China is worse you say? Good to know. Because, as we all know, as long as somone, somwhere is worse it is ok to commit wathever atrocities you feel like.
By that logic Hitler wasn't so bad, because Stalin had a slightly higher death toll.
I realize i just invoked Godwins Law, but for fucks sake! Just because someone is not the worst offender in human history doesn't make him/her a saint.
One little piece of idiocy I do NOT want this country to adopt.
I agree that giving the procecution a general right to appeal in the current US system would be disasterous. But in the Norvegian system it's actually not as bad as it sounds. The entire system is very different from the US. (For example: in a criminal case, like this, the defendant don't pay lawyer fees, so Jon won't be ruined.)
The reason for the appeal is probably (besides trying to save the prosecutions face) that they have to push the case all the way to the supreme court to set a precendent either way. This is a "new" type of crime remember. So, you can expect another appeal. And since it is a new crime the supreme court will probably accept it. (Otherwise rare.)
Sucks to be Jon, but probably not as much as it would have done if the same thing would have happended in the US, chances are he is getting off the hook, and even if he isn't it won't completely ruin his life.
It will, however be a setback for OSS development in Europe.
The whole case is rediculous if you ask me. And the real idiocy here is that the kid was even arrested at all.
True, and later they wanted their independence, the swedish government deemed it to be to much of a hassle to break out the jackbooted thugs and granted it to them.
Probably a very wise choise for both partys, and they've gotten along pretty good ever since...
so you cannot use a fancy glass eye, or an amputated eyeball.
Better start informing potential robbers of this important fact I guess.
I sure hope the local hoodlums down under are are tech savvy enough to not have to discover this by trial and error...
But when push come to shove this will probably mean that the rich get the cure and the poor (as usual) gets shafted. There's huge potential for abuse in the patent system. I hope that won't be the case here.
But misuse of antibiotics also ranks quite high on the 'threats to mankind' list. This patent properly handled could be a good thing.
What makes you think he would work on a palestinian tank, or any tank for that matter? I for one would not work on code that would primary be for military use, I would consider it immoral to do so.
So, no, I wouldnt work on a israeli tank. I guess in your mind that makes me a anti-semit. But I wouldn't work on a Swedish tank or an US tank or any tank at all.
So, you are all for open source being used for military, as long as it happens to be your military<snip/>
Well put. The sword cuts both ways people. Lets never forget that, ok.
If you release a piece of OSS software on the world someone somewhere is bound to use it in ways you don't like. Get over it! If you can't accept that, don't release the code.
Translation of parent post: No current technology is a perfect magic bullet to totally replace fossil fuel on all levels with a zero impact on the environment. This means we shouldn't even try doing anything at all about the status quo!
What an amazingly backwards attitude. With that kind of reasoning we would still live in caves and hunt with pointy sticks. No, make that teeth and nails, the pointy stick was an invention.
It is interesting that you consider a cycle that has been studied for 100years out of 500,000,000years to be conclusive.
So you don't believe in just about any sientific findings then, do you? Most things we take for granted have been studied for 100 years or less. Besides, the dataset studied in this case is much greater than a century. And that is what matters the most.
<snip>HAD OVER SIX MILLION CIVILIANS BURNED, GASSED, TORTURED, AND GENERALLY KILLED FOR NO FUCKING REASON.</snip>
What I was trying to say is that Hitler (who I assume you are referring to) in his own mind had reasons to act the way he did, fucked up as they were.
He had those people killed because it furthered his goals. Real fucking self serving if you ask me, but there is a difference in degree, not in nature between his acts and, say, treating your employees like shit.
Evil is no mythical fucking super power only possesed by infamous dictators. It's just everyday self serving nastyness taken to the extreme. It's not a comforting thought, I know, but writing in all-caps doesn't help. Try to nice instead, ok?
They are self-serving, which can indeed clash with public opinion and privacy, but they are not 'evil'.
The same can be said for Hitler, Stalin, Attila The Hun etc. Define "evil" please, please? It's not like, for example, Saddam Hussein rises at dawn eagerly looking forward to a day brimfull with Evil deeds, just to be nasty. No, at least in his own mind, he's only looking out for his own best interests, and if you get in the way, too bad for you.
Evil isn't some mythical quality, despite what certain authority figures may tell you. The "evildoers" just grab an advantage for themself at somebody elses expense. They are just plain old self serving.
But that explanation to peoples motives hits a little to close to home to be comfortable, so we just chalk others actions up to them being eeevil.
To sum up: "Evil" = Self serving at the expense of others. There's no magic to it.
Someone start a line of cybergoth clothing! This could be huge!
"My black is blacker than your black"
And just an hour ago I bought a new pair of black military pants. Is buying clothes going to be like buying a graphics card from now on, ie two minutes after you buy it the new model comes along to blow it straight out of the water. Aw crap!
...also, it's already black enough
on
Blacker Than Black
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Well... in physics, the sun is often used as an example of a "black body", so one may even say it's black enough as it is;-)
It's not cheaper when you factor in the time wasted trying to figure out how to use Linux.
Yes, we wouldn't want anyone to "waste" their time learning something, now would we? This may sound elitist, but there is some value in having an educated userbase. Even more so considering the bazaar style development of OSS.
millions of users that don't know jack about computers may buy us better hw-support and more commercial software for OSS platforms, but it wouldn't bring much advantages to the actual developers, and in the bazaar, the developer is king (for better or for worse).
I don't see any problem with OSS being easy to use, but "easier than Windows" may not be a goal worth aiming for. Neither may world domination, at least not for it's own sake.
I have a surgical steel barbell in my mouth (through the tongue actually) for four years and counting... and guess what? No rust. It all depends on the quality of the steel, as this example proves.
But I guess a steel jaw would be pretty heavy and uncomfortable though.
Copyright infringement i can understand, but piracy? What the hell has either of those services to do with the crime of piracy? Piracy is a very rare crime in the western hemisphere nowadays, but I hear it is still pretty common in the chinese sea.
<rant> No, security through diversity. A monoculture is always vulnerable, since it has a common weakness, ask any biologist, and that goes for software too. MS software may be of dubious quality, but the real threat is their huge honkin' market share.
That said, a little less sloppy work in Redmond wouldn't hurt. And sysadmins across the globe will have to take some responsibility for this too. It's been more than six months since the weakness was discovered, for fucks sake! </rant>
First: I like *nix and everything GNU and I mostly dislike MS.
But let me tell you something, if there is something proprietory software mongers do well, that is sucking up to developers and customers with free booze. I mean, it's not like '99 any more, but last year i had free drinks from both MS, SUN and a few of MS partners. Kind of slimy way to buy goodwill if you ask me, but hey! Free booze, it's not like you say no to that!
Smart weapons (GPS Guided) cannot just be used by anyone in time of conflict. The US owns and still controls the network of GPS satellites. They have the ability to scramble the system as they see fit, and have been known to do so during conflicts.
Doesn't have to be GPS guided. How about one loony with a laser pointer and another in a small plane with a passive homing bomb? The "possibilities" are endless. And, I bet you that if a GPS guided weapon is used against the US it will not be in a conflict. It will just drop out of the blue a regular tuesday or something.
My point was that the future might be a more dangerous place to be in than today when these types of weapons becomes widely available. (And, yes, sooner or later they will...)
Smart bombs may be inexpensive, but they require a warplane to bring them near their target.
I bet you that in a decade, you won't need to. You'll either get one with it's own delivery system, or one that can be dropped from any old sessna, and guided by one guy with a laser poiunter or some such on the ground.
I didn't say people couldn't do this shit today, I'm just saying, it'll become hell of a lot easier as the technology becomes cheaper and easier to obtain. (And, don't kid yourself, it will spread.)
I didn't mean to pick on you, it was just my random rant of the day, more or less...
Slashdot Mirror
China is worse you say? Good to know.
Because, as we all know, as long as somone, somwhere is worse it is ok to commit wathever atrocities you feel like.
By that logic Hitler wasn't so bad, because Stalin had a slightly higher death toll.
I realize i just invoked Godwins Law, but for fucks sake!
Just because someone is not the worst offender in human history doesn't make him/her a saint.
One little piece of idiocy I do NOT want this country to adopt.
I agree that giving the procecution a general right to appeal in the current US system would be disasterous.
But in the Norvegian system it's actually not as bad as it sounds.
The entire system is very different from the US. (For example: in a criminal case, like this, the defendant don't pay lawyer fees, so Jon won't be ruined.)
The reason for the appeal is probably (besides trying to save the prosecutions face) that they have to push the case all the way to the supreme court to set a precendent either way. This is a "new" type of crime remember.
So, you can expect another appeal. And since it is a new crime the supreme court will probably accept it. (Otherwise rare.)
Sucks to be Jon, but probably not as much as it would have done if the same thing would have happended in the US, chances are he is getting off the hook, and even if he isn't it won't completely ruin his life.
It will, however be a setback for OSS development in Europe.
The whole case is rediculous if you ask me.
And the real idiocy here is that the kid was even arrested at all.
Sweden won Norway in a war. Go read your history.
True, and later they wanted their independence, the swedish government deemed it to be to much of a hassle to break out the jackbooted thugs and granted it to them.
Probably a very wise choise for both partys, and they've gotten along pretty good ever since...
so you cannot use a fancy glass eye, or an amputated eyeball.
Better start informing potential robbers of this important fact I guess.
I sure hope the local hoodlums down under are are tech savvy enough to not have to discover this by trial and error...
You do have a point.
A good one.
But when push come to shove this will probably mean that the rich get the cure and the poor (as usual) gets shafted.
There's huge potential for abuse in the patent system.
I hope that won't be the case here.
But misuse of antibiotics also ranks quite high on the 'threats to mankind' list.
This patent properly handled could be a good thing.
What makes you think he would work on a palestinian tank, or any tank for that matter?
I for one would not work on code that would primary be for military use, I would consider it immoral to do so.
So, no, I wouldnt work on a israeli tank.
I guess in your mind that makes me a anti-semit.
But I wouldn't work on a Swedish tank or an US tank or any tank at all.
Can you grasp the difference?
Please try.
So, you are all for open source being used for military, as long as it happens to be your military<snip/>
Well put.
The sword cuts both ways people.
Lets never forget that, ok.
If you release a piece of OSS software on the world someone somewhere is bound to use it in ways you don't like.
Get over it!
If you can't accept that, don't release the code.
Translation of parent post:
No current technology is a perfect magic bullet to totally replace fossil fuel on all levels with a zero impact on the environment.
This means we shouldn't even try doing anything at all about the status quo!
What an amazingly backwards attitude.
With that kind of reasoning we would still live in caves and hunt with pointy sticks.
No, make that teeth and nails, the pointy stick was an invention.
No. Not on a global scale, because then it becomes non-sustainable.
Yeah, but depending on where you live it can be locally sustainable. Say in Sibiria, parts of Canada and in notherna Scandinavia.
Not a magic bullet, but part of a solution to a difficult problem.
It is interesting that you consider a cycle that has been studied for 100years out of 500,000,000years to be conclusive.
So you don't believe in just about any sientific findings then, do you?
Most things we take for granted have been studied for 100 years or less.
Besides, the dataset studied in this case is much greater than a century. And that is what matters the most.
they sound like jet engines, and are about as loud.
No, they're not that loud.
In fact, they are not anywhere near as loud as a jet.
Where did you get that from?
You kind of make my point with your comment:
<snip>HAD OVER SIX MILLION CIVILIANS BURNED, GASSED, TORTURED, AND GENERALLY KILLED FOR NO FUCKING REASON.</snip>
What I was trying to say is that Hitler (who I assume you are referring to) in his own mind had reasons to act the way he did, fucked up as they were.
He had those people killed because it furthered his goals. Real fucking self serving if you ask me, but there is a difference in degree, not in nature between his acts and, say, treating your employees like shit.
Evil is no mythical fucking super power only possesed by infamous dictators.
It's just everyday self serving nastyness taken to the extreme.
It's not a comforting thought, I know, but writing in all-caps doesn't help.
Try to nice instead, ok?
They are self-serving, which can indeed clash with public opinion and privacy, but they are not 'evil'.
The same can be said for Hitler, Stalin, Attila The Hun etc.
Define "evil" please, please?
It's not like, for example, Saddam Hussein rises at dawn eagerly looking forward to a day brimfull with Evil deeds, just to be nasty. No, at least in his own mind, he's only looking out for his own best interests, and if you get in the way, too bad for you.
Evil isn't some mythical quality, despite what certain authority figures may tell you. The "evildoers" just grab an advantage for themself at somebody elses expense.
They are just plain old self serving.
But that explanation to peoples motives hits a little to close to home to be comfortable, so we just chalk others actions up to them being eeevil.
To sum up:
"Evil" = Self serving at the expense of others.
There's no magic to it.
Great idea. Make a computer that sees humans as a parts/food source. Add a delicious incentive for robot underlings to revolt.
No way!
My box will be a vegetarian just like me.
...or, will it. Why did the cdrom just start spinning for no reason...
Someone start a line of cybergoth clothing! This could be huge!
"My black is blacker than your black"
And just an hour ago I bought a new pair of black military pants.
Is buying clothes going to be like buying a graphics card from now on, ie two minutes after you buy it the new model comes along to blow it straight out of the water.
Aw crap!
Well... in physics, the sun is often used as an example of a "black body", so one may even say it's black enough as it is ;-)
It's not cheaper when you factor in the time wasted trying to figure out how to use Linux.
Yes, we wouldn't want anyone to "waste" their time learning something, now would we?
This may sound elitist, but there is some value in having an educated userbase.
Even more so considering the bazaar style development of OSS.
millions of users that don't know jack about computers may buy us better hw-support and more commercial software for OSS platforms, but it wouldn't bring much advantages to the actual developers, and in the bazaar, the developer is king (for better or for worse).
I don't see any problem with OSS being easy to use, but "easier than Windows" may not be a goal worth aiming for.
Neither may world domination, at least not for it's own sake.
steel rusts
I have a surgical steel barbell in my mouth (through the tongue actually) for four years and counting... and guess what?
No rust.
It all depends on the quality of the steel, as this example proves.
But I guess a steel jaw would be pretty heavy and uncomfortable though.
Let's hope that ubercapitalism takes this to the extreme, where only the 2 guys at the top only have to fight each other.
Wishful thinking, they'll just make half of the population each fight the other half on their behalf.
Business as usual in other words.
committing priacy and copyright infringement
Copyright infringement i can understand, but piracy?
What the hell has either of those services to do with the crime of piracy? Piracy is a very rare crime in the western hemisphere nowadays, but I hear it is still pretty common in the chinese sea.
security through obscurity? tsk tsk.
<rant>
No, security through diversity.
A monoculture is always vulnerable, since it has a common weakness, ask any biologist, and that goes for software too.
MS software may be of dubious quality, but the real threat is their huge honkin' market share.
That said, a little less sloppy work in Redmond wouldn't hurt.
And sysadmins across the globe will have to take some responsibility for this too.
It's been more than six months since the weakness was discovered, for fucks sake!
</rant>
First: I like *nix and everything GNU and I mostly dislike MS.
But let me tell you something, if there is something proprietory software mongers do well, that is sucking up to developers and customers with free booze.
I mean, it's not like '99 any more, but last year i had free drinks from both MS, SUN and a few of MS partners.
Kind of slimy way to buy goodwill if you ask me, but hey! Free booze, it's not like you say no to that!
That, sir, was one hell of a rant.
I wish my ranting abilities was up to the standard of your last few paragraphs.
Smart weapons (GPS Guided) cannot just be used by anyone in time of conflict. The US owns and still controls the network of GPS satellites. They have the ability to scramble the system as they see fit, and have been known to do so during conflicts.
Doesn't have to be GPS guided. How about one loony with a laser pointer and another in a small plane with a passive homing bomb?
The "possibilities" are endless.
And, I bet you that if a GPS guided weapon is used against the US it will not be in a conflict.
It will just drop out of the blue a regular tuesday or something.
My point was that the future might be a more dangerous place to be in than today when these types of weapons becomes widely available.
(And, yes, sooner or later they will...)
Smart bombs may be inexpensive, but they require a warplane to bring them near their target.
I bet you that in a decade, you won't need to. You'll either get one with it's own delivery system, or one that can be dropped from any old sessna, and guided by one guy with a laser poiunter or some such on the ground.
I didn't say people couldn't do this shit today, I'm just saying, it'll become hell of a lot easier as the technology becomes cheaper and easier to obtain. (And, don't kid yourself, it will spread.)
I didn't mean to pick on you, it was just my random rant of the day, more or less...