There seems to be a myth that money doesn't matter to the development of Linux. On the contrary, the distros actually do quite a bit of bug-fixing and programming. The less money they have, the less will be spent on it. More money and more revenues mean faster growth and more options. So, a loss of revenue is a bad thing for Linux.
Linux right now is in a growth phase. Regardless of the amount of revenue recieved, the number of computers running Linux has increased in the last year. Significant progress has been made on the desktop with KDE and Gnome. Programs such as OpenOffice and Mozilla have helped take up the application slack. Further, things like Code-Weaver and Ogg have helped advance the usability of Linux on the desktop and open source in general. It goes without saying that Linux has a significant server/high performance presence.
I think that there are less shrink-wrapped linux distros being purchased. It takes marketing money to put packages on retail shelves, and with the loss of funding most Linux providers don't want to do that. Caldera, Corel, and Red Hat all seem to have left the retail market. Still, I think more revenue is being generated by the overall Linux market than the story says.
There may be more money in Air than you think. Also, look at sales of Scuba gear. I imagine there was also sales to fire departments and ambulance units. It may well be that "sales of breathable air" were over $1 million, though I have no idea of knowing.
This doesn't include the other aspects of the air industry such as bicycle pumps and other assorted compressors. There seems to be a fair amount of industry dedicated to building products around using "breathable air" and packaging it so that it is more convenient or so it can be used where air is traditionally not available. Also, there are billions of dollars spent each year to detect air quality and see if it is "breathable," as well as filters to make air cleaner.
Now, it may seem like I am grasping at straws.
However, I think the example of air provides a rather interesting case of market economics. I see many similarities between the markets built around air and Linux. You don't make the money on linux, just like you don't make money on air. You make money cleaning it up, packaging it, but most of all, using it. How many buinesses would survive without using air? None. Hopefully, we can make the value proposition such that the same will be said of Linux.
So,if I were to skip part of a book, would I be in violation of the artists 'moral rights?" Are works of satire now to be considered in violation of these rights? Do you have to listen to every song on a CD instead of cutting and pasting to make a CDR you like? What about my "moral right" to create a CD mix I like? Get real. The artist got their money from the sale, and they can ask no more. The person put up their money to buy it, and now has the right to do whatever they want with it.
I find it hilarious that moral relatavists are supporting "moral rights." What a pile of crap. They do not live or believe in principles of morality, but go about protecting "moral rights" that have nothing to do with morality.
There are other ways of getting music. Unfortunately, they are not as convenient as internet radio. First, is direct exchange. My brother let me borrow some CD's. I made some "backup" copies for him on my computer. Today, I mailed him back his CD's along with ~5 CDs I burned of stuff I had. I hope he keeps my "off-site backups" safe.;-) I've also made back-up copies for freinds and even my mother-in-law.
A second source of music is your local library. Virtually every town of over 3000 people in the US has a library with a collection of CDs. Usually, there is a large selection of classical CDs, which are hard to find on the internet. Your taxes have purchased them, so make yourself some backup copies.
A third source of music is your local free performances. Your local university and high school will often have free recitals. Also, most major metropolitan areas have symphonies. Go ahead and check them out. Remember, if you have to pay for the performance, probably none of the money goes to the RIAA.
A fourth source is free internet archives of various sorts. This is most common classical and folk as opposed to pop. One site I'd recommend for folk is Roger McGuinn's Folk Den at http://www.ibiblio.org/jimmy/folkden/ . McGuinn posts a new song, freely downloadable, every month since November of 95. Also, he testified on behalf of file sharing during the Senate hearings.
While not a free source of income, a good thing to do is to contact your favorite independet artists. Tell them about the problems with webcasting, and the chances they have to be widely heard. Tell them to band together. Send them the adresses of your favorite webcasters. Get the word out that they can make deals with these stations. I promise to email some of my favorite indie artists, and I would encourage you to do the same.
Check out your local library. Right now I am listening to a Kenny G CD I checked out (probably not your idea of good music, but I like instrumentals for studying.) Last night I listened to a copy of Roger McGuinn's (Byrds lead) Folk Den collection I checked out. These are freely available songs, and he does a new one each month. Check it out at
http://www.ibiblio.org/jimmy/folkden/
Also, later on today I will listen to talented violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter on her Recital 2000 CD, once again checked out from the library. Remember, you pay for your local libraries, so use them. All that classical stuff you've been looking for? It's all there (except for some reason my Library doesn't have Dvorak's New World Symphony -- GRRR!) Since my taxes have paid for it, I have no problems making a back-up copy so I can use it when someone else has it checked out.
Indie artist websites are another option. I was looking around for a guy my brother had recommended yesterday. A search on Google turned up some testimony he gave before the Senate Judiciary Committee. I will share some interesting quotes from it:
So far, my music has been a sort of cottage industry. I paid for the CDs to be made, found people to distribute them, designed the covers, booked the concerts halls, took out ads in the paper. It's a lot of work, but I like doing it. Not only that,
but I think I understand my audience....
As a result of doing it on my own, I get about $7 for every CD that sells in a store. And about $10 per CD sold at concerts. In contrast, I've got a friend who is also a performer/songwriter who opted to sign with a local label. He recorded a CD that cost about $18,000 to make, which the label paid for. Now, when one of his CDs sells at a store or at a concert, he makes about $1. The rest of that $7-10 which I make on my CD sales goes to his label. On top of that, he has to pay back the $18,000 it cost to make the CD out of his $1-per-CD cut. In other words, he won't make a dime until he has sold 18,000 CDs. And then, he still won't own the CD, the label will. They maintain the copyright. It's kind of like paying off your mortgage, but then having the bank still own your house.
So I've stayed independent. That's not to say I'm anti-label. I'm not by any means. There's a lot a label could do to make my music available to more people. And if a fair deal came along, I might do it. I've just never seen a deal that would be fair to both parties.
See the full article at http://judiciary.senate.gov/oldsite/1092000_pb.htm
One final note. Sunday night I attended a concert by the "Tucson Pops Orchestra." Be sure to support the real musicians out there, such as your local orchestra. Quite frankly, live performances are just so much better than listening to CD's. I don't care what the specs are, it will just never be the same.
I find it funny that some are saying that Matrox is dead if this card doesn't work out. They should check out what Matrox is doing in the image processing/image capture markets. Matrox is doing quite well in industrial vision -- a business with hefty margins. While more competition would be nice, this card won't make or break Matrox. It will certainly shake up the industry, along with 3DLabs new card.
I think the professional graphics focus of Matrox shows in their products. They still make a variety of PCI cards that can be plugged in for multiple monitor support. I can certainly see the quality on my Mill 400 DH, and I apreciate it. My last card was a GF MX, so I'm looking forward to hooking up with Matrox again. If they can deliver, it will be a professional card. Look for it populating the Pixars of the world.
I think Verizon and Kazaa are just trying to mess with the RIAA. They are trying to turn the artists against the RIAA and the big labels, while getting publicity and encouraging a different political solution, all while making a buck themselves. I think it is a rather good strategy. It doesn't cost them much money, they get a bit of publicity, and put their enemy (RIAA) on their heels. Rosen's remark was somewhat accurate, though you could tell it was frustrating to her.
There is an interesting balance in the democratic process. We whine and complain about the DMCA, SSSCA, Sonny Bonno act, ect... We say how the big, bad corporations are running government. What is not often pointed out is that other big, bad corporations, and big bad unions, NGOs, government agencies, and even foriegn govenments also get their toes stepped on and have the power to do something about it. While the balance of power will not always fall on our side, sooner or later the balance will shift toward the middle.
Regardless of my support of his position, his reply was well crafted and very articulate. It wasn't the typical US 5-second soundbite, but a serious analysis of the issues. The entire world needs more men like him. Props to Dr. Nunez.
Way to go! It is vital to stand up to this. Agfa has already spent more on Lawyers than the defense ever will. I wish he would post email adresses to the law firm that emailed them. I would like to say some things to them.
:, it's the same reason there's no all-volunteer space program,
I'll go up there as a volunteer! Chance of a lifetime. Who wouldn't? Now, spending years making a spacecraft, my wife would want some pay!
I think Open Source is generally best used for either fundamental programming, or very targeting programming. Linux and a scientific calculation are examples of the extremes. Plug-ins, games, and more specialized software lend themselves more to closed source. However, if you are competing with MS, you probably won't make much of a profit anyway. Why not make it open source?
MS flaunted the law and their agreement with the DOJ. It is humorous to hear their whines. Why should the nation subsidize their business plan? It's their job to come up with a workable plan instead of whining about how their present one doesn't work. They had the chance to split the company and generate huge amounts of money, ala Standard Oil, while keeping the DOJ off its back. No sense in complaining now.
What also gets me is the spineless computer industry. Just about everyone went along with MS instead of looking for other solutions. As a result, all of them have gone out of business for the most part. Corel got on board too late. Instead of building a Java version of WordPerfect, they could have been promoting alternative platforms. Computing manufacturers could have joined together to reject the MS per-processor licensing. Novell and IBM could have subsidized DRDos or OS2 in similar ways to help them get market acceptance. MS has benefited hugely from the blunders of proprietary software developers.
Fortunately, we have another few days with BillG on the stand. This time, his PR flacks can't write his talks or moderate the questions. Regardless of the result of the trial, he will take a big hit through exposure.
The RIAA's attack on internet radio can backfire on them. It could open the door for many new independent acts. If the internet radio stations seek out the independent artists they have a good chance of staying on line. I am encouraging artists I know (my sister included) to record some songs and send them to internet radio stations.
Ultimately, artists need to look at the math. They don't even need to do the math as many websites have now done that for them. They need to create distribution mechanisms and contracts that give them more control. Instead of jumping for the big money early, they need to overcome the urge to sign everything away for a big advance.
The technology exists for them to be able to do that today. Thanks to PC's recording is a snap. You can purchase your own automated CD burners where you can create CD's more quickly and easily than using your PC. There are many software tools that allow you to tweak your sound on the PC. It seems to me that the rich musicians will be those who understand the technology of music and the math of finances. No amount of help can save those who do not take care of their balance book by signing with the big labels.
I don't buy the "lack of money is the root of all evil" bit some people seem to suggest. Is Bill Gates more moral becuase of his wealth?
Was Jesus or Buhda some how less moral due to their penury?
Now, people get desperate when they don't have food, and will do whatever it takes to get it. At the same time, despots and mafia have plenty of food, but still do desperate things to maintain their money and power. The 9/11 attackers were from wealthy families compared to me.
I think most of the problems are due to the greed and corruption of the people running the country. I had a roomate from Peru. He had a chance to visit the mansion of a financial consultant who had made millions. (incidentally, he and his wife had also adopted something like 9 kids and was one of the most generous people around) He said that his mansion paled in comparison to the houses of the customs officails in Peru that acquired their money through bribes.
It doesn't matter how much forign aid some contries are sent. The problems won't be solved until they get somewhat honest people running the government, and the checks and balances to keep the rouges at bay.
Tell me, have you ever tried to collaborate on a paper with equations in Microsoft Word? Any attempt at that, and you will quickly see that different versions of office are not compatible.
I find your comments on windoze being enterprise level to be very humorous. I just deleted thousands of viruses on three windoze computers we use here. I actually ended up wiping and re-installing on two machines. That sounds like real enterprise realibility to me. Tell me, do you remember to turn off your screensaver when you do a computation longer than 30 minutes? If you do, you would surely recognize the value of turning off the entire GUI and shutting down numerous systems as you can do on Linux, but can't on windoze.
I'm not a lawyer, but I don't see myself stealing when I share music. I purchased the music with my own hard-earned money. I spend the money on the CD burner and computer. I purchase the bandwidth and CDR's. I feel it is within my property rights to share information I have legally purchased. I see no constitutional rationale for govenment restraining me from sharing information for noncommercial or educational uses. If this doesn't fit into the RIAA's business model, that is their problem.
I have a neighbor that is part of a pop band. She blaims the low sales of her groups CD's on Napster. I asked her if they put any of their stuff on the internet, and she said they put some excerpts of ther stuff in MP3.com, but not the full stuff. She was really paranoid about people "stealing" their music. Meanwhile, it seems the only people they have sold their music to is relatives and neighbors. Gee, I wonder why!;-)
I know another guy who I consider a true musician. He is getting his Ph.D. in Saxaphone performance. He was supporting his wife and two daughters by teaching music and through an RA. All those whiney Lars Ulrich types should think about people like him. These people actually master their art, unlike Lars. Lars is not an artist, nor are 90% of common recording artist (such as my whiney neighbor). People who perform rap, grunge, rock, pop, ect... almost without exception have not put in the effort or have the talent to become artists. I also attend the "Concerts in the Park" by the local symphony. These people are artists as well. Some stupid granola with a guitar that they have been doodling on for a year, or some Britney Spears media creation are not artists. How can the RIAA be protecting artists rights when: 1. they don't employ any, and 2. they have stolen copyrights from the artists (according to the Napster case).
Finally, there is an important lesson to be learned from the SSSCA case. The draconian regulations supported by the RIAA would greatly hurt other big industries such as computers and consumer electronics. Similarly, Microsoft's monopoly hurt big corporations such as Sun, IBM, and Netscape. Chances are, if something hurts consumers, it hurts big business. Big business is going to fight for their side. So, it may be more important to write letters and try to influence IBM or Intel then your representative. Note to all fellow students out there that universities are large corporations as well. I have attempted to influence decisions by being on the site-license list-serv and writing letters to the editor. So far, not much has come of it. But maybe down the line something will.
Environmentalists have a huge problem: they have divorced themselves from science. As science no longer supports their outlandish claims, they attack legitimate inquiry with rhetoric and McCarthyism. I am disgusted to pick up Nature or Scientific American and see opinion and speculation not only reported as fact, but a political agenda advanced as doctrine. Environmental science has become a religion where the adherents worship government funding and restrictive legislation. Perhaps they will seek to ban overclocking next as it contributes to global warming.
You can see it on this board as well. Whereas such a posting would previously meet with considerable support, it is now closer to 50/50. As the environmental movement has turned to dogma instead of data, people are turned off.
It can be argued that environmentalists have hurt the environment. All the protesting of nuclear power has really backfired. Instead of encouraging hydropower (with the attending benefit of keeping plants watered), it has been strongly opposed. Money that could have been spent on legitimate cleaning and research has instead studied how much methane cows contribute. Certainly all the hot air environmentalists have spewed has contributed to global warming;-)
Finally, perhaps someone out there can resolve what has been termed the "deep environmentalist paradox. 1. Whatever is "natural" is good. 2. Whatever an animal does is "natural." 3. Man is an animal. 4. Therefore, whatever man does is "natural" and "good."
Look at how much money Disney has made off fairy tales. Peter Pan. Snow White. Beauty and the Beast. Further, they have used other royalty-free aspects All the music for both Fantasia's. All the copying from Star Wars and other movies that Toy Story did. While collecting and not paying is good business, it isn't good for consumers, and we shouldn't have to put up with it.
While Hammer will fly at 32 bit code, the 64 bit code will really differentiate the proccessor. Two-way clawhammer Beowulfs should be a huge business. But, the differentiation will really not show on Windows until (unless) they develop a x86-64 bit windows. I wouldn't count on them doing that until Intel comes out with their version of x86-64. (note that I didn't say if). There will be great pressure to recompile and reoptimize Open software to take advantage of the Hammer.
I think this is a wonderful advancement. I run Suse on an athlon now, and will run suse on a dual hammer in probably a year in a half (I can't afford to be bleeding edge). I can't find many optimizations for the Athlon in compilers and such. However, with the Hammer, the optimizations will be out there. Not only will the compilers have flags, but entire distributions will likely be built with re-compiled applications. That would be something I would pay more for.
First, there are some things that I have to agree with the Justice department. I thought the DOJ and States should definately get financial recompense from MS. I was very frustrated that was not part of the settlement. From the DOJ reply I can see how that would not be applicable to this case. I can also see how some of the other things can be interpreted as being tougher than the original agreement seemed. In that case, this document is invaluable as it insures that the inevitable MS legal mis-interpretation of the settlement will be harder to get away with. Like the "Federalist Papers" are used to clarify the intent of the constitution, this will be used by any anti-MS lawyer in future court cases.
Now, though, for the really good part. This isn't the end of it for Microsoft. While this case probably will not end with a monetary settlement, Be will certainly be able to extract a large amount. Also, MS will have to front some real cash in the other suit where they previously were simply trying to dump MS software. While this case was very narrow in scope (middleware), it established the fact that MS does have a monopoly. Further lawsuits can be brought against them. The real penalties will not be from this case. However, this case did determine that MS has a monopoly, and gave them a public relations nightmere. Other cases will do the real damage. Caldera settled for ~$150 mill. Be will be able to settle for much more.
Movie Companies should subsidize protections
on
SSSCA Hearing
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· Score: 1
Look, if the Movie Cartel is really serious about protecting their property, they should research the encryption and other technology. Then, they should subsidize computer manufacturers to have thier protections included. If they want to secure their content, they should pay the trillions of dollars it would take to secure all the networking and devices on the internet.
Also, has Disney ever paid the relatives of Mozart, Bach, ect... for using their music in fantasia? Have they dropped a cent for using such stories as "Peter Pan" or "Snow White"?
The Hammer has 8 32/64 bit shared registers, and 8 more 64 bit only registers. What if they had 8 32-bit registers and then 16 more 64 bit registers? This would provide more registers, and thus more speed. I imagine that it would be tougher to implement, but I think it would lay a better foundation. Anyone have any insights on this? Also, how do these registers differ from the ones added by the 3DNow/SSE instruction sets?
Also, I would imagine some 64 bit extentions have been added to the regular x86 instructions. For example, a 64 bit move instead of the typical 32 bit move, ect... Does anyone know whether there are any different instructions that make use of the 64 bits? Is there any way to link 32 bit data with a 32 bit instruction, ala Itanic?
What really will kick butt is the overall performance of the system with Hypertransport, the built in DDR controller, and the multiprocessing. I know I'm planning on building a 2-processor Clawhammer system at the end of 2003!
I think humanity has in many ways improved the environment. Whereas all of central California was once a desert, it now has fertile feilds and the biomass has grown exponentially. Same thing here in Arizona. While building roads make things hotter in the summer, they also warm things up in the winter. Many creatures take advantage of this.
Don't get me wrong, mankind has hurt the environment. But, in making the land habitable for humans, we have also made it habitable for a variety of creatures. I bet the biomass of the world has doubled in the last 100 years (at least).
What's more, humanity has the power to avoid another ice age. I think planetary engineering is a wonderful thing. I wish I could get to work on terraforming Mars, Venus, and the moon. Unfortuantely, that will be the work of some distant generation.
Slashdot Mirror
There seems to be a myth that money doesn't matter to the development of Linux. On the contrary, the distros actually do quite a bit of bug-fixing and programming. The less money they have, the less will be spent on it. More money and more revenues mean faster growth and more options. So, a loss of revenue is a bad thing for Linux.
Linux right now is in a growth phase. Regardless of the amount of revenue recieved, the number of computers running Linux has increased in the last year. Significant progress has been made on the desktop with KDE and Gnome. Programs such as OpenOffice and Mozilla have helped take up the application slack. Further, things like Code-Weaver and Ogg have helped advance the usability of Linux on the desktop and open source in general. It goes without saying that Linux has a significant server/high performance presence.
I think that there are less shrink-wrapped linux distros being purchased. It takes marketing money to put packages on retail shelves, and with the loss of funding most Linux providers don't want to do that. Caldera, Corel, and Red Hat all seem to have left the retail market. Still, I think more revenue is being generated by the overall Linux market than the story says.
There may be more money in Air than you think. Also, look at sales of Scuba gear. I imagine there was also sales to fire departments and ambulance units. It may well be that "sales of breathable air" were over $1 million, though I have no idea of knowing.
This doesn't include the other aspects of the air industry such as bicycle pumps and other assorted compressors. There seems to be a fair amount of industry dedicated to building products around using "breathable air" and packaging it so that it is more convenient or so it can be used where air is traditionally not available. Also, there are billions of dollars spent each year to detect air quality and see if it is "breathable," as well as filters to make air cleaner.
Now, it may seem like I am grasping at straws. However, I think the example of air provides a rather interesting case of market economics. I see many similarities between the markets built around air and Linux. You don't make the money on linux, just like you don't make money on air. You make money cleaning it up, packaging it, but most of all, using it. How many buinesses would survive without using air? None. Hopefully, we can make the value proposition such that the same will be said of Linux.
So,if I were to skip part of a book, would I be in violation of the artists 'moral rights?" Are works of satire now to be considered in violation of these rights? Do you have to listen to every song on a CD instead of cutting and pasting to make a CDR you like? What about my "moral right" to create a CD mix I like? Get real. The artist got their money from the sale, and they can ask no more. The person put up their money to buy it, and now has the right to do whatever they want with it.
I find it hilarious that moral relatavists are supporting "moral rights." What a pile of crap. They do not live or believe in principles of morality, but go about protecting "moral rights" that have nothing to do with morality.
A second source of music is your local library. Virtually every town of over 3000 people in the US has a library with a collection of CDs. Usually, there is a large selection of classical CDs, which are hard to find on the internet. Your taxes have purchased them, so make yourself some backup copies.
A third source of music is your local free performances. Your local university and high school will often have free recitals. Also, most major metropolitan areas have symphonies. Go ahead and check them out. Remember, if you have to pay for the performance, probably none of the money goes to the RIAA.
A fourth source is free internet archives of various sorts. This is most common classical and folk as opposed to pop. One site I'd recommend for folk is Roger McGuinn's Folk Den at http://www.ibiblio.org/jimmy/folkden/ . McGuinn posts a new song, freely downloadable, every month since November of 95. Also, he testified on behalf of file sharing during the Senate hearings.
While not a free source of income, a good thing to do is to contact your favorite independet artists. Tell them about the problems with webcasting, and the chances they have to be widely heard. Tell them to band together. Send them the adresses of your favorite webcasters. Get the word out that they can make deals with these stations. I promise to email some of my favorite indie artists, and I would encourage you to do the same.
Check out your local library. Right now I am listening to a Kenny G CD I checked out (probably not your idea of good music, but I like instrumentals for studying.) Last night I listened to a copy of Roger McGuinn's (Byrds lead) Folk Den collection I checked out. These are freely available songs, and he does a new one each month. Check it out at
http://www.ibiblio.org/jimmy/folkden/
Also, later on today I will listen to talented violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter on her Recital 2000 CD, once again checked out from the library. Remember, you pay for your local libraries, so use them. All that classical stuff you've been looking for? It's all there (except for some reason my Library doesn't have Dvorak's New World Symphony -- GRRR!) Since my taxes have paid for it, I have no problems making a back-up copy so I can use it when someone else has it checked out.
Indie artist websites are another option. I was looking around for a guy my brother had recommended yesterday. A search on Google turned up some testimony he gave before the Senate Judiciary Committee. I will share some interesting quotes from it:
See the full article at http://judiciary.senate.gov/oldsite/1092000_pb.ht
One final note. Sunday night I attended a concert by the "Tucson Pops Orchestra." Be sure to support the real musicians out there, such as your local orchestra. Quite frankly, live performances are just so much better than listening to CD's. I don't care what the specs are, it will just never be the same.
I think the professional graphics focus of Matrox shows in their products. They still make a variety of PCI cards that can be plugged in for multiple monitor support. I can certainly see the quality on my Mill 400 DH, and I apreciate it. My last card was a GF MX, so I'm looking forward to hooking up with Matrox again. If they can deliver, it will be a professional card. Look for it populating the Pixars of the world.
I think Verizon and Kazaa are just trying to mess with the RIAA. They are trying to turn the artists against the RIAA and the big labels, while getting publicity and encouraging a different political solution, all while making a buck themselves. I think it is a rather good strategy. It doesn't cost them much money, they get a bit of publicity, and put their enemy (RIAA) on their heels. Rosen's remark was somewhat accurate, though you could tell it was frustrating to her.
There is an interesting balance in the democratic process. We whine and complain about the DMCA, SSSCA, Sonny Bonno act, ect... We say how the big, bad corporations are running government. What is not often pointed out is that other big, bad corporations, and big bad unions, NGOs, government agencies, and even foriegn govenments also get their toes stepped on and have the power to do something about it. While the balance of power will not always fall on our side, sooner or later the balance will shift toward the middle.
Regardless of my support of his position, his reply was well crafted and very articulate. It wasn't the typical US 5-second soundbite, but a serious analysis of the issues. The entire world needs more men like him. Props to Dr. Nunez.
Way to go! It is vital to stand up to this. Agfa has already spent more on Lawyers than the defense ever will. I wish he would post email adresses to the law firm that emailed them. I would like to say some things to them.
I'll go up there as a volunteer! Chance of a lifetime. Who wouldn't? Now, spending years making a spacecraft, my wife would want some pay!
I think Open Source is generally best used for either fundamental programming, or very targeting programming. Linux and a scientific calculation are examples of the extremes. Plug-ins, games, and more specialized software lend themselves more to closed source. However, if you are competing with MS, you probably won't make much of a profit anyway. Why not make it open source?
What also gets me is the spineless computer industry. Just about everyone went along with MS instead of looking for other solutions. As a result, all of them have gone out of business for the most part. Corel got on board too late. Instead of building a Java version of WordPerfect, they could have been promoting alternative platforms. Computing manufacturers could have joined together to reject the MS per-processor licensing. Novell and IBM could have subsidized DRDos or OS2 in similar ways to help them get market acceptance. MS has benefited hugely from the blunders of proprietary software developers.
Fortunately, we have another few days with BillG on the stand. This time, his PR flacks can't write his talks or moderate the questions. Regardless of the result of the trial, he will take a big hit through exposure.
The RIAA's attack on internet radio can backfire on them. It could open the door for many new independent acts. If the internet radio stations seek out the independent artists they have a good chance of staying on line. I am encouraging artists I know (my sister included) to record some songs and send them to internet radio stations.
Ultimately, artists need to look at the math. They don't even need to do the math as many websites have now done that for them. They need to create distribution mechanisms and contracts that give them more control. Instead of jumping for the big money early, they need to overcome the urge to sign everything away for a big advance.
The technology exists for them to be able to do that today. Thanks to PC's recording is a snap. You can purchase your own automated CD burners where you can create CD's more quickly and easily than using your PC. There are many software tools that allow you to tweak your sound on the PC. It seems to me that the rich musicians will be those who understand the technology of music and the math of finances. No amount of help can save those who do not take care of their balance book by signing with the big labels.
I don't buy the "lack of money is the root of all evil" bit some people seem to suggest. Is Bill Gates more moral becuase of his wealth? Was Jesus or Buhda some how less moral due to their penury? Now, people get desperate when they don't have food, and will do whatever it takes to get it. At the same time, despots and mafia have plenty of food, but still do desperate things to maintain their money and power. The 9/11 attackers were from wealthy families compared to me. I think most of the problems are due to the greed and corruption of the people running the country. I had a roomate from Peru. He had a chance to visit the mansion of a financial consultant who had made millions. (incidentally, he and his wife had also adopted something like 9 kids and was one of the most generous people around) He said that his mansion paled in comparison to the houses of the customs officails in Peru that acquired their money through bribes. It doesn't matter how much forign aid some contries are sent. The problems won't be solved until they get somewhat honest people running the government, and the checks and balances to keep the rouges at bay.
Tell me, have you ever tried to collaborate on a paper with equations in Microsoft Word? Any attempt at that, and you will quickly see that different versions of office are not compatible.
I find your comments on windoze being enterprise level to be very humorous. I just deleted thousands of viruses on three windoze computers we use here. I actually ended up wiping and re-installing on two machines. That sounds like real enterprise realibility to me. Tell me, do you remember to turn off your screensaver when you do a computation longer than 30 minutes? If you do, you would surely recognize the value of turning off the entire GUI and shutting down numerous systems as you can do on Linux, but can't on windoze.
I'm not a lawyer, but I don't see myself stealing when I share music. I purchased the music with my own hard-earned money. I spend the money on the CD burner and computer. I purchase the bandwidth and CDR's. I feel it is within my property rights to share information I have legally purchased. I see no constitutional rationale for govenment restraining me from sharing information for noncommercial or educational uses. If this doesn't fit into the RIAA's business model, that is their problem.
I have a neighbor that is part of a pop band. She blaims the low sales of her groups CD's on Napster. I asked her if they put any of their stuff on the internet, and she said they put some excerpts of ther stuff in MP3.com, but not the full stuff. She was really paranoid about people "stealing" their music. Meanwhile, it seems the only people they have sold their music to is relatives and neighbors. Gee, I wonder why!;-)
I know another guy who I consider a true musician. He is getting his Ph.D. in Saxaphone performance. He was supporting his wife and two daughters by teaching music and through an RA. All those whiney Lars Ulrich types should think about people like him. These people actually master their art, unlike Lars. Lars is not an artist, nor are 90% of common recording artist (such as my whiney neighbor). People who perform rap, grunge, rock, pop, ect... almost without exception have not put in the effort or have the talent to become artists. I also attend the "Concerts in the Park" by the local symphony. These people are artists as well. Some stupid granola with a guitar that they have been doodling on for a year, or some Britney Spears media creation are not artists. How can the RIAA be protecting artists rights when: 1. they don't employ any, and 2. they have stolen copyrights from the artists (according to the Napster case).
Finally, there is an important lesson to be learned from the SSSCA case. The draconian regulations supported by the RIAA would greatly hurt other big industries such as computers and consumer electronics. Similarly, Microsoft's monopoly hurt big corporations such as Sun, IBM, and Netscape. Chances are, if something hurts consumers, it hurts big business. Big business is going to fight for their side. So, it may be more important to write letters and try to influence IBM or Intel then your representative. Note to all fellow students out there that universities are large corporations as well. I have attempted to influence decisions by being on the site-license list-serv and writing letters to the editor. So far, not much has come of it. But maybe down the line something will.
Environmentalists have a huge problem: they have divorced themselves from science. As science no longer supports their outlandish claims, they attack legitimate inquiry with rhetoric and McCarthyism. I am disgusted to pick up Nature or Scientific American and see opinion and speculation not only reported as fact, but a political agenda advanced as doctrine. Environmental science has become a religion where the adherents worship government funding and restrictive legislation. Perhaps they will seek to ban overclocking next as it contributes to global warming.
You can see it on this board as well. Whereas such a posting would previously meet with considerable support, it is now closer to 50/50. As the environmental movement has turned to dogma instead of data, people are turned off.
It can be argued that environmentalists have hurt the environment. All the protesting of nuclear power has really backfired. Instead of encouraging hydropower (with the attending benefit of keeping plants watered), it has been strongly opposed. Money that could have been spent on legitimate cleaning and research has instead studied how much methane cows contribute. Certainly all the hot air environmentalists have spewed has contributed to global warming ;-)
Finally, perhaps someone out there can resolve what has been termed the "deep environmentalist paradox. 1. Whatever is "natural" is good. 2. Whatever an animal does is "natural." 3. Man is an animal. 4. Therefore, whatever man does is "natural" and "good."
Look at how much money Disney has made off fairy tales. Peter Pan. Snow White. Beauty and the Beast. Further, they have used other royalty-free aspects All the music for both Fantasia's. All the copying from Star Wars and other movies that Toy Story did. While collecting and not paying is good business, it isn't good for consumers, and we shouldn't have to put up with it.
While Hammer will fly at 32 bit code, the 64 bit code will really differentiate the proccessor. Two-way clawhammer Beowulfs should be a huge business. But, the differentiation will really not show on Windows until (unless) they develop a x86-64 bit windows. I wouldn't count on them doing that until Intel comes out with their version of x86-64. (note that I didn't say if). There will be great pressure to recompile and reoptimize Open software to take advantage of the Hammer.
I think this is a wonderful advancement. I run Suse on an athlon now, and will run suse on a dual hammer in probably a year in a half (I can't afford to be bleeding edge). I can't find many optimizations for the Athlon in compilers and such. However, with the Hammer, the optimizations will be out there. Not only will the compilers have flags, but entire distributions will likely be built with re-compiled applications. That would be something I would pay more for.
First, there are some things that I have to agree with the Justice department. I thought the DOJ and States should definately get financial recompense from MS. I was very frustrated that was not part of the settlement. From the DOJ reply I can see how that would not be applicable to this case. I can also see how some of the other things can be interpreted as being tougher than the original agreement seemed. In that case, this document is invaluable as it insures that the inevitable MS legal mis-interpretation of the settlement will be harder to get away with. Like the "Federalist Papers" are used to clarify the intent of the constitution, this will be used by any anti-MS lawyer in future court cases.
Now, though, for the really good part. This isn't the end of it for Microsoft. While this case probably will not end with a monetary settlement, Be will certainly be able to extract a large amount. Also, MS will have to front some real cash in the other suit where they previously were simply trying to dump MS software. While this case was very narrow in scope (middleware), it established the fact that MS does have a monopoly. Further lawsuits can be brought against them. The real penalties will not be from this case. However, this case did determine that MS has a monopoly, and gave them a public relations nightmere. Other cases will do the real damage. Caldera settled for ~$150 mill. Be will be able to settle for much more.
Look, if the Movie Cartel is really serious about protecting their property, they should research the encryption and other technology. Then, they should subsidize computer manufacturers to have thier protections included. If they want to secure their content, they should pay the trillions of dollars it would take to secure all the networking and devices on the internet. Also, has Disney ever paid the relatives of Mozart, Bach, ect... for using their music in fantasia? Have they dropped a cent for using such stories as "Peter Pan" or "Snow White"?
The Hammer has 8 32/64 bit shared registers, and 8 more 64 bit only registers. What if they had 8 32-bit registers and then 16 more 64 bit registers? This would provide more registers, and thus more speed. I imagine that it would be tougher to implement, but I think it would lay a better foundation. Anyone have any insights on this? Also, how do these registers differ from the ones added by the 3DNow/SSE instruction sets?
Also, I would imagine some 64 bit extentions have been added to the regular x86 instructions. For example, a 64 bit move instead of the typical 32 bit move, ect... Does anyone know whether there are any different instructions that make use of the 64 bits? Is there any way to link 32 bit data with a 32 bit instruction, ala Itanic?
What really will kick butt is the overall performance of the system with Hypertransport, the built in DDR controller, and the multiprocessing. I know I'm planning on building a 2-processor Clawhammer system at the end of 2003!
I think humanity has in many ways improved the environment. Whereas all of central California was once a desert, it now has fertile feilds and the biomass has grown exponentially. Same thing here in Arizona. While building roads make things hotter in the summer, they also warm things up in the winter. Many creatures take advantage of this.
Don't get me wrong, mankind has hurt the environment. But, in making the land habitable for humans, we have also made it habitable for a variety of creatures. I bet the biomass of the world has doubled in the last 100 years (at least).
What's more, humanity has the power to avoid another ice age. I think planetary engineering is a wonderful thing. I wish I could get to work on terraforming Mars, Venus, and the moon. Unfortuantely, that will be the work of some distant generation.