Apple loses significant amounts of money to people cloning their products.
Yes, but to be fair, it does take MicroSoft abour 24 to 36 months to re-innovate Apple's design features into their products. That's plenty of time for Apple to make money and then release new innovations.:)
This guy mentions hockey, Shakespeare, the Industrial Revolution, Richard Stallman, the movie industry, and even the frickin Masons, all in one essay! He also manages to take a shot at the president.
Oh yeah, and he talks about software patents a little bit as well.:)
Oh the whole, I agree with Graham on most of his points, especially this bit: ...it's better, even from a purely selfish point of view, to be constrained by principles than by stupidity.
Firefox keeps downloaded items in the download list, even when they're completed. Unfortunately, this can add up quick - so you should make sure you clear out that list frequently. I heard about this and discovered my list was hundreds of items long.
You can change this behavior in preferences. In the "Privacy" tab, select the "Download History" tab. From there, you can decide when Firefox should purge the download history list. You can set it to delete items from the list as soon as a download is complete, when Firefox exits, or manually.
Re:Dual boot? How about virtualization, too!
on
Going To Boot Camp
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· Score: 1
Am I the only one that found this line interesting?
Not by a long shot. Dual booting sounds really awesome until you have to do it a few times in a short period.
Still, it can't hurt to have the *ability* to dual boot if the need arises.
It doesn't have to be all-or-nothing
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Gmail vs Pine
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· Score: 5, Insightful
There's no need to just use either pine or the Gmail web interface. You could use pine for quick checks to see if there is new mail on your Gmail account (and for periodic backups), and then use the Gmail web interface to organize your mail or to check mail when you're on the road.
Why doesn't it work that way? Patents still have a limited term.
Yes, but I think most patent types have too long a term. Most patents expire 20 years after the date of issuance. That's a timeframe that was recently increased from 17 years. I think both of those are too long. I think the cap should be, at a maximum, 10 years, but I think 5 years would be a much more reasonable time.
Twenty years is a long time, technologically speaking. I think it harms competition, rather than protect it, to prohibit any companies from competing directly with NetFlix for 20 years. Hell, by the time the patent runs out, the internet may have morphed into something entirely different, and in the mean time, competition in the area of online DVD rentals has been stifled. Who loses? Guys like you and me.
Netflix obviously doesn't agree with you for some reason, we aren't privy to.
The reason is obvious: generating profit without the "annoyance" of competition.
The entire point of the patent system is to give the patentee a monopoly ie special protection against market competition.
I believe the orginal purpose of the patent system was to provide a monopoly for a limited time to allow for market entry and profit generation. That's not how the system works now (not really, anyway), and that's why it's all screwed up.
As for your "tough shit" argument. Netflix did find a way to compete: patent protection.
That's a shitty way to compete (in my opinion): preventing anyone else from directly competing with you. And for the record, I think Netflix is fully capable of competing with anyone based on their current business model without having to resort to profit-by-patent tactics. Their movie selection alone makes them stand out. Why not innovate instead of litigate? Am I that old-fashioned?
Although I don't have much respect for the US patent system, I have to wonder how else would Netflix protect their novel business model from a competitor like Blockbuster? BB has several major advantages already: a huge, existing inventory of movies and actual stores. How can Netflix compete with that without protecting their novel business model?
Maybe Netflix could protect its business model by...I don't know...offering the best service/product in the market? If they are the best (in the view of the public), it won't matter how their competitors model their businesses to compete.Netflix is more or less asking the courts for special protection against market competition. I don't think *that* is a very good business model, but then again, I don't run a multi-million-dollar corporation.
I subscribe to Blockbuster now because of the fact that I get 2 free rentals every month from a store in addition to the all I can watch by mail.... Netflix can not compete on that level without partnering with some other competing retail rental chain.
If you're so worried about Netflix's business, why don't you support them instead of Blockbuster? And as for Netflix not being able to compete "at that level," well, that's tough shit. They entered a national video rental market, and the have to find a way to compete "at that level."
I think it's great that so many people are interested in becoming better stewards of the Earth. However, voicing an opinion is easy. Actually living up to those convictions is much more difficult. I'd be willing to bet, just from my own anecdotal experience with people in general, that *maybe* half of those that say they want to act more responsibly actually will do it.
It's just so much easier to keep doing what you're doing. Change is hard.
As a result, it provides a "worst possible case" for testing the practicality of using ODF in a still largely non-ODF world.
Wouldn't this sort of test be a more or less good test case for switching to ODF and dealing with non-ODF outside documents? Maybe I just misunderstood the comment.
Strange...the Bush crew is often portrayed as bumblers who can't do anything right, then they are accused of being devious co-conspirators to rule the world. Which is it guys?
I think it's just Bush that is usually "portrayed" as a rube that can't do anything right. His cronies, like Cheney and Rove, are quite crafty.
People more persuasive than I could try to argue that writing a check for money that you don't have (even if you will soon) could constitute fraud. Strictly speaking, you're supposed to have the money in the account when you write the check, which is a promise of money.
What the government does desire, however, is established precedent which permits it to seize information from any company, even when no actual crime is being investigated.
Thank you so much. Thank you for pointing out what should be obvious to even the slowest of Americans. I only wish I hadn't just wasted my last mod point.
Move to North Korea and if you ever get back, write me a report comparing the Bush administration with Kim Jong Il's regime.
So this is the yardstick by which we are to measure democracy and quality of life?: North Korea? I suggest you get some better standards. Just being "better than North Korea" is not good enough for me.
From the article: "After The New York Times reported, and CNN confirmed, a claim that Bush gave the National Security Agency license to eavesdrop on Americans communicating with people overseas, the president said that his actions were permissible, but that leaking the revelation to the media was illegal."
Your phone was not being tapped when you called from Ohio to Wisconsin to wish your grandmother a happy birthday.
The president has admitted that warrantless wiretaps were being carried out against private citizens that call suspected terrorist areas. If this is what the government is straight-out *admitting*, imagine how extensive the *actual* wiretapping might be. This is why a warrant is needed. At least it gives the pretense of due process.
OS X is indeed very nice, however Apple customer support is the worst I have ever encountered. The first time I sent my PowerBook in for repair, they lost it and didn't replace it with a working one until two months later.
That's too bad. I just had a fantastic experience with Apple support. My iBook fell prey to the heinous iBook Logic Board Screwup. It didn't break until a week after the free replacement program ended, but Apple agreed to fix it anyway for free. They sent me a nice box to ship it in and paid for the shipping costs to and from the repair center. I got it back in 5 days, and they had also fixed the lid latch (which I had broken) at no charge. That's been my only experience with Apple support, but it was a good one.
My production manager and I were just talking about this today.
What you really need to do is find a way to prove to advertisers that going online will give them the same or more exposure to readers than print ads do. In the print world, nobody really knows how much of an effect an ad has on readers...advertisers just take it on faith that it works. But for some reason, when you try to convince them to buy an online ad, they say "But how will we know if it will reach the readers?" (even though you can give them scads of statistic to show how many readers are seeing the ad).
If you get all your advertisers to "drink the Koolaid" of online ads, you won't have to worry about having a subscription model or restricted content. For some reason, traditional advertisers (not porn) are the slowest to come around to the online distribution model.
Your comment almost made me laugh until I crapped my pants. But then I remembered that someone else owns the patents for the genes that govern sense of humor and incontinence. Too bad.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, but to be fair, it does take MicroSoft abour 24 to 36 months to re-innovate Apple's design features into their products. That's plenty of time for Apple to make money and then release new innovations.
This guy mentions hockey, Shakespeare, the Industrial Revolution, Richard Stallman, the movie industry, and even the frickin Masons, all in one essay! He also manages to take a shot at the president.
:)
...it's better, even from a purely selfish point of view, to be constrained by principles than by stupidity.
Oh yeah, and he talks about software patents a little bit as well.
Oh the whole, I agree with Graham on most of his points, especially this bit:
You can change this behavior in preferences. In the "Privacy" tab, select the "Download History" tab. From there, you can decide when Firefox should purge the download history list. You can set it to delete items from the list as soon as a download is complete, when Firefox exits, or manually.
Not by a long shot. Dual booting sounds really awesome until you have to do it a few times in a short period.
Still, it can't hurt to have the *ability* to dual boot if the need arises.
There's no need to just use either pine or the Gmail web interface. You could use pine for quick checks to see if there is new mail on your Gmail account (and for periodic backups), and then use the Gmail web interface to organize your mail or to check mail when you're on the road.
Why restrict yourself to just one or the other?
Yes, but I think most patent types have too long a term. Most patents expire 20 years after the date of issuance. That's a timeframe that was recently increased from 17 years. I think both of those are too long. I think the cap should be, at a maximum, 10 years, but I think 5 years would be a much more reasonable time.
Twenty years is a long time, technologically speaking. I think it harms competition, rather than protect it, to prohibit any companies from competing directly with NetFlix for 20 years. Hell, by the time the patent runs out, the internet may have morphed into something entirely different, and in the mean time, competition in the area of online DVD rentals has been stifled. Who loses? Guys like you and me.
The reason is obvious: generating profit without the "annoyance" of competition.
I believe the orginal purpose of the patent system was to provide a monopoly for a limited time to allow for market entry and profit generation. That's not how the system works now (not really, anyway), and that's why it's all screwed up.
That's a shitty way to compete (in my opinion): preventing anyone else from directly competing with you. And for the record, I think Netflix is fully capable of competing with anyone based on their current business model without having to resort to profit-by-patent tactics. Their movie selection alone makes them stand out. Why not innovate instead of litigate? Am I that old-fashioned?
Maybe Netflix could protect its business model by...I don't know...offering the best service/product in the market? If they are the best (in the view of the public), it won't matter how their competitors model their businesses to compete.Netflix is more or less asking the courts for special protection against market competition. I don't think *that* is a very good business model, but then again, I don't run a multi-million-dollar corporation.
If you're so worried about Netflix's business, why don't you support them instead of Blockbuster? And as for Netflix not being able to compete "at that level," well, that's tough shit. They entered a national video rental market, and the have to find a way to compete "at that level."
I think it's great that so many people are interested in becoming better stewards of the Earth. However, voicing an opinion is easy. Actually living up to those convictions is much more difficult. I'd be willing to bet, just from my own anecdotal experience with people in general, that *maybe* half of those that say they want to act more responsibly actually will do it.
It's just so much easier to keep doing what you're doing. Change is hard.
I ditched my last windows machine 18 months ago. Will I able able to run this MS virtual server under Wine on my Linux box?
*ducks*
Wouldn't this sort of test be a more or less good test case for switching to ODF and dealing with non-ODF outside documents? Maybe I just misunderstood the comment.
I think it's just Bush that is usually "portrayed" as a rube that can't do anything right. His cronies, like Cheney and Rove, are quite crafty.
No, but he's a nice way to keep insurance costs down!
We have two pirate parties, and they're both doing very well. They pretty much have complete control of Congress.
Somebody better tell the government that.
Thank you so much. Thank you for pointing out what should be obvious to even the slowest of Americans. I only wish I hadn't just wasted my last mod point.
My god, this is pure genious. I wish I had mod points. Bravo, sir (or madame).
I was just thinking how funny it would be to register the name Allah_Sucks_Balls@yahoo.com. Wow, sick minds think alike.
So this is the yardstick by which we are to measure democracy and quality of life?: North Korea? I suggest you get some better standards. Just being "better than North Korea" is not good enough for me.
If by "leaked" you mean "the President is giving stump speeches on how important it is to keep doing this", then yeah. Pretty huge leak though.
Uhh, no. It was the New York Times that first broke the story. Then the president said he was mad that the NYT went public with the story:
Check this article from CNN on Dec. 17
From the article:
"After The New York Times reported, and CNN confirmed, a claim that Bush gave the National Security Agency license to eavesdrop on Americans communicating with people overseas, the president said that his actions were permissible, but that leaking the revelation to the media was illegal."
(Emphasis mine)
The president has admitted that warrantless wiretaps were being carried out against private citizens that call suspected terrorist areas. If this is what the government is straight-out *admitting*, imagine how extensive the *actual* wiretapping might be. This is why a warrant is needed. At least it gives the pretense of due process.
That's too bad. I just had a fantastic experience with Apple support. My iBook fell prey to the heinous iBook Logic Board Screwup. It didn't break until a week after the free replacement program ended, but Apple agreed to fix it anyway for free. They sent me a nice box to ship it in and paid for the shipping costs to and from the repair center. I got it back in 5 days, and they had also fixed the lid latch (which I had broken) at no charge. That's been my only experience with Apple support, but it was a good one.
My production manager and I were just talking about this today.
What you really need to do is find a way to prove to advertisers that going online will give them the same or more exposure to readers than print ads do. In the print world, nobody really knows how much of an effect an ad has on readers...advertisers just take it on faith that it works. But for some reason, when you try to convince them to buy an online ad, they say "But how will we know if it will reach the readers?" (even though you can give them scads of statistic to show how many readers are seeing the ad).
If you get all your advertisers to "drink the Koolaid" of online ads, you won't have to worry about having a subscription model or restricted content. For some reason, traditional advertisers (not porn) are the slowest to come around to the online distribution model.
I just wish they could *churn* out the releases a bit faster.
Your comment almost made me laugh until I crapped my pants. But then I remembered that someone else owns the patents for the genes that govern sense of humor and incontinence. Too bad.