a debt. Also, i suspect pity played a large role.
This is where you can justify mandatory exposure to humanities courses.
Things like objective lessons on history, literature from major cultures throughout the world, music appreciation -- they all help develop a sense of empathy in the individual. They also help develop critical thinking skills when forced to evaluate subjective subject matter. Not always, but more likely than someone who just takes engineering and mathetmatics courses.
BTW, i think all humanities students should be forced to have math and science competencies as well. It would kill off alot of the conspiracy theories and new age garbage that keeps getting recycled.
Woah woah woah guys, where do you come up with the Canadian superiority complex?
I'm a fan of Canada keeping an open dialogue with a country who has different values than our own. I don't consider Cuba an international terrorist threat (like Iran, Iraq, Syria, Saudia Arabia, Yemen, etc) nor the pre-eminent hotbed of human rights abuses (e.g. Sudan, China, Indonesia, Liberia, etc). I also believe in a measured response. Iraq was far worse than Cuba, but until 1992 the US kept up trade relations. But the US to maintain an embargo on Cuba for 40+ years? Ridiculous.
If you want to talk about redundant or self-centered Canadian foreign policy, I'm game for that too! We can start with an hour long rant on nepotism (sp?) and the Liberal party, followed by idealistic socialist funding of programs while we side step international obligations (military budget!), and then discuss vote grubbing from 3rd world dictatorships to maintain prominence on UN committees. Yes, we suck too in many ways. But this Slashdot article was about the US Patriot Act and the hypocrisies surrounding it.
Before you complain about Cuba, how about trying to VISIT Cuba? I've been there, and not just to an 5-star resort hotel. Go into Havana and talk to the people. They don't have an constant sense of oppression. They are proud of having universal education rights (INCLUDING UNIVERSITY) and health care. They are proud of their culutre and their heritage.
The concepts of human rights abuses and the evils of communism under Castro have been ~way~ over reported and demonised in the US press. I will not deny the lack of due process in their law; or the fact that political dissidents are treated harshly; there's limitations on the freedom of the press too.
But they do have freedom of religion, and they are much better off than most other 2nd and 3rd world countries due to the fact that the government has avoided IMF quick-fix changes like privatising utilities and essential services.
Finally, the reason why I'm critcising the US in an open forum is because THERE'S STILL TIME TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. The hypocrisy of the current administration gauls me -- I'm just surprised and upset that there is so little opposition being voiced. Maybe it is, but the media isn't covering it...I don't know. The next election will be telling.
"Then again, NVIDIA is not just sitting around twiddling its thumbs - it plans to launch the GeForce 6800 Ultra Extreme, which will be offered by a number of NVIDIA partners, Gainward and XFX among them."
So consumers can buy the "XFX GeForce 6800 Ultra Extreme" in a few months' time. 13 year old gamers cream their pants, marketers have orgasms, your power bill doubles...
Its unfortunate, but understandable. We ('we' meaning 'western civilisation') are a property based society. RIAA thinks it 'owns' more than the average person acknowledges, hence an aggressive stance. RIAA is defined by its property, and it uses laws that are made to clarify/defend property rights.
In the case of child pornography, the 'owners' or 'creators' don't have legal standing -- they are inherently illegal entities, and their product is enitrely illegal (they're also evil corrupt mofos, but that's another story). They have no rights/laws available to defend them, and even if they did they probably don't want to draw attention to themselves.
Conflict only happens if both parties desire a fight. Even SPAMMERs have the gall to fight for their rights, but kiddie porn kings are like roachs -- at the first sign of light they scurry.
Why is this modded "FUNNY"? For all intents and purposes its true. Unforutnately, people *do* judge a book by its cover.
From my perspective, its like this -- if you dress well, EVEN IF YOU'RE A DEVELOPER, when meeting with your business partners or clients, it sends many signals. #1, you're professional; #2 you respect your client well enough that you wish to impress them; #3 you clients business is valuable to you and so you emulate their behaviour; and #4 if you respect yourself this much, it probably extends to other facets of your life (including your code).
In keeping with this subject, you should dress in a suit, but it doesn't have to be a *name brand* suit or designer fashions.
What you're telling me is that they're not going to grow. Once you commit to a platform, you generally stick with it...you pick SPARC for business reasons so that you can scale upwards. If you're starting with a small to medium sized application and decide to go Wintel / Linux, your growth options are clusters and building a distributed application, not a bigger server architected for scaling...
Sun's niche in the high-end unix computing will continue to persist, especially in research based communities... and they're trying to provide more levearage to companies that invest in their product through their Grid computing initiative. But I just can't see people saying "I must have SPARC" when starting from scratch. If you've got skin in the game, sure you'll remain loyal for the forseeable future, but if you cut off growth at the entry point you've got a dying franchise.
Unfortunately this is the way of technology companies originating in the last quarter of the 20th century. I can't think of any decent sized company aside from SAS (or was that SAP?) that is privately owned.
To be a bit player in the technology market place you can make do wit $100Ks of revenue, but to be a leader you'll need millions of $ for capital, and most companies can fund themselves in this space. Hence...the IPO.
Although your comment is sarcastic, I beleive you do have a point -- a tech savy criminal probably wouldn't bother with a 'pay' site. However, many criminals _aren't_ tech savy, at least as far as the internet goes. In addition, the P2P networks are all full of crappy corrupted copies; collecting full albums is problematic; and performance is questionable usually. Its much easier to just bulk-download from a reliable provider.
Actually, if my credit card was ripped off, I would assume that downloading online music would be a preferred activity. Why use my credit card to buy CDs from the HMV at the mall when I can go to a website and download 10x the amount? Also, i might get ~physically~ caught at a mall.
I'm sure Citibank isn't skeptical of the company itself per se, more that you've changed your buying habits to purchase something internationally.
BTW, this can be bad from a precedent setting perspective. Citibank will (eventually) adjust its fraud-detection settings for your account, so the next time a questionable internet-based Russian purchase happens it might not trigger a flag.
Re:As a representative ...
on
D&D Is 30
·
· Score: 4, Funny
Just because you have all the lawyers doesn't mean you have to talk like them.
Given how much the movie differed from the novel, I'm disappointed this was recognised.
When I was in the theater the first time seeing the movie, I thought.."This feels like The Two Towers, but I don't quite remember it this way...". So i re-read the novel. I was frustrated by the end of it -- so many departures, supposedly for 'dramatic pacing' and 'constraints of the medium'...what a bunch of horsepucky!
I was always under the impression that computers were relatively power efficent compared to other household devices. If a computer has a 400w power supply, and is working full out, that's 400w -- equivalent to having 4 lightbulbs turned on.
I'm sure if I'm oversimplifying things an electrical engineer here will correct me...
Slashdot Mirror
Not necessarily, but I feel badly for your girlfriend who is obviously missing out...
You'll note that in my original post that I said that FUD in SCO's case so far has not resulted in any charges of perjury or irreperable harm to the company. This may change, and I consider their strategy highly unethical, but so far their execution of this FUD strategy has been deemed to be within the limits of the law.
Jumping from a press release with dubious claims (at worst perjury or libel) to murder (a federal offence) is a bit of a stretch.
Although FUD needs to be constantly and consistently fought in corporations by knowledgable IT employees, FUD is a legitimate marketing technique. It ~works~. Few, if any, businessmen knew who SCO was 2 years ago, but now they have almost universal brand-name recognition.
So, full marks for their marketing and communications strategy. Its distasteful and full of lies, but so far they've been effective at getting their message out, and have avoided any consequences (e.g. perjury; public backlash) to this date.
The real question, though, is whether they will be able to translate this notoreity into $. Can they execute a business plan that will translate into consistent streams of revenue? Given their poor execution so far (e.g. they have not strategy outside of lawyers) I think not. If they get out of this intact, or maybe with a blip of one time profit on their books, they should count themselves lucky!
I work at another Canadian bank, but can confirm that some of my contacts (ex-colleague of mine, actually) in the IT section of RBC are *very* happy with the investment banking's decision to pull out of SCO. For once it appears like the right hand knows what the left hand is doing... their IT department has a few linux pilot projects (one including desktop replacement!) which suggest a conflict of interest internally.
Thanks for the clarification. Your memory for the details supercedes mine... you've jogged my memory...I remember all these details now from the tour a few years ago.
Origin of the phrase "one for the road". In London, while on the way to the gallows, the cart would stop at each pub along the way. The criminal would be allowed a drink at every pub, almost always 'on the house' so that the soul would not come back to make due on a debt. Also, i suspect pity played a large role.
This is where you can justify mandatory exposure to humanities courses.
Things like objective lessons on history, literature from major cultures throughout the world, music appreciation -- they all help develop a sense of empathy in the individual. They also help develop critical thinking skills when forced to evaluate subjective subject matter. Not always, but more likely than someone who just takes engineering and mathetmatics courses.
BTW, i think all humanities students should be forced to have math and science competencies as well. It would kill off alot of the conspiracy theories and new age garbage that keeps getting recycled.
Could you please verify this with references???
I've never read about this anywhere. I'm not saying its not true, but Ockham's Razor applies unless you can prove otherwise.
Woah woah woah guys, where do you come up with the Canadian superiority complex?
I'm a fan of Canada keeping an open dialogue with a country who has different values than our own. I don't consider Cuba an international terrorist threat (like Iran, Iraq, Syria, Saudia Arabia, Yemen, etc) nor the pre-eminent hotbed of human rights abuses (e.g. Sudan, China, Indonesia, Liberia, etc). I also believe in a measured response. Iraq was far worse than Cuba, but until 1992 the US kept up trade relations. But the US to maintain an embargo on Cuba for 40+ years? Ridiculous.
If you want to talk about redundant or self-centered Canadian foreign policy, I'm game for that too! We can start with an hour long rant on nepotism (sp?) and the Liberal party, followed by idealistic socialist funding of programs while we side step international obligations (military budget!), and then discuss vote grubbing from 3rd world dictatorships to maintain prominence on UN committees. Yes, we suck too in many ways. But this Slashdot article was about the US Patriot Act and the hypocrisies surrounding it.
Puh-lease!
Before you complain about Cuba, how about trying to VISIT Cuba? I've been there, and not just to an 5-star resort hotel. Go into Havana and talk to the people. They don't have an constant sense of oppression. They are proud of having universal education rights (INCLUDING UNIVERSITY) and health care. They are proud of their culutre and their heritage.
The concepts of human rights abuses and the evils of communism under Castro have been ~way~ over reported and demonised in the US press. I will not deny the lack of due process in their law; or the fact that political dissidents are treated harshly; there's limitations on the freedom of the press too.
But they do have freedom of religion, and they are much better off than most other 2nd and 3rd world countries due to the fact that the government has avoided IMF quick-fix changes like privatising utilities and essential services.
Finally, the reason why I'm critcising the US in an open forum is because THERE'S STILL TIME TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. The hypocrisy of the current administration gauls me -- I'm just surprised and upset that there is so little opposition being voiced. Maybe it is, but the media isn't covering it...I don't know. The next election will be telling.
As a Canadian, I'm proud our country maintains relations with Cuba.
:(
As a Canadian, I'm sorry to say that our greatest friend and ally is responsible for the greatest human rights abuses occuring in Cuba at this time.
Fortunately I have great faith in individual American citizens...but frankly your government blow...and sucks at the same time.
Do i get to keep the GPS enabled phone!?!?!?
Don't joke. Here's an except from THG:
"Then again, NVIDIA is not just sitting around twiddling its thumbs - it plans to launch the GeForce 6800 Ultra Extreme, which will be offered by a number of NVIDIA partners, Gainward and XFX among them."
So consumers can buy the "XFX GeForce 6800 Ultra Extreme" in a few months' time. 13 year old gamers cream their pants, marketers have orgasms, your power bill doubles...
although it sounds really trivial, I've always found Matrox cards to have superlative 2d graphics.
Matrox is no longer a power in the graphics card space, with the exception of video capture on the PC platform.
Its unfortunate, but understandable. We ('we' meaning 'western civilisation') are a property based society. RIAA thinks it 'owns' more than the average person acknowledges, hence an aggressive stance. RIAA is defined by its property, and it uses laws that are made to clarify/defend property rights.
In the case of child pornography, the 'owners' or 'creators' don't have legal standing -- they are inherently illegal entities, and their product is enitrely illegal (they're also evil corrupt mofos, but that's another story). They have no rights/laws available to defend them, and even if they did they probably don't want to draw attention to themselves.
Conflict only happens if both parties desire a fight. Even SPAMMERs have the gall to fight for their rights, but kiddie porn kings are like roachs -- at the first sign of light they scurry.
Why is this modded "FUNNY"? For all intents and purposes its true. Unforutnately, people *do* judge a book by its cover.
From my perspective, its like this -- if you dress well, EVEN IF YOU'RE A DEVELOPER, when meeting with your business partners or clients, it sends many signals. #1, you're professional; #2 you respect your client well enough that you wish to impress them; #3 you clients business is valuable to you and so you emulate their behaviour; and #4 if you respect yourself this much, it probably extends to other facets of your life (including your code).
In keeping with this subject, you should dress in a suit, but it doesn't have to be a *name brand* suit or designer fashions.
What you're telling me is that they're not going to grow. Once you commit to a platform, you generally stick with it...you pick SPARC for business reasons so that you can scale upwards. If you're starting with a small to medium sized application and decide to go Wintel / Linux, your growth options are clusters and building a distributed application, not a bigger server architected for scaling...
Sun's niche in the high-end unix computing will continue to persist, especially in research based communities... and they're trying to provide more levearage to companies that invest in their product through their Grid computing initiative. But I just can't see people saying "I must have SPARC" when starting from scratch. If you've got skin in the game, sure you'll remain loyal for the forseeable future, but if you cut off growth at the entry point you've got a dying franchise.
Unfortunately this is the way of technology companies originating in the last quarter of the 20th century. I can't think of any decent sized company aside from SAS (or was that SAP?) that is privately owned.
To be a bit player in the technology market place you can make do wit $100Ks of revenue, but to be a leader you'll need millions of $ for capital, and most companies can fund themselves in this space. Hence...the IPO.
Never mind... I'm excited by the fact that I'll now have a much better chance at First Post on slashdot!
Although your comment is sarcastic, I beleive you do have a point -- a tech savy criminal probably wouldn't bother with a 'pay' site. However, many criminals _aren't_ tech savy, at least as far as the internet goes. In addition, the P2P networks are all full of crappy corrupted copies; collecting full albums is problematic; and performance is questionable usually. Its much easier to just bulk-download from a reliable provider.
Actually, if my credit card was ripped off, I would assume that downloading online music would be a preferred activity. Why use my credit card to buy CDs from the HMV at the mall when I can go to a website and download 10x the amount? Also, i might get ~physically~ caught at a mall.
I'm sure Citibank isn't skeptical of the company itself per se, more that you've changed your buying habits to purchase something internationally.
BTW, this can be bad from a precedent setting perspective. Citibank will (eventually) adjust its fraud-detection settings for your account, so the next time a questionable internet-based Russian purchase happens it might not trigger a flag.
Just because you have all the lawyers doesn't mean you have to talk like them.
~+5~ flamebait
Given how much the movie differed from the novel, I'm disappointed this was recognised.
When I was in the theater the first time seeing the movie, I thought.."This feels like The Two Towers, but I don't quite remember it this way...". So i re-read the novel. I was frustrated by the end of it -- so many departures, supposedly for 'dramatic pacing' and 'constraints of the medium'...what a bunch of horsepucky!
The divergences from the text are legion...
I was always under the impression that computers were relatively power efficent compared to other household devices. If a computer has a 400w power supply, and is working full out, that's 400w -- equivalent to having 4 lightbulbs turned on.
I'm sure if I'm oversimplifying things an electrical engineer here will correct me...