This WIRED story says the APEX AD-600A DVD/cd/mp3 player (as well as at least 13 other DVD players) is also 'guilty' of the same thing. I don't understand the distinction between decrypting the disc and just playing it back, unless there is some sort of copy-protection watermark included in the playback, as with VHS tape that inserts annoying lines over the picture if you try to do a tape-to-tape copy.
However, with the VHS copy-protection scheme there are plenty of legal 'clarifying' devices that strip off these lines. These can only be sold for home use (yeah right, wink wink). If these are legal, then how can DeCSS or the APEX player be illegal, as long as they are not used for commercial copying?
The only theory I have is that the Digital Copyright Protection Act applies a new, tougher standard for digital works than apllies to analog works. If this is the case, then does a different standard apply for making a VHS-to-VHS copy of
Toy Story
(a digital work) than a VHS-to-VHS copy of say
Gone with the Wind
?
A final thought, I used to live in Philadelphia where bootleg videos (mostly of current release films) were sold openly on the street and even in some stores. As a result, this DeCSS mess unfortunately has me using the same line as the gun lobby: What we need is better enforcement of existing laws, not new laws.
If they wanted 100% Microsoft Office compatibility, they'd never release.
Also remember that Office 97 wasn't even downwardly compatible with Office 95. If MS's own people can't ensure compatibility, then how are competitors with no access to secret APIs? Also, the fact that Office 97 could actually increase its market share given its compatibility issues, indicates that it is not a show stopper (at least if you have the power to leverage near-monopoly market share of desktop OS's).
How does the size of this suite compare to Office 2000?
MSO2K Standard requires just 189 Mb, but the full install of MSO2K Premium needs 526 Mb
The article still manages to sneak in a little pro M$ FUD by implying that even the full version of WordPerfect Office for Linux won't be able to compete with MS Office in terms of features. I don't have a copy of the WPO2K beta so maybe he's right, but I sincerely doubt it.
"End-user applications, Unix desktops' traditional bugaboo, are becoming less of an issue. ApplixWare, Star Office and (soon) Corel's own WordPerfect Office Suite are not as feature-laden as Lotus or Microsoft's Office suites."
Unless someone comes out with a virus that uses desktop applications as their means of spreading, I doubt their will be an epidemic on the scale of DOS/Win viruses. Most people new to Linux already practice safe computing and know not to share disks, or download from unsecure sites.
I know I only install from CD-ROM or from RPMs available directly from RedHat.
There are no discussions about a specific project such as
the one described in the Globe and Mail,'' said Intel spokesman Adam Grossberg. He said Intel talks with many software companies about making sure their products work well on computers that feature Intel chips.
Actually, there was an excellent NPR Morning Edition story several weeks ago about one of these projects (Grameen was referenced, though I don't know if it actually funded it). The project discussed was setting up local email providers in remote 3rd world villages so residents could contact their families members who had taken jobs working abroad. They explained how they could send an email for less than the cost of a one minute phone call, and that it had become the main communication method used by these seperated families.
It makes sense, since email is fast, reliable, and you don't have to coordinate when the other party will be available. Most of the family members working abroad were themselves working in developing countries where phone service was unreliable and/or expensive.
I know friends that need to make trips to Africa for work, and their main connection with the US while there is via email.
HCC/CorelHardware changed its name to REBEL.com and still sells the Netwinder, but it is marketed as a server and is too expensive to compete in the sub-$400 pc market.
Regarding the merger not being adjusted, this is a response to the flack caused by an Inprise Board Director resigning in protest over the merger as he didn't thing the price was fair. Corel announced the merger would go through at the original price. See yesterday's post for more info. Of course, the board memeber is maybe a little less upset now, since this news has boosted Corel's stock price by 20% (and will likely at least double when an actual PC maker, a browser company and an ISP are identified).
The article states that he owns 3,005,440 shares of Inprise and if Corel's previous acquisition record is to be applied here then those shares could be worth very little in a year or two.
Like for example Graphon, that Corel swapped its jbridge technology for a 20% stake when the company was worth $5.50/share and today (about a year later) it is likely to hit $30/share. I don't think he will be complaining if Corel gets him a 400+% return on his investment. (full disclosure: I am a very happy Corel and Graphon shareholder)
Exactly how I read it too. His line about this whole plan he just submitted and his future vision for the company, make it sound like he wants to be the CEO. Maybe he was already upset that he wasn't the goto guy when Yocum left in the first place, and this was just the proverbial straw.
Actually Linus has said that had he been aware of open source x86 BSD efforts he might never have tried to create Linux.
On the other hand, I agree with your main point. I think Darwin on x86 is a worthy effort. It might one day lead to OS-X on x86 which certainly would be the final nail in M$'s coffin.
Old News, look at my 'Frig door
on
Moldable Magnets
·
· Score: 5
What's the big deal? I've got a whole collection of molded magnets on my refrigerator door. I've got them in the shape of plumbers vans, pizzas, even mickey mouse.
"At $44.99 per month, the new 'Unlimited Access Pricing Plan' provides customers access to Internet content and e-mail as frequently as they want for a single, low fixed price throughout the Palm.Net network of 260 metropolitan areas across the USA.
Since you appear to be reviewing the pre-release versions of the first two programs, then wouldn't the beta release of WP Office 2000 be a fairer comparison than the (relatively) long established WordPerfect 8 standalone product?
Otherwise, I think the qualifications you ahve added to the reviews of the beta versions of KWord and ApplixWords, will make the usefulness of any overall conclusions limited.
The only way I can see a 1 Ghz machine coming out next year at that price point is if it requires you to sign-up with a specific Internet provider.
If that is valued currently at $400 for 3 years, then they real cost of the box is $550, which I can believe. Hopefully it will be broadband access at no more than $22/month by that point.
Potentially the most worrisome (at least to the general public), but least covered in the press of the recent cracker attacks against major websites, early Sunday crackers managed to replace the main page of www.rsa.com with their own message.
I think the vast majority of these would be located somewhere on the CultureNet continent, with a few here and there that are more focused on Xnet or Buy.net (it seems a lot of the personal pages are just used to upload pictures of whatever you are selling on eBay).
The exception might be personal pages for college students which have been around since the beginnning of the web (Yahoo started this way). These can be devoted to just about anything, with good percentage of them related to the students studies/major which I don't see as a real part of the Culture.
The oceans are the areas of the non-net world that have not yet been strongly established on the net.
Some of these are quickly evolving, for example NGO's are somewhat represented by charity sites like The Hunger Site.
Others may never be represented well simply because technology is against the inherent nature of the offline structure, for example, the Amish. (Though maybe this example is just a lake on the GodNet continent?)
Presumably there are, or will be, fallen continents as part of the oceans. One example I can think of is the NCSA Announcement page, which from the time the web had roughly www servers, until it had about 4000, was probably one of the the most visited websites. It then slowly faded into oblivion, largely replaced by Yahoo, and search engines.
I had always thought the depiction of Bill Gates as Borg was humorous parody, but seeing the 20% response of those who plan to buy Win2k bugs and all has convinced me it's not parody.
Obviously there is a significant number of people that are compelled to lap up whatever MS spews out. I had thought the failure of MS Bob was an indication that the public was starting to change its thinking, but it's clear this isn't yet complete.
Maybe someone could forward this on to the DoJ Anti-trust division for use in the trial.
what products does Corel offer? . . . a Word processor/Business suite [and a] OS package for the end user. The last piece of the puzzle is development languages/Data Base system.
Everyone in the press and here keep talking about the developer tools as the big addition to Corel's inventory, but I think it really the ASP Server software and InterBase database backend that are the real future. The developer tools combined with COREL's WINE enhancement will be a big benefit to the Linux community, but from a business standpoint, the one-two punch of client OS/Office Suite + Server OS/database backend is the real money maker. Add-in the benefits of Corel's relationship with ASP client developer GOJO, and Inprise Application Server, and you're talking a great business model.
Slashdot Mirror
However, with the VHS copy-protection scheme there are plenty of legal 'clarifying' devices that strip off these lines. These can only be sold for home use (yeah right, wink wink). If these are legal, then how can DeCSS or the APEX player be illegal, as long as they are not used for commercial copying?
The only theory I have is that the Digital Copyright Protection Act applies a new, tougher standard for digital works than apllies to analog works. If this is the case, then does a different standard apply for making a VHS-to-VHS copy of
- Toy Story
(a digital work) than a VHS-to-VHS copy of say- Gone with the Wind
?A final thought, I used to live in Philadelphia where bootleg videos (mostly of current release films) were sold openly on the street and even in some stores. As a result, this DeCSS mess unfortunately has me using the same line as the gun lobby: What we need is better enforcement of existing laws, not new laws.
Actually, it was just an early entry in the Obfuscated DeCSS Contest.
Also remember that Office 97 wasn't even downwardly compatible with Office 95. If MS's own people can't ensure compatibility, then how are competitors with no access to secret APIs? Also, the fact that Office 97 could actually increase its market share given its compatibility issues, indicates that it is not a show stopper (at least if you have the power to leverage near-monopoly market share of desktop OS's).
How does the size of this suite compare to Office 2000?
MSO2K Standard requires just 189 Mb, but the full install of MSO2K Premium needs 526 Mb
They aren't shipping the Beta!
Obviously, the fact they're shipping indicatates they have resolved all (within reason) the bugs identified in the beta releases.
Unless someone comes out with a virus that uses desktop applications as their means of spreading, I doubt their will be an epidemic on the scale of DOS/Win viruses. Most people new to Linux already practice safe computing and know not to share disks, or download from unsecure sites.
I know I only install from CD-ROM or from RPMs available directly from RedHat.
Actually, there was an excellent NPR Morning Edition story several weeks ago about one of these projects (Grameen was referenced, though I don't know if it actually funded it). The project discussed was setting up local email providers in remote 3rd world villages so residents could contact their families members who had taken jobs working abroad. They explained how they could send an email for less than the cost of a one minute phone call, and that it had become the main communication method used by these seperated families.
It makes sense, since email is fast, reliable, and you don't have to coordinate when the other party will be available. Most of the family members working abroad were themselves working in developing countries where phone service was unreliable and/or expensive.
I know friends that need to make trips to Africa for work, and their main connection with the US while there is via email.
HCC/CorelHardware changed its name to REBEL.com and still sells the Netwinder, but it is marketed as a server and is too expensive to compete in the sub-$400 pc market.
Regarding the merger not being adjusted, this is a response to the flack caused by an Inprise Board Director resigning in protest over the merger as he didn't thing the price was fair. Corel announced the merger would go through at the original price. See yesterday's post for more info. Of course, the board memeber is maybe a little less upset now, since this news has boosted Corel's stock price by 20% (and will likely at least double when an actual PC maker, a browser company and an ISP are identified).
The article states that he owns 3,005,440 shares of Inprise and if Corel's previous acquisition record is to be applied here then those shares could be worth very little in a year or two.
Like for example Graphon, that Corel swapped its jbridge technology for a 20% stake when the company was worth $5.50/share and today (about a year later) it is likely to hit $30/share. I don't think he will be complaining if Corel gets him a 400+% return on his investment. (full disclosure: I am a very happy Corel and Graphon shareholder)
Exactly how I read it too. His line about this whole plan he just submitted and his future vision for the company, make it sound like he wants to be the CEO. Maybe he was already upset that he wasn't the goto guy when Yocum left in the first place, and this was just the proverbial straw.
Actually Linus has said that had he been aware of open source x86 BSD efforts he might never have tried to create Linux.
On the other hand, I agree with your main point. I think Darwin on x86 is a worthy effort. It might one day lead to OS-X on x86 which certainly would be the final nail in M$'s coffin.
Does that make Verisign a greedy octopus-like corporation?
Here's the c|net story on the Verisign/NSI deal.
What's the big deal? I've got a whole collection of molded magnets on my refrigerator door. I've got them in the shape of plumbers vans, pizzas, even mickey mouse.
Here's a link to their press release.
"At $44.99 per month, the new 'Unlimited Access Pricing Plan' provides customers access to Internet content and e-mail as frequently as they want for a single, low fixed price throughout the Palm.Net network of 260 metropolitan areas across the USA.
Since you appear to be reviewing the pre-release versions of the first two programs, then wouldn't the beta release of WP Office 2000 be a fairer comparison than the (relatively) long established WordPerfect 8 standalone product?
Otherwise, I think the qualifications you ahve added to the reviews of the beta versions of KWord and ApplixWords, will make the usefulness of any overall conclusions limited.
The only way I can see a 1 Ghz machine coming out next year at that price point is if it requires you to sign-up with a specific Internet provider.
If that is valued currently at $400 for 3 years, then they real cost of the box is $550, which I can believe. Hopefully it will be broadband access at no more than $22/month by that point.
Potentially the most worrisome (at least to the general public), but least covered in the press of the recent cracker attacks against major websites, early Sunday crackers managed to replace the main page of www.rsa.com with their own message.
Here is the Newsbytes story.
I think the vast majority of these would be located somewhere on the CultureNet continent, with a few here and there that are more focused on Xnet or Buy.net (it seems a lot of the personal pages are just used to upload pictures of whatever you are selling on eBay).
The exception might be personal pages for college students which have been around since the beginnning of the web (Yahoo started this way). These can be devoted to just about anything, with good percentage of them related to the students studies/major which I don't see as a real part of the Culture.
The oceans are the areas of the non-net world that have not yet been strongly established on the net.
Some of these are quickly evolving, for example NGO's are somewhat represented by charity sites like The Hunger Site.
Others may never be represented well simply because technology is against the inherent nature of the offline structure, for example, the Amish. (Though maybe this example is just a lake on the GodNet continent?)
Presumably there are, or will be, fallen continents as part of the oceans. One example I can think of is the NCSA Announcement page, which from the time the web had roughly www servers, until it had about 4000, was probably one of the the most visited websites. It then slowly faded into oblivion, largely replaced by Yahoo, and search engines.
I had always thought the depiction of Bill Gates as Borg was humorous parody, but seeing the 20% response of those who plan to buy Win2k bugs and all has convinced me it's not parody.
Obviously there is a significant number of people that are compelled to lap up whatever MS spews out. I had thought the failure of MS Bob was an indication that the public was starting to change its thinking, but it's clear this isn't yet complete.
Maybe someone could forward this on to the DoJ Anti-trust division for use in the trial.
Soylent Green is Penguins!
IT'S PENGUINS!
what products does Corel offer? . . . a Word processor/Business suite [and a] OS package for the end user. The last piece of the puzzle is development languages/Data Base system.
Everyone in the press and here keep talking about the developer tools as the big addition to Corel's inventory, but I think it really the ASP Server software and InterBase database backend that are the real future. The developer tools combined with COREL's WINE enhancement will be a big benefit to the Linux community, but from a business standpoint, the one-two punch of client OS/Office Suite + Server OS/database backend is the real money maker. Add-in the benefits of Corel's relationship with ASP client developer GOJO, and Inprise Application Server, and you're talking a great business model.
COREL is buying Inprise for less than its recent high prices, but the prices still includes a significant recent added "Linux premium"
Prior to October, Inprise had been trading in the $4 - $6 range for over a year.
As a result, some investors may feel Inprise got the better end of the deal.