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User: Bouncings

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Comments · 290

  1. High level languages on The Golden Age of Cup Manufacturing · · Score: 3, Funny

    With the growth of high level languages like Perl, Python, and TCL you'd think that coffee cups could be getting smaller, not larger. This is the strongest evidence against Moore's Law I've seen in a while.

  2. Parrot a cross between Perl and Python on Parrot 0.0.7 Out (and some docs) · · Score: 2
    Wasn't parrot an April fools joke of a cross between Perl and Python? Well, where's the mention of Python (either on slashdot or the perl news they link to?). It looks like just a fancy Perl compiler -- nothing to do with Python.

    Can someone fill me in?

  3. Parking ticket? on RIAA Smacked by DoS · · Score: 2

    Maybe the RIAA's webmaster had an outstanding parking ticket, and in the United States, we punish illegal activity (or the suspician thereof) by DoS'ing servers.

  4. Re:Are you sure it is legal? on May I Have Your EULA Please? · · Score: 2
    What if you consider the EULA to be just part of the software?
    The software isn't a contract, then.
  5. Intellectual Property on China Modifies Weather For 2008 Olympics · · Score: 2, Funny
    Since scientists control the weather, does that mean that the national weather service is infringing on intellectual property?

    I apologize for asking that.

  6. Here's mine on May I Have Your EULA Please? · · Score: 1, Informative
    Here's my EULA. haha!

    GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE

    Version 2, June 1991

    Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
    59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA
    02111-1307, USA

    Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed. Preamble

    The licenses for most software are designed to take away your freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free software--to make sure the software is free for all its users. This General Public License applies to most of the Free Software Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to using it. (Some other Free Software Foundation software is covered by the GNU Library General Public License instead.) You can apply it to your programs, too.

    When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.

    To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights. These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.

    For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that you have. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights.

    We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and (2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy, distribute and/or modify the software.

    Also, for each author's protection and ours, we want to make certain that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free software. If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original authors' reputations.

    Finally, any free program is threatened constantly by software patents. We wish to avoid the danger that redistributors of a free program will individually obtain patent licenses, in effect making the program proprietary. To prevent this, we have made it clear that any patent must be licensed for everyone's free use or not licensed at all.

    The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and modification follow.

    TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION

    0. This License applies to any program or other work which contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be distributed under the terms of this General Public License. The "Program", below, refers to any such program or work, and a "work based on the Program" means either the Program or any derivative work under copyright law: that is to say, a work containing the Program or a portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another language. (Hereinafter, translation is included without limitation in the term "modification".) Each licensee is addressed as "you".

    Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act of running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the Program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the Program (independent of having been made by running the Program). Whether that is true depends on what the Program does.

    1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty; and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License along with the Program.

    You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee.

    2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion of it, thus forming a work based on the Program, and copy and distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1 above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:

    • a) You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.

    • b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License.

    • c) If the modified program normally reads commands interactively when run, you must cause it, when started running for such interactive use in the most ordinary way, to print or display an announcement including an appropriate copyright notice and a notice that there is no warranty (or else, saying that you provide a warranty) and that users may redistribute the program under these conditions, and telling the user how to view a copy of this License. (Exception: if the Program itself is interactive but does not normally print such an announcement, your work based on the Program is not required to print an announcement.)
    These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program, and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it.

    Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or contest your rights to work written entirely by you; rather, the intent is to exercise the right to control the distribution of derivative or collective works based on the Program.

    In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Program with the Program (or with a work based on the Program) on a volume of a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under the scope of this License.

    3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:

    • a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,

    • b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,

    • c) Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer to distribute corresponding source code. (This alternative is allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you received the program in object code or executable form with such an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)
    The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for making modifications to it. For an executable work, complete source code means all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to control compilation and installation of the executable. However, as a special exception, the source code distributed need not include anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the operating system on which the executable runs, unless that component itself accompanies the executable.

    If distribution of executable or object code is made by offering access to copy from a designated place, then offering equivalent access to copy the source code from the same place counts as distribution of the source code, even though third parties are not compelled to copy the source along with the object code.

    4. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Program except as expressly provided under this License. Any attempt otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Program is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License. However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under this License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance.

    5. You are not required to accept this License, since you have not signed it. However, nothing else grants you permission to modify or distribute the Program or its derivative works. These actions are prohibited by law if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by modifying or distributing the Program (or any work based on the Program), you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so, and all its terms and conditions for copying, distributing or modifying the Program or works based on it.

    6. Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the original licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein. You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties to this License.

    7. If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues), conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not excuse you from the conditions of this License. If you cannot distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you may not distribute the Program at all. For example, if a patent license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to refrain entirely from distribution of the Program.

    If any portion of this section is held invalid or unenforceable under any particular circumstance, the balance of the section is intended to apply and the section as a whole is intended to apply in other circumstances.

    It is not the purpose of this section to induce you to infringe any patents or other property right claims or to contest validity of any such claims; this section has the sole purpose of protecting the integrity of the free software distribution system, which is implemented by public license practices. Many people have made generous contributions to the wide range of software distributed through that system in reliance on consistent application of that system; it is up to the author/donor to decide if he or she is willing to distribute software through any other system and a licensee cannot impose that choice.

    This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed to be a consequence of the rest of this License.

    8. If the distribution and/or use of the Program is restricted in certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces, the original copyright holder who places the Program under this License may add an explicit geographical distribution limitation excluding those countries, so that distribution is permitted only in or among countries not thus excluded. In such case, this License incorporates the limitation as if written in the body of this License.

    9. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions of the General Public License from time to time. Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns.

    Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the Program specifies a version number of this License which applies to it and "any later version", you have the option of following the terms and conditions either of that version or of any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. If the Program does not specify a version number of this License, you may choose any version ever published by the Free Software Foundation.

    10. If you wish to incorporate parts of the Program into other free programs whose distribution conditions are different, write to the author to ask for permission. For software which is copyrighted by the Free Software Foundation, write to the Free Software Foundation; we sometimes make exceptions for this. Our decision will be guided by the two goals of preserving the free status of all derivatives of our free software and of promoting the sharing and reuse of software generally.

    NO WARRANTY

    11. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.

    12. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

  7. Re:Are you sure it is legal? on May I Have Your EULA Please? · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I'm not sure about that. An agreement is between two parties. That would mean that both parties should have equal rights to the document itself to share with their lawyers, business affiliates, or whoever else they deem appropriate. ie; If you can't copy it, then neither can the software company.

    Of course, like all legal matters, Slashdot readers have the authoritative opinion. NOT. I'm not a lawyer, and I don't play one on TV. Usually.

  8. Re:But isn't this exact case already exempted? on ACLU Files New DMCA Challenge · · Score: 2
    I really don't understand the ACLU's strategy here. Aren't people already allowed to do this kind of research thanks to the librian of congress's decision on exemptions to the DMCA's anti-circumvention scheme? [loc.gov]
    Again, the problem with slashdot is that you guys never read the articles before commenting. The article specifically addresses this:

    The DMCA's limited exemption for some forms of reverse-engineering also does not apply, the lawsuit claims. According to the DMCA, reverse-engineering must be done for "the sole purpose of identifying and analyzing those elements of the program" necessary to create similar software.

    Because Edelman's purpose is instead to critique filtering software, the ACLU says, he could be liable under the DMCA unless the court intervenes.

    Can you guys please read the bloody article before posting.

  9. The role of standards bodies on JPEG Committee On The Ball, Seeks Prior Art · · Score: 2
    Every self-respecting standards body would be forced to do what JPEG is doing. Unfortunately, I think this signals a shift in the role of standards bodies. Perhaps the day is here when they no longer work on technical and industry cooperation, so much as they form an umbrella group to defend many manufacturers from patent lawsuits.

    The irony in this is that standards bodies are part of the Great Word Capitalism, which is the same general philosophy/entity that created frivolous lawsuits and absurd patents. At least the first group Forget (intentionally misspelled) contacted wasn't the developers of The Gimp or something.

  10. Re:Geeks, geeks, geeks on Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 Released · · Score: 2
    Some of us are GEEKS BY DAY, normal people by night and weekend. You really should have figured this out by now. Sure, in college I was working till 3 AM on my own little projects, but those times are gone now, and my job supplies me with all the geekiness I need, 60 hours a week. During the rest of the time, I'm a normal American consumer. I doubt I'm in any kind of minority either. Taco is married -- remember that!

    Anyway, my post did point out the obvious. The obvious, however, is something most slashdotters are often unaware of.

  11. Geeks, geeks, geeks on Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 Released · · Score: 0, Troll
    Releasing a peice of software on a friday afternoon, and we all celebrate. This is pretty geeky. Movies open on fridays, restaurants open on Fridays, clubs have happy hours on fridays. Good call, Debian! Clearly NONE OF YOU GUYS HAVE GIRL FRIENDS. geeeeeze.

    "Honey, I can't. I have to be with Debbie this FRIDAY NIGHT."

  12. Oh, yes, this is news on U.S. Company Helps Saudi Arabia Censor The Net · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Let's see. The American government helps other nations:
    • Put down opposition parties
    • Solidify military control
    • Exploit their workforces through low-wage jobs
    • Censor virtually everything else
    And now we're all terrible shocked that American firms are being used in the development of censorware for a foreign government? I'm surprised the DOD isn't bankrolling the ENTIRE project.
  13. Caffeine Free Coffee on Genetically Modified, Caffeine-Free Coffee · · Score: 5, Funny
    A caffeine free cup of coffee just isn't right. It's kind of like combustion-free motor oil, scandal-free whitehouse, defect-free Windows, or troll-free slashdot.

    It's just not natural.

  14. Re:Probably already fixed on A Medireview Approach To Stopping E-Mail Attacks · · Score: 2

    Yes, it's nice that Yahoo infringes on the copyrights of writers everywhere, and it takes a slashdot to make public these unauthorized changes.

  15. Re:Ahhh Office Space on I Believe You Have My Stapler · · Score: 5, Funny
    From Swingline.com:
    500 Internal Server Error

    /b2c/:

    null
    java.lang.NullPointerException
    at jrun__util__Errorpage2ejsp13._jspService(jrun__uti l__Errorpage2ejsp13.java:268)
    at allaire.jrun.jsp.HttpJSPServlet.service(HttpJSPSer vlet.java:40)
    at allaire.jrun.servlet.JRunSE.service(JRunSE.java:10 24)
    (it goes on like this)

    In summary: INTERNAL SERVER ERROR, WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN!?

  16. Re:**���'s in eyes moment** on I Believe You Have My Stapler · · Score: 2
    I wonder if Boston will make a red stapler... :]
    I believe you have my stapler? You see, we used to have swingline staplers but then we switched to Boston staplers but I prefer the Swingline staplers because they came up less and ... I'm going to blow up the building.
  17. Re:Sad thing is, on I Believe You Have My Stapler · · Score: 2
    I wondow how much HP paid for that product placement. My guess is: the same thing Swingline paid.

    Umm, Peter! Yeah. If you could go ahead and mod this up, that'd be great.

  18. Re:Your design process is the real disaster recipe on Software Engineering at Microsoft · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Apparently... to you... if it works... ship it!
    If I had a frag each time I heard a manager say something almost verbatium to that, I would be Quake champion of the universe. :) "If it works, ship it" is the creed of all of corporate America, not just with software. Remember that article a while ago on why software sucks? It's because programmers are rarely allowed to write software that doesn't suck. It's a mandate. Quality control is something us programmers have wanted for a long time, along with the occational chance to refactor, to document, and to test. Such luxeries are never offorded to us, but we always get the blame from the users when PHBs force each step of the development process prematurely forward, if not skip steps entirely.
  19. Code Review on Software Engineering at Microsoft · · Score: 2

    The problem with code review is that programmers have egos. Big ones. They just get arrogent and defensive, even if they're good programmers. I've worked with enough to figure this out, particularly about the ones who have been programming for a long time, but have always done shitty jobs.

  20. Donations vs. Ads on Would an Ad-Sponsored OS/Desktop Work for OSS? · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Indeed. Advertising and simply requesting donations are two very different things. It's pretty similar to the broadcast media:
    • Donation-supported media (public radio)
    • Begging-for-donation-supported media (public TV w/ pledge drives)
    • Sponsorship media (public radio, public TV)
    • Ad-based media (standard TV, radio)
    • Pay media (HBO)
    Note that I would almost put public TV in the ad-based media, but their ads do not interrupt content, so I didn't. I put that in sponsorship media, which isn't exactly the same. Sponsorship is more of a charity-based act, and although some new customers may notice the company through the sponsorship, it might not result in greater profits.

    More importantly, the Internet is now facing a reality that commercial TV and radio faced in the 1940s: Ads wear out. After a while we become numb to ads, and don't pay much attention. The more annoying and rude they get, the less attention we pay. The difference is that TV, radio, and porn sites seek ways to make ads more annoying, and companies like Google try to sell ads based on useful information and non-obstructive delivery.

  21. The great thing about Open Source software on Would an Ad-Sponsored OS/Desktop Work for OSS? · · Score: 2
    This is a great example of why Open Source Software is so great. YOU COULD JUST REMOVE THE ADS. It's like Mozilla vs. Netscape 6. Yeeesh.

    But, keep up the good work on finding ways to use technology to cram even more consumeristic crap down everyone's throats. We need more advertising in the world.

  22. Atleast, Spam for PHP users too on Freshly Created: comp.lang.php · · Score: 2

    Finally, PHP users can enjoy the benefits of usenet. Unmoderated trolls, spam, and email harvesting. Oh, and let's not forget the php vs perl vs iMac flame wars. Yeehaw!

  23. Nice to see slashdot cater to trolls on Spielberg Denied Crack at Star Wars · · Score: 1, Troll

    Speilberg. Lucas. Star Wars. It's nice to see that Slashdot has finally posted a story that makes 50% of the trolls out there .. actually *on topic* ... Wow.

  24. Re:...yes... on Web Designers Ignoring Standards and Support IE Only · · Score: 2

    It didn't crash for me, as this isn't a Mozilla bug. The site requires flash, which I am certainly not willing to install.

  25. Re:...yes... on Web Designers Ignoring Standards and Support IE Only · · Score: 2

    The WHOLE SITE is flash, pure flash. Which is, by every meaning of the word, not a standard. It is, infact, an anti-standard. Flash is the direct opposite of acceptable.