Intelligence agencies, telecoms, and the Administration want to sweep this case under the rug, but the Constitution won't permit it.
This administration does what it wants, without repercussions. They've already done several things that go against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They don't care, won't care, and have never cared about trifles like the founding documents of the country.
What will happen? W will claim executive privilege, file papers blocking the motion, then make looking at the papers illegal again citing executive privilege.
It's Orwellian, but that - or something equally bizarre - is what will happen. Count on it.
Thompson seemed to enjoy throwing around frivolous lawsuits as well.
It hadn't really hit me until I saw this sentence with the word 'seem' in the past tense.
Damn but that just looks beautiful. Thompson...seemed.
It just hadn't hit me until right now that he's history. Jeez, but I hope I live long enough to say the same about the RIAA. "The RIAA seemed to like to file frivolous lawsuits."
Well, I didn't claim it would be hassle-free. I just said you won't be bankrupted. And your girlfriend wasn't. Because you had the letter. You wouldn't have won your court case without it, I'd wager.
So I think your story reinforces my point rather than invalidates it.
BTW, if you documented the whole thing well enough I'd recommend suing them for your time and expense. What they tried to do is breach of contract. It's illegal and deserves to be punished. And your girlfriend deserves to be compensated for her difficulties.
The difference is, when you do get to see them it can bankrupt you (even if you thought you had insurance).
My wife had to have a very expensive procedure done. Twice. I'm not going to get into it but it did wind up costing more than the house we live in.
The doctor would not proceed with the procedure until after we contacted our insurance carrier and got a letter of confirmation from them. We told them what we wanted done, they said ok, and once the doc had the letter in hand the procedure would commence.
All you really need to do is contact your insurance beforehand and CYA. It's not such a big deal.
BTW, my wife's condition is ultra-rare, there are only 3 or 4 specialists in our entire state, and we've never had to wait more than a week. Hell, they'll call us if they think we should have a checkup and schedule it for us. I don't know where you go for your medicine, but if they're making you wait for months on end you should shop around more and find some people who care.
Why can't we make a secure, or indeed even a vaguely useful electronic voting system when we can make a perfectly secure electronic system that prints lottery tickets?
Has anyone ever heard of a lottery machine being hacked to print a winning ticket?
There's on on every corner market here in the US. Hundreds of thousands of them. They all link to some computer somewhere that records what was sold and when. You get a ticket with your numbers on it, along with some barcoded looking info to verify it's a real ticket.
As much as someone would like to rig a vote, I'm sure there's a much higher incentive to rig the lottery. And I've *never* heard of anyone doing that successfully.
So what gives? Why is a voting machine so damned difficult to make compared to a lottery machine? You'd think the lottery machine would be more difficult. It's certainly the more attractive hacking target.
It's always puzzled me. I'm in embedded design, and it still puzzles me why electronic voting is so damned difficult.
People need to think logically, and vote their hearts.
Impossible. They are usually at odds. For an example, try to fall in love with someone based on a rational argument of what positive qualities they possess. You will not succeed. You will instead fall in love with a total nutcase, nine times out of ten.
Them's the breaks. The heart does not submit to reason. Politicians know this, too. They're actors first and foremost. Each and every one.
And this means eliminating someone as a possible voting choice when they see them do something foolish.
Also impossible. It's been Red vs. Blue now for decades. Nobody thinks anymore. Politics has become a sporting match. Doesn't matter what anyone says or does - you just want your side to win.
Besides, you aren't allowed politically to pick and choose good ideas from either "side". If you're for gun control it's assumed you also think global warming is man-made. They are two entirely unrelated ideas, but the left-side claims them both, so someone from the right-side cannot claim either. They must say they are against gun control and they think global warming is nonsense.
A candidate that came along and actually spoke their mind rather than quote the party line would probably at this point make people's heads explode. They would see it as impossible. Like saying it's day and night at the same time.
In short, they have us trained. Pick a side and line up. And for God's sake don't reach any of your own conclusions. If you're on this side, your position on topic X is Y. If you're on the other side, your position on topic X must therefore be !Y.
It's hideous, really. Both major parties don't do jack for the people. Remember when everyone got all happy that the Democrats won Congress, and finally something would put a stop to W's free ride? What happened? First thing Congress did was roll over and take it up the tailpipe about warrentless wiretapping. "Oh sure, that's ok, especially since it was just this once. No problem W, carry on."
Same horseshit, different crew. Doesn't matter who gets voted in anymore. Big business lobbies to get what it wants, and both Red and Blue will bow before Green.
How the hell did you get all that in there fast enough to be the top page post? I just picture someone foaming at the mouth and typing so fast hummingbirds are frightened.
I have my problems with Microsoft too, but damn. Go outside. Walk a park. Read a book. You don't need an ulcer at your age.
Sarcasm is often times both. Watch Idiocracy for a good example.
Embedded devices for sure
on
Linux 2.6.27 Out
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
Yeah, embedded devices definitely. It'll be awfully nice to see simple flash chips soldered onto a board rather than someone bolting an SD or compact flash socket onto them just so you can have a boot device.
Fragile, more expensive, and adds another physical item that can break. And not only that, but you can drop about 20-30 dollars worth of non-essential hardware from your design and still be on target. If you do any embedded work you know how big 20 dollars worth of hardware savings is. This new driver is *huge*.
What part of the original post do you consider incorrect or insincere?
He's right, you know. A project that large growing that quickly that still maintains the level of scrutiny and quality that the Linux kernel does is unheard of. It's unique. If all software worked that well the service part of our industry would be nearly non-existent.
In America, Lincoln is generally credited with freeing the slaves as his most noteworthy achievement. It's not the whole story of course, but close enough for a joke.
So generally when people say that Lincoln was the worst President it's a cute way of making a racist jab. Not every time - maybe the grandposter had something else in mind - but generally that's what people mean when they say Lincoln was the worst president. Translate that as "it was a mistake to free the slaves" and you'll get the idea.
People who commit copyright violation are for the most part people who won't pay any price whatsoever for digital goods of any type. No matter what you offer them they're not ever going to be a sale. So why care?
It's better to focus on things you can change that will help the artist, help the music scene overall, and get more music to the paying fans. Like for instance getting rid of an expensive and unnecessary middleman. Namely the RIAA.
Total freedom to release anything you want, no multi album contracts so you're not locked in, and royalty checks that favor the artist.
Ipecac is distinguished from most labels (independent labels included) by their policy of signing bands to only one album contracts. "Lawyers or businesspeople call us morons for only doing one-record deals," Werckman scoffs. "They say, 'You're not really anything, then.' Well, we like our catalogue. We like the records we put out. Our bands aren't rushing away. Our job isn't to own any artist. We're here to put out the art that people create."[2]
Ipecac also presses no more than twenty thousand units at a time.[2]
Low overhead and no video or promotional cost partnered with very little distribution costs allow for hearty royalties "Every six months I send those guys the fattest royalty checks," Werckman says. "It's great. It's the way it should be. Even bands that are very successful â" when they get royalty checks from us, they're stunned."
Oh, I agree completely. But that's already covered in the "we're all grown ups" part of my post. At least I'd hope so.
I'm very fond of my employer - even if I was inclined to surf porn at work I'd force myself to abstain while I was there. It's important to be professional. Which is a somewhat ironic thing to say while you're watching Star Trek off of your USB, but it's true. There are limits which any reasonably well adjusted adult should automatically just know.
Same where I work. We're all grown-ups. Do your job, meet your deadlines - the rest are details. Engineers are black boxes. Requests for work go in, results come out. Who cares what's in the box?
I'm currently surfing Slashdot and watching ST:TNG from my USB drive while my compiler is doing its thing. Sometimes I'll open up a non-network connected VMware player image from my USB drive and work in a programming environment on personal projects.
As long as I get my assigned work done why should they care?
Why don't the companies that own patents on say... water powered cars, finally manufacture some of these gadgets.
Because it's easier to be a patent troll. Just sit and wait for people to actually go out and get their hands dirty and their pockets empty doing the actual work. Then pop up out of nowhere and demand your royalties! It's the American way.
Granted, it's only slightly less ethical than beating up nuns for crack money, but in this day and age it's par for the course.
I didn't ask why he did it. That answer is obvious. I asked what would the need be for actually using the device.
Ah, I see your problem. You're assuming utility.
There is none. The need for using the device is zero. It's not a toaster or a TV, it's a work of art. It exists merely to have people admire it.
A large percentage of elegant hacks and beautiful bits of mathematics exist for the same reason. Not because they fill some immediate need. Simply for the beauty of it.
Granted, someone somewhere down the line will usually figure out some practical application of some beautiful piece of abstract thought or arcane geekery, but for now it's merely a piece of art. Appreciate it as such and you'll understand.
Although if I had made the thing, I'd bring it on job interviews. Plug it in to a PC and have the interviewer surf your resume and previous work if they'll let you. Maybe even a multimedia presentation of you building the thing. They'd remember who you are, that's for sure.
They're filing lawsuits against copyright infringers
No they're not. Someone "making available" hasn't done anything wrong. Or maybe you're too fucking clueless to understand Judge Michael Davis' conclusion. If I leave a TV on my patio and it gets stolen, am I partially responsible for the theft since I made my TV easily available?
Guess what, bucko. I'm not. And the judge agrees.
My favorite aspect of pro-piracy Slashdotters
Feel free to re-read my post and see where I'm pro piracy. You won't find anything saying that because I'm not.
What I am is pro due process. And I'm against an industry trying to gain police powers to prop up their broken business model. If you need senators to make laws saying that you have to buy a buggy whip with the purchase of every new car - then it might be your product you're trying to sell that's the problem.
Nobody needs the RIAA anymore. In the digital age they're a dinosaur.
IF THE RIAA IS FUCKING OVER ARTISTS, HOW IS YOU PIRATING THEIR MUSIC GOING TO HELP THEM?
I'm not funding the people who are using that money to fuck them over. I don't pirate - I just simply don't buy any music. That's my solution.
It's the least I can do for them. Also totally legal.
You use morality plays like "the RIAA is evil and screws over artists" to distract people from what you're doing. Period.
Ignoring the "you're an evul pirate OMG" part of your post, let's turn the tables a bit.
Defend what the RIAA is doing. If they're the good guys, tell me why you think so. Go ahead and refute that article from Mr. Albini. Don't just lay on with the ad hominem - refute my thesis. Poke holes in my argument.
"The RIAA are a useless dinosaur sitting on top of the music industry sucking up money, stifling personal freedom and established fair use with frivolous and lawsuits and lobbying for orwellian laws to prop up their broken business model, crushing both the artist and consumer alike in a grab for cash to continue their own existence."
Now that that's out of the way, where's my copy of Duke Nukem forever? Or my notice of an auction at SCO so I can buy Darl McBride's desk?
BTW speaking of Slashdot on April Fools day - this would be a really excellent move on the part of the industry.
Everyone knows/. is completely useless on April 1. Wouldn't it be funny if the industry took use of that fact and posted an important story on April 1st specifically to take advantage of that?
"RIAA admits to wrongdoing in their ongoing lawsuit cash grab. Offers refund to everyone who contacts them today."
We'd all say, "Yeah right! OMG ponies." and not email them. They'd be in the clear.
Slashdot Mirror
Intelligence agencies, telecoms, and the Administration want to sweep this case under the rug, but the Constitution won't permit it.
This administration does what it wants, without repercussions. They've already done several things that go against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They don't care, won't care, and have never cared about trifles like the founding documents of the country.
What will happen? W will claim executive privilege, file papers blocking the motion, then make looking at the papers illegal again citing executive privilege.
It's Orwellian, but that - or something equally bizarre - is what will happen. Count on it.
Of course, as the gas escapes the pressure changes so there'd be some calculus involved.
The formula would most likely closely match the exponential decay function. y=a*e^(-bx)
The a would be the amount of gas you have just before the rupture. The b would be determined by the size of the hole.
Thompson seemed to enjoy throwing around frivolous lawsuits as well.
It hadn't really hit me until I saw this sentence with the word 'seem' in the past tense.
Damn but that just looks beautiful. Thompson...seemed.
It just hadn't hit me until right now that he's history. Jeez, but I hope I live long enough to say the same about the RIAA. "The RIAA seemed to like to file frivolous lawsuits."
Ah, that's going to be great. Can't wait.
Well, I didn't claim it would be hassle-free. I just said you won't be bankrupted. And your girlfriend wasn't. Because you had the letter. You wouldn't have won your court case without it, I'd wager.
So I think your story reinforces my point rather than invalidates it.
BTW, if you documented the whole thing well enough I'd recommend suing them for your time and expense. What they tried to do is breach of contract. It's illegal and deserves to be punished. And your girlfriend deserves to be compensated for her difficulties.
The difference is, when you do get to see them it can bankrupt you (even if you thought you had insurance).
My wife had to have a very expensive procedure done. Twice. I'm not going to get into it but it did wind up costing more than the house we live in.
The doctor would not proceed with the procedure until after we contacted our insurance carrier and got a letter of confirmation from them. We told them what we wanted done, they said ok, and once the doc had the letter in hand the procedure would commence.
All you really need to do is contact your insurance beforehand and CYA. It's not such a big deal.
BTW, my wife's condition is ultra-rare, there are only 3 or 4 specialists in our entire state, and we've never had to wait more than a week. Hell, they'll call us if they think we should have a checkup and schedule it for us. I don't know where you go for your medicine, but if they're making you wait for months on end you should shop around more and find some people who care.
Why can't we make a secure, or indeed even a vaguely useful electronic voting system when we can make a perfectly secure electronic system that prints lottery tickets?
Has anyone ever heard of a lottery machine being hacked to print a winning ticket?
There's on on every corner market here in the US. Hundreds of thousands of them. They all link to some computer somewhere that records what was sold and when. You get a ticket with your numbers on it, along with some barcoded looking info to verify it's a real ticket.
As much as someone would like to rig a vote, I'm sure there's a much higher incentive to rig the lottery. And I've *never* heard of anyone doing that successfully.
So what gives? Why is a voting machine so damned difficult to make compared to a lottery machine? You'd think the lottery machine would be more difficult. It's certainly the more attractive hacking target.
It's always puzzled me. I'm in embedded design, and it still puzzles me why electronic voting is so damned difficult.
People need to think logically, and vote their hearts.
Impossible. They are usually at odds. For an example, try to fall in love with someone based on a rational argument of what positive qualities they possess. You will not succeed. You will instead fall in love with a total nutcase, nine times out of ten.
Them's the breaks. The heart does not submit to reason. Politicians know this, too. They're actors first and foremost. Each and every one.
And this means eliminating someone as a possible voting choice when they see them do something foolish.
Also impossible. It's been Red vs. Blue now for decades. Nobody thinks anymore. Politics has become a sporting match. Doesn't matter what anyone says or does - you just want your side to win.
Besides, you aren't allowed politically to pick and choose good ideas from either "side". If you're for gun control it's assumed you also think global warming is man-made. They are two entirely unrelated ideas, but the left-side claims them both, so someone from the right-side cannot claim either. They must say they are against gun control and they think global warming is nonsense.
A candidate that came along and actually spoke their mind rather than quote the party line would probably at this point make people's heads explode. They would see it as impossible. Like saying it's day and night at the same time.
In short, they have us trained. Pick a side and line up. And for God's sake don't reach any of your own conclusions. If you're on this side, your position on topic X is Y. If you're on the other side, your position on topic X must therefore be !Y.
It's hideous, really. Both major parties don't do jack for the people. Remember when everyone got all happy that the Democrats won Congress, and finally something would put a stop to W's free ride? What happened? First thing Congress did was roll over and take it up the tailpipe about warrentless wiretapping. "Oh sure, that's ok, especially since it was just this once. No problem W, carry on."
Same horseshit, different crew. Doesn't matter who gets voted in anymore. Big business lobbies to get what it wants, and both Red and Blue will bow before Green.
How the hell did you get all that in there fast enough to be the top page post? I just picture someone foaming at the mouth and typing so fast hummingbirds are frightened.
I have my problems with Microsoft too, but damn. Go outside. Walk a park. Read a book. You don't need an ulcer at your age.
Sorry, it's not that simple. Almost, but not quite.
Fortunately there is a flowchart to explain the algorithm.
Why not clean up the fucking dotnet framework reference dlls?
You can download them here.
Sarcasm is often times both. Watch Idiocracy for a good example.
Yeah, embedded devices definitely. It'll be awfully nice to see simple flash chips soldered onto a board rather than someone bolting an SD or compact flash socket onto them just so you can have a boot device.
Fragile, more expensive, and adds another physical item that can break. And not only that, but you can drop about 20-30 dollars worth of non-essential hardware from your design and still be on target. If you do any embedded work you know how big 20 dollars worth of hardware savings is. This new driver is *huge*.
What part of the original post do you consider incorrect or insincere?
He's right, you know. A project that large growing that quickly that still maintains the level of scrutiny and quality that the Linux kernel does is unheard of. It's unique. If all software worked that well the service part of our industry would be nearly non-existent.
In America, Lincoln is generally credited with freeing the slaves as his most noteworthy achievement. It's not the whole story of course, but close enough for a joke.
So generally when people say that Lincoln was the worst President it's a cute way of making a racist jab. Not every time - maybe the grandposter had something else in mind - but generally that's what people mean when they say Lincoln was the worst president. Translate that as "it was a mistake to free the slaves" and you'll get the idea.
People who commit copyright violation are for the most part people who won't pay any price whatsoever for digital goods of any type. No matter what you offer them they're not ever going to be a sale. So why care?
It's better to focus on things you can change that will help the artist, help the music scene overall, and get more music to the paying fans. Like for instance getting rid of an expensive and unnecessary middleman. Namely the RIAA.
Here's someone else who is also sick of the RIAA and decided to go rogue. Mike Patton with Ipecac Recordings.
Total freedom to release anything you want, no multi album contracts so you're not locked in, and royalty checks that favor the artist.
Ipecac is distinguished from most labels (independent labels included) by their policy of signing bands to only one album contracts. "Lawyers or businesspeople call us morons for only doing one-record deals," Werckman scoffs. "They say, 'You're not really anything, then.' Well, we like our catalogue. We like the records we put out. Our bands aren't rushing away. Our job isn't to own any artist. We're here to put out the art that people create."[2]
Ipecac also presses no more than twenty thousand units at a time.[2]
Low overhead and no video or promotional cost partnered with very little distribution costs allow for hearty royalties "Every six months I send those guys the fattest royalty checks," Werckman says. "It's great. It's the way it should be. Even bands that are very successful â" when they get royalty checks from us, they're stunned."
Source.
I'm pleased other people are getting fed up with the RIAA. And I'm *very* pleased they're starting to demonstrate that they are unnecessary.
It won't be long now, I'm thinking.
Of complaining about cloud computing by saying this:
'It's stupidity. It's worse than stupidity: it's a marketing hype campaign
By saying this:
Computerworld has a summary of some of the blogosphere's reaction to RMS's position.
Emphasis mine.
Using one media driven piece of hype to denigrate another media driven piece of hype seems...well, silly to me.
Oh, I agree completely. But that's already covered in the "we're all grown ups" part of my post. At least I'd hope so.
I'm very fond of my employer - even if I was inclined to surf porn at work I'd force myself to abstain while I was there. It's important to be professional. Which is a somewhat ironic thing to say while you're watching Star Trek off of your USB, but it's true. There are limits which any reasonably well adjusted adult should automatically just know.
Same where I work. We're all grown-ups. Do your job, meet your deadlines - the rest are details. Engineers are black boxes. Requests for work go in, results come out. Who cares what's in the box?
I'm currently surfing Slashdot and watching ST:TNG from my USB drive while my compiler is doing its thing. Sometimes I'll open up a non-network connected VMware player image from my USB drive and work in a programming environment on personal projects.
As long as I get my assigned work done why should they care?
Why don't the companies that own patents on say... water powered cars, finally manufacture some of these gadgets.
Because it's easier to be a patent troll. Just sit and wait for people to actually go out and get their hands dirty and their pockets empty doing the actual work. Then pop up out of nowhere and demand your royalties! It's the American way.
Granted, it's only slightly less ethical than beating up nuns for crack money, but in this day and age it's par for the course.
I didn't ask why he did it. That answer is obvious. I asked what would the need be for actually using the device.
Ah, I see your problem. You're assuming utility.
There is none. The need for using the device is zero. It's not a toaster or a TV, it's a work of art. It exists merely to have people admire it.
A large percentage of elegant hacks and beautiful bits of mathematics exist for the same reason. Not because they fill some immediate need. Simply for the beauty of it.
Granted, someone somewhere down the line will usually figure out some practical application of some beautiful piece of abstract thought or arcane geekery, but for now it's merely a piece of art. Appreciate it as such and you'll understand.
Although if I had made the thing, I'd bring it on job interviews. Plug it in to a PC and have the interviewer surf your resume and previous work if they'll let you. Maybe even a multimedia presentation of you building the thing. They'd remember who you are, that's for sure.
Thank you, we aim to please. I only hope you were drinking milk at the time. If not I'd see someone about that. ;^)
Someone get this guy some mod points - that's funnier than my original post. =)
Hats off to you, sir. You actually got a real LOL out of me. And yeah, I'm at work.
They're filing lawsuits against copyright infringers
No they're not. Someone "making available" hasn't done anything wrong. Or maybe you're too fucking clueless to understand Judge Michael Davis' conclusion. If I leave a TV on my patio and it gets stolen, am I partially responsible for the theft since I made my TV easily available?
Guess what, bucko. I'm not. And the judge agrees.
My favorite aspect of pro-piracy Slashdotters
Feel free to re-read my post and see where I'm pro piracy. You won't find anything saying that because I'm not.
What I am is pro due process. And I'm against an industry trying to gain police powers to prop up their broken business model. If you need senators to make laws saying that you have to buy a buggy whip with the purchase of every new car - then it might be your product you're trying to sell that's the problem.
Nobody needs the RIAA anymore. In the digital age they're a dinosaur.
IF THE RIAA IS FUCKING OVER ARTISTS, HOW IS YOU PIRATING THEIR MUSIC GOING TO HELP THEM?
I'm not funding the people who are using that money to fuck them over. I don't pirate - I just simply don't buy any music. That's my solution.
It's the least I can do for them. Also totally legal.
You use morality plays like "the RIAA is evil and screws over artists" to distract people from what you're doing. Period.
Ignoring the "you're an evul pirate OMG" part of your post, let's turn the tables a bit.
Defend what the RIAA is doing. If they're the good guys, tell me why you think so. Go ahead and refute that article from Mr. Albini. Don't just lay on with the ad hominem - refute my thesis. Poke holes in my argument.
"The RIAA are a useless dinosaur sitting on top of the music industry sucking up money, stifling personal freedom and established fair use with frivolous and lawsuits and lobbying for orwellian laws to prop up their broken business model, crushing both the artist and consumer alike in a grab for cash to continue their own existence."
Good luck.
Signed,
Summer Glau
Ah! There they are. Thanks.
Now that that's out of the way, where's my copy of Duke Nukem forever? Or my notice of an auction at SCO so I can buy Darl McBride's desk?
BTW speaking of Slashdot on April Fools day - this would be a really excellent move on the part of the industry.
Everyone knows /. is completely useless on April 1. Wouldn't it be funny if the industry took use of that fact and posted an important story on April 1st specifically to take advantage of that?
"RIAA admits to wrongdoing in their ongoing lawsuit cash grab. Offers refund to everyone who contacts them today."
We'd all say, "Yeah right! OMG ponies." and not email them. They'd be in the clear.