I understand Revision3's argument, and I believe MediaDefender should be severely penalized for their activity.
However, I really wish Revision3 would stop making dumb arguments like "What if this was an airport distributing approaches via Bittorrent?" I mean, come on. That's the most ridiculous argument in the world. I do some work for a major Boston airport that rhymes with "Hogan." Their security and operations network is not connected to the Internet. They use an extremely secure, port-based 802.x certificate-based system that not only requires the right MAC and certificates to connect to your designated port, it also firewalls each port to just the bare necessities. Many Airports across the country are, or will soon, take the same approach. Never will there be an Internet connected, torrent based system for any sort of critical data.
It makes their argument sound alarmist, and is bound to turn some people away.
Hey Retard. If numbers of consoles sold was the ONLY factor in whether or not to develop games for a system, then by your rational:
"I don't really think Capcom is stupid enough to ignore the PS2. The potential market is huge, so if they aren't getting paid to ignore it, they're just throwing away cash. I think Capcom is like a lot of entrenched video game companies. They were not counting on the PS2 to be such a huge success and are still in the process of trying to reverse course and capitalize upon it with games for that interface and for the huge casual gaming market it has potentially opened up."
Sony has sold over 120 million PS2's. So that means nobody should ever create games for anything else because that would be stupid, right?
Why do you believe that there's something superior about the Wii controller? You assume it's the next logical step in game controllers, and I disagree.
It's different. It suits a number of game types. Not all of them, though.
When I come home from work and run my errands, I don't want to stand in front of the TV and wave my arms all over the place. I play video games to relax, and the game-pad style controller is very well suited for almost any game. If you didn't notice, you have a bunch of things on your hand called fingers. I like to use them to play games by pushing buttons.
Hey, wave your arms around all you want. I'm going to sit down with a beer and play some more GTA4.
Well, thank goodness. I like the nifty new graphics on the 360 and PS3, and I'm glad that some developers are releasing games for the more powerful systems in spite of the fact that there's this other game machine out there that outsold the others (because it was cheap.)
I hate having to deal with lowest-common-denominator crap.
I dunno. I've had good success using Excel to process csv files when I didn't want to write a winbatch script or something.
I've seen the behavior you're describing in other situations but I guess it depends on what you're doing and how you import the data.
Excel 2007 saved my ass a few times when I had to reformat an 800,000 row CSV for importing into a SQL table. All previous versions and other spreadsheet apps have a 64K limit still.
You can try to weasel out of your comment all you want, but it was obviously meant to be a troll. There was no hidden meaning - it was just you trolling.
You indeed HAVE mis-characterized the GPL. You said "you're free to do as we tell you." No. You can do whatever the hell you want with the application, code, whatever.
The only stipulation is that you must include any code changes if you distribute modified GPL software.
Why that's so difficult for some people to understand is beyond me.
There's been documented cases of people losing their homes to the Chinese government because these homes might not have been as pretty as their government officials wanted them to be.
In one case, a string of apartment-type buildings were set to be demolished to be replaced by expensive homes the the people living there could not afford it. They didn't want to go. So, they were kicked out, and several jailed (when they protested.) The others were compensated with basically nothing. And this was not a special case; it happens all too often.
In the US, they can seize land but they generally only do it for something like environmental reason; contamination in the soil - stuff like that. Generally speaking, if the city/state/feds want your land, they can buy it from you. There's been very few cases where land was forcibly removed, and in all cases people are compensated at least as good as market conditions; usually much better.
Don't try to say "free market will never get anything done." First off, free market doesn't run local civil services. Local government does. And they do a fairly good job. Second, "free market" has done awfully well in the "free world." Quality of life in the US, Europe, etc is generally pretty high.
Don't confuse high speed internet adoption rates in the US with the roads or electrical infrastructure. One is free market, the others are not.
I'm not sure why some people here on Slashdot seem to be against freedom, free markets, and the general idea of personal choice. Seems like a no brainer to me.
Don't kid yourself, pal. Saying that the Chinese, unelected, ruthless, communist government is "better" than the US government because of a bad few years of an administration makes you sound like a dipshit.
We can still yell out against our government and not fear prison or death, as well as the thousands of other rights that we have and you take for granted.
I don't disagree with everything you mention, but there's some problems.
It's known up front that you're not supposed to decompile some software and sell it or resell it or whatever.
That doesn't prevent me from creating the same software on my own, however. I could write the code, give it away for free, and nobody could say shit. (Isn't that what a lot of OSS is?)
It's a law that I'm not allowed to break. It's no an unspoken law. If I copy some software and distribute it, there's a limit to the punishment. I won't be killed on a firing squad for it.
In China, with the media, the government decides what I can see. I CANNOT re-create it on my own. I CAN be shot for it.
There's a reason people "China bash." It's because the people are repressed by a ruthless government. It's not just *different* than "western" governments. It's not as good.
I believe that maybe China will move out of the dark age at some point but there's going to be a lot of kicking and screaming before that happens.
Ohh and one last thing. It's pretty easy to say "Chinaz are growings faster!!" - but it's not hard to imagine going from SHIT -> MUD is an easier task than growing at the same percentages with an economy that's already pretty strong.
Percentages don't mean dick. How are the people living? Mostly in shit holes? Yea. Percentages mean nothing.
Ohh, and I should mention that the REASON China's economy is growing AT ALL is because they are allowing more personal freedom. AKA they're trying to act more like a "Western" government for business and personal possession.
I don't disagree with IP rights. While I prefer the Open Source method for things like software code and I think patents of code should be banned, I don't feel as though by having laws protecting copywrite it's a violation of "free speech" or freedom on the Internet in any way what-so-ever.
I don't see where you're making the connection of "freedom of information" and "Freedom to violate copywright." They aren't the same at all.
Do you know how many civil rights violations that happen in China every day? Do you know how many people have been forced out of their homes because the government wanted a new office complex? Do you know how many people are shuttled away to prison (or to their deaths) for saying the wrong thing in public, or for a petty crime?
The Chinese can trust their government to do one thing: Fuck it's citizens.
Huge populations of Chinese live in poverty. No chance for reparation either - because they don't vote, they have no say in their government..
Don't even say "works for the vast majority" of the Chinese. It fucking doesn't. Just because a few protesters were out there doesn't mean the Chinese love their system.
The problem is, too many of them know no different, and the Government makes sure it stays that way.
Just because something is different doesn't mean I have to accept it. "Western" governments are BETTER, and I have no problem saying that.
Ohh, don't get me wrong, I agree with your point about Linux. It actually IS easier to learn a lot about Linux and it's usually very easy to find answers to questions with a simple google search.
The registry isn't quite as complicated as it seems, though. Much of it is dynamic data that's used by running programs, a bunch of it is of little consequence, and of the important stuff there's not too much. A lot of the seemingly cryptic GUID-based entries are named that way for a reason; so that a device name can change yet the configuration data for it remains in the same place.
The point about not being able to learn the stuff isn't exactly valid, but yea, any normal documentation won't even mention the "behind the scenes" stuff on Windows. Still, it's out there, or else nobody would ever be able to write any apps for Windows.
It's a shame, though - about the registry. A good idea abused to shit because of the way it's used. A central configuration repository isn't a bad idea.
While I believe that Windows is too complicated now a days, with the registry having become a mess of GUIDs and so much other nonsense, it's not impossible to learn it.
I've managed to stay on top of things, and I'm not a programmer. I can always fix something when it goes wrong.
Your mentality is wrong. A computer is not just a tool, it's an all-purpose, versatile tool that has to be able to do anything the user wants.
A computer is NOT a toaster. A toaster makes toast. A computer does a lot more.
While no, a user shouldn't have to know what a memory leak is, but don't try to pass that type of problem off as Windows ONLY. I've had plenty of fuckup Mac apps that screwed up my mac systems pretty badly too.
While it sucks that Microsoft made some problems for some users with this update, shit is going to happen because of the nature of the thing.
I pretty much never have to re-install an operating system, because I know how they work.
I fix Windows, I fix Linux, I fix OSX. I've have extensive experience with all three, and almost never have I had to re-install. I troubleshoot the problems, and I fix them. Sometimes it takes a few google searches, but that's what I do, and next time, I can do it faster.
People re-install because they don't know how to fix their computers. Too many IT "professionals" do it because they're crappy at their jobs. They shouldn't be IT professionals if they can't fix a damned driver issue or a corrupt boot loader..
It's software. You can ALWAYS fix software problems.
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I understand Revision3's argument, and I believe MediaDefender should be severely penalized for their activity.
However, I really wish Revision3 would stop making dumb arguments like "What if this was an airport distributing approaches via Bittorrent?" I mean, come on. That's the most ridiculous argument in the world. I do some work for a major Boston airport that rhymes with "Hogan." Their security and operations network is not connected to the Internet. They use an extremely secure, port-based 802.x certificate-based system that not only requires the right MAC and certificates to connect to your designated port, it also firewalls each port to just the bare necessities. Many Airports across the country are, or will soon, take the same approach. Never will there be an Internet connected, torrent based system for any sort of critical data.
It makes their argument sound alarmist, and is bound to turn some people away.
Hey Retard. If numbers of consoles sold was the ONLY factor in whether or not to develop games for a system, then by your rational:
"I don't really think Capcom is stupid enough to ignore the PS2. The potential market is huge, so if they aren't getting paid to ignore it, they're just throwing away cash. I think Capcom is like a lot of entrenched video game companies. They were not counting on the PS2 to be such a huge success and are still in the process of trying to reverse course and capitalize upon it with games for that interface and for the huge casual gaming market it has potentially opened up."
Sony has sold over 120 million PS2's. So that means nobody should ever create games for anything else because that would be stupid, right?
PS. The PlayStation 3 has motion sensing controllers.
Funny how all the WiiKiddies seem to forget that all the time..
Ya think?
Ohh noz! Why won't they make 22" rims for my Nissan Sentra? I purchased a Sentra and I think I should be the center of the universe!
I'll respond to you in a language you can surely understand:
Fud Fuuud, fud fud fuuuud (fud fud) fuuuuuuud fud fud fudd fudddd ffffud; fu.
Why do you believe that there's something superior about the Wii controller? You assume it's the next logical step in game controllers, and I disagree.
It's different. It suits a number of game types. Not all of them, though.
When I come home from work and run my errands, I don't want to stand in front of the TV and wave my arms all over the place. I play video games to relax, and the game-pad style controller is very well suited for almost any game. If you didn't notice, you have a bunch of things on your hand called fingers. I like to use them to play games by pushing buttons.
Hey, wave your arms around all you want. I'm going to sit down with a beer and play some more GTA4.
Well, thank goodness. I like the nifty new graphics on the 360 and PS3, and I'm glad that some developers are releasing games for the more powerful systems in spite of the fact that there's this other game machine out there that outsold the others (because it was cheap.)
I hate having to deal with lowest-common-denominator crap.
If it's exported as a properly formatted CSV, the values with commas are quoted out. Excel will quote cells that have commas when you export to CSV.
It could use more standards I suppose, but simply using quotes for cells is fairly "defacto."
I dunno. I've had good success using Excel to process csv files when I didn't want to write a winbatch script or something.
I've seen the behavior you're describing in other situations but I guess it depends on what you're doing and how you import the data.
Excel 2007 saved my ass a few times when I had to reformat an 800,000 row CSV for importing into a SQL table. All previous versions and other spreadsheet apps have a 64K limit still.
You can try to weasel out of your comment all you want, but it was obviously meant to be a troll. There was no hidden meaning - it was just you trolling.
You indeed HAVE mis-characterized the GPL. You said "you're free to do as we tell you." No. You can do whatever the hell you want with the application, code, whatever.
The only stipulation is that you must include any code changes if you distribute modified GPL software.
Why that's so difficult for some people to understand is beyond me.
There's been documented cases of people losing their homes to the Chinese government because these homes might not have been as pretty as their government officials wanted them to be.
In one case, a string of apartment-type buildings were set to be demolished to be replaced by expensive homes the the people living there could not afford it. They didn't want to go. So, they were kicked out, and several jailed (when they protested.) The others were compensated with basically nothing. And this was not a special case; it happens all too often.
In the US, they can seize land but they generally only do it for something like environmental reason; contamination in the soil - stuff like that. Generally speaking, if the city/state/feds want your land, they can buy it from you. There's been very few cases where land was forcibly removed, and in all cases people are compensated at least as good as market conditions; usually much better.
Don't try to say "free market will never get anything done." First off, free market doesn't run local civil services. Local government does. And they do a fairly good job. Second, "free market" has done awfully well in the "free world." Quality of life in the US, Europe, etc is generally pretty high.
Don't confuse high speed internet adoption rates in the US with the roads or electrical infrastructure. One is free market, the others are not.
I'm not sure why some people here on Slashdot seem to be against freedom, free markets, and the general idea of personal choice. Seems like a no brainer to me.
In a way. But there's a level of extremes.
And ultimately, we do vote the people into power that make law and policy.
It's not so much that the GOVERNMENT decides things; it's our citizens that elect these people into office to do what we want them to do.
Doesn't always work, but it's reversible, and we CAN vote someone else new in next time.
Not for the Chinese.
Don't kid yourself, pal. Saying that the Chinese, unelected, ruthless, communist government is "better" than the US government because of a bad few years of an administration makes you sound like a dipshit.
We can still yell out against our government and not fear prison or death, as well as the thousands of other rights that we have and you take for granted.
I don't disagree with everything you mention, but there's some problems.
It's known up front that you're not supposed to decompile some software and sell it or resell it or whatever.
That doesn't prevent me from creating the same software on my own, however. I could write the code, give it away for free, and nobody could say shit. (Isn't that what a lot of OSS is?)
It's a law that I'm not allowed to break. It's no an unspoken law. If I copy some software and distribute it, there's a limit to the punishment. I won't be killed on a firing squad for it.
In China, with the media, the government decides what I can see. I CANNOT re-create it on my own. I CAN be shot for it.
There's a reason people "China bash." It's because the people are repressed by a ruthless government. It's not just *different* than "western" governments. It's not as good.
I believe that maybe China will move out of the dark age at some point but there's going to be a lot of kicking and screaming before that happens.
Ohh and one last thing. It's pretty easy to say "Chinaz are growings faster!!" - but it's not hard to imagine going from SHIT -> MUD is an easier task than growing at the same percentages with an economy that's already pretty strong.
Percentages don't mean dick. How are the people living? Mostly in shit holes? Yea. Percentages mean nothing.
Ohh, and I should mention that the REASON China's economy is growing AT ALL is because they are allowing more personal freedom. AKA they're trying to act more like a "Western" government for business and personal possession.
I don't disagree with IP rights. While I prefer the Open Source method for things like software code and I think patents of code should be banned, I don't feel as though by having laws protecting copywrite it's a violation of "free speech" or freedom on the Internet in any way what-so-ever.
I don't see where you're making the connection of "freedom of information" and "Freedom to violate copywright." They aren't the same at all.
No. Communism and Socialism are NOT the same thing.
Yea, I love the idea of a government that decides what's best for the society.
There's a reason "virtually" nobody thinks of that. It's because it's a BAD idea.
It means there can never be any progress in society.
Are you fucking kidding me?
Do you know how many civil rights violations that happen in China every day? Do you know how many people have been forced out of their homes because the government wanted a new office complex? Do you know how many people are shuttled away to prison (or to their deaths) for saying the wrong thing in public, or for a petty crime?
The Chinese can trust their government to do one thing: Fuck it's citizens.
Huge populations of Chinese live in poverty. No chance for reparation either - because they don't vote, they have no say in their government..
Don't even say "works for the vast majority" of the Chinese. It fucking doesn't. Just because a few protesters were out there doesn't mean the Chinese love their system.
The problem is, too many of them know no different, and the Government makes sure it stays that way.
Just because something is different doesn't mean I have to accept it. "Western" governments are BETTER, and I have no problem saying that.
Wait, what freedoms on the Internet don't I get here in the US? (you know, since we're not as "progressive" as Britain with your queen?)
Ohh, don't get me wrong, I agree with your point about Linux. It actually IS easier to learn a lot about Linux and it's usually very easy to find answers to questions with a simple google search.
The registry isn't quite as complicated as it seems, though. Much of it is dynamic data that's used by running programs, a bunch of it is of little consequence, and of the important stuff there's not too much. A lot of the seemingly cryptic GUID-based entries are named that way for a reason; so that a device name can change yet the configuration data for it remains in the same place.
The point about not being able to learn the stuff isn't exactly valid, but yea, any normal documentation won't even mention the "behind the scenes" stuff on Windows. Still, it's out there, or else nobody would ever be able to write any apps for Windows.
It's a shame, though - about the registry. A good idea abused to shit because of the way it's used. A central configuration repository isn't a bad idea.
While I believe that Windows is too complicated now a days, with the registry having become a mess of GUIDs and so much other nonsense, it's not impossible to learn it.
I've managed to stay on top of things, and I'm not a programmer. I can always fix something when it goes wrong.
Your mentality is wrong. A computer is not just a tool, it's an all-purpose, versatile tool that has to be able to do anything the user wants.
A computer is NOT a toaster. A toaster makes toast. A computer does a lot more.
While no, a user shouldn't have to know what a memory leak is, but don't try to pass that type of problem off as Windows ONLY. I've had plenty of fuckup Mac apps that screwed up my mac systems pretty badly too.
While it sucks that Microsoft made some problems for some users with this update, shit is going to happen because of the nature of the thing.
I pretty much never have to re-install an operating system, because I know how they work.
I fix Windows, I fix Linux, I fix OSX. I've have extensive experience with all three, and almost never have I had to re-install. I troubleshoot the problems, and I fix them. Sometimes it takes a few google searches, but that's what I do, and next time, I can do it faster.
People re-install because they don't know how to fix their computers. Too many IT "professionals" do it because they're crappy at their jobs. They shouldn't be IT professionals if they can't fix a damned driver issue or a corrupt boot loader..
It's software. You can ALWAYS fix software problems.