Most version control systems have an automatic merge utility which makes it easy to handle simple concurrent changes, such people independently adding #defines and typedefs in headers. For.c and.cpp files, you should break them up to minimize developer thrashing (I apologize if you've heard that 100 times already).
Agreed, but even if the mod announcement wasn't buried in EULA the average user wouldn't understand what they were talking about anyway.
One way to avoid a system hijacking on Windows might be to log in as a non-administrative user before running the install. A disruptive install would then fail because of ACLs on the system files and system registry keys (disclaimer - I haven't actually tried this technique. Don't sue me).
Well how else would they handle the sockets API gethostbyname()?
Idealab started new.net after gaining experience in root-level domain rigging with.tv, which they licensed from some Polynesian island country. Actually these are clever ideas, even though I have no particular use for them, and a nice counterpoint to the ICANN thread. If you're fed up with bureaucracy, route around it.
Compare the summary with the opening sentences of the first and last articles. Maybe we should wait a bit before speculating on the business impact of this "technology".
The ruling is not necessarily absurd. Yes, the pipes into our homes from the phone and cable companies are more alike than they are different (there are important differences, but they can be managed through protocols and service provider agreements). The FTC's (Powell's) perspective is that antitrust enforcement is basically intrusive, so it should only be applied where absolutely necessarily to protect consumers (Microsoft?) or there is considerable historical precedent. Telecommunications has been heavily regulated because universal phone communication has been seen as a necessity for both individuals and society. So far, high speed internet service is not seen in the same light.
Besides, entrepreneurs lay awake nights thinking of novel ways (wireless) of getting data pipes into the home. By your argument they would count as telecommunication providers too. Do we want to set a regulatory roadblock that would prevent them from making a killing, but maybe provide tremendous value for consumers at the same time?
(A compromise bill) make it a Federal offense to download, distribute, copy, enable copying, transfer, sell, play, listen to, or hum "And The Beat Goes On".
In the mid-90's IBM spent hundreds of millions trying to sell OS/2 Warp, which leveraged its knowledge of Windows and DOS (it had source code rights). It even ran Win 3.1 programs but it went nowhere because people wanted one standard and that was Windows (OK, another reason was Dell and Compaq saw IBM as a competing manufacturer, but that wasn't the reason it lost).
DR-DOS and MS-DOS, same thing, although Microsoft helped speed up the process using techniques that cost them an out of court settlement (Q. Do you think Gates regrets doing this?)
So my answer is no, there would not be an effective competitor, although there might be something that would get a 1% share (mostly visitors to this site) for a couple years.
Think about it, if Ian Flemming was able to patent the spy novel, the only spy stories we would have would be james bond. No Austin Powers, no Mission Impossible.
Platform owners win because they control the platform, not because of technology, or even their specific implementation of the technology. If you forced Microsoft to make Windows 2000 open source, it probably wouldn't drive their stock price down more than a couple points because going forward they make the proprietary changes that everyone has to follow.
I agree the software patent situation is screwed, and that most innovations are evolutionary and therefore there should be much fewer patents issued. I like the European standard (significant advancement to state of the art) better than ours.
Most companies I've worked at have been less than 20% "R" and over 80 percent "D", so maybe you've gotten your wish already. Look at the ACM and IEEE journal articles - most of them seem to come out of universities and government labs. But I still like the profit motive as an incentive for technological innovation. University researchers (not all, but some) tend to be conference-oriented, focusing on stuff that will lead to an interesting lecture at next year's conference in Europe, as opposed to things which will satisfy customer wants/needs.
OK, I missed that the first time. The incentives for innovation aren't the same for manufacturing and software, though. Manufacturers try to ride the e- (experience) curve so they will be a high volume, lowest cost producer by the time their competitors have copied their innovation. Software seems to be dominated by the network effects of the platform owners, obviously Microsoft but also Sun for Java, Oracle for RDBMS, Intel for PC hardware, etc. It is fairly straightforward for platform owners to push aside the software innovators.
Not saying that patents are the answer, just that the incentives for software innovation have to be thought out.
This article tells us what we already knew, that in the mid- to late stages of a technological wave a General Motors or Dell Computer can flourish because of operational excellence instead of fundamental innovation. But who's going to do the innovating?
Clippy dead? No, Microsoft is transitioning him from a help facility into a low maintenance pet. MS Research is working on HiFi Clippy for the next svc pack.
I'm having a hard time getting $1B in damages. Start with the number of people sitting under the bird with digital TV sats, multiply by the percentage that had access to the pirated cards (before the broadcasters found out and took countermeasures) and then by the SMALL pct that actually bought and used a card, what do you get? A few thousand, maybe. How many shows did they watch? Let's be generous and say 10 each, so the loss would be about $1-5M or so, and that assumes that people would have paid for the programs they saw for free, and was 0 variable cost to distribute.
But then, in the big swinging arena of world media giants a looming threat of a $5M judgement draws the same reaction it did on Austin Powers.
I've never once had VirusScan or a message box saying "warning - low on disk space" or "your password expires in 5 days" pop up in my face while I was watching TV (I suppose you could argue Jerry Glanville on FoxSports is similar).
Watching TV, I've never had my application permanently reconfigure its UI or words turned upside down because my hand slipped.
As for tint, contrast, bass, etc. these don't help much when I'm watching Dan Rather. Although mute would come in handy for Dick Vitale, if I was able to find it.
I was wondering about the 20 percent (!) that found the computer easier to use, or maybe they couldn't figure out either one. "Turn on the TV set... uhh, guess dats a hardware problem."
There probably should have been a "dude, are you serious?" choice.
I've been surprised MS hasn't at least floated the idea of spinning off Office, a cash cow with declining strategic relevance which will eventually fall off a cliff in terms of revenues. That would take the heat off both MS and the government, allow the Feds to claim victory and make it impossible for competitors to claim that nothing was done about Microsoft's monopoly.
Cringley's article does a good job of explaining why that didn't happen. More hard nosed than Murdoch! Geez.
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Most version control systems have an automatic merge utility which makes it easy to handle simple concurrent changes, such people independently adding #defines and typedefs in headers. For .c and .cpp files, you should break them up to minimize developer thrashing (I apologize if you've heard that 100 times already).
Perhaps you could pass the information along to someone you work for.
Everytime you turn on the radio, you hear an ad for tires and other crap your not interested in.(this increases over time)
Driving home but mysteriously you end up at McDonalds!?
So thats how.. damn! I shouldn't have trusted those guys.
One way to avoid a system hijacking on Windows might be to log in as a non-administrative user before running the install. A disruptive install would then fail because of ACLs on the system files and system registry keys (disclaimer - I haven't actually tried this technique. Don't sue me).
Idealab started new.net after gaining experience in root-level domain rigging with .tv, which they licensed from some Polynesian island country. Actually these are clever ideas, even though I have no particular use for them, and a nice counterpoint to the ICANN thread. If you're fed up with bureaucracy, route around it.
Compare the summary with the opening sentences of the first and last articles. Maybe we should wait a bit before speculating on the business impact of this "technology".
Put me down for $100 on MIT for the 2007 NCAA torney.
Besides, entrepreneurs lay awake nights thinking of novel ways (wireless) of getting data pipes into the home. By your argument they would count as telecommunication providers too. Do we want to set a regulatory roadblock that would prevent them from making a killing, but maybe provide tremendous value for consumers at the same time?
I could say more, but then I'd have to kill you.
- oops
Neat game theoretic stuff- but how is this better than charging people for the CD, appealing to their sense of fair play? Kinda like we do it now.
(A compromise bill) make it a Federal offense to download, distribute, copy, enable copying, transfer, sell, play, listen to, or hum "And The Beat Goes On".
DR-DOS and MS-DOS, same thing, although Microsoft helped speed up the process using techniques that cost them an out of court settlement (Q. Do you think Gates regrets doing this?)
So my answer is no, there would not be an effective competitor, although there might be something that would get a 1% share (mostly visitors to this site) for a couple years.
Too bad no one patented the popup browser ad.
I agree the software patent situation is screwed, and that most innovations are evolutionary and therefore there should be much fewer patents issued. I like the European standard (significant advancement to state of the art) better than ours.
Most companies I've worked at have been less than 20% "R" and over 80 percent "D", so maybe you've gotten your wish already. Look at the ACM and IEEE journal articles - most of them seem to come out of universities and government labs. But I still like the profit motive as an incentive for technological innovation. University researchers (not all, but some) tend to be conference-oriented, focusing on stuff that will lead to an interesting lecture at next year's conference in Europe, as opposed to things which will satisfy customer wants/needs.
Not saying that patents are the answer, just that the incentives for software innovation have to be thought out.
This article tells us what we already knew, that in the mid- to late stages of a technological wave a General Motors or Dell Computer can flourish because of operational excellence instead of fundamental innovation. But who's going to do the innovating?
Clippy dead? No, Microsoft is transitioning him from a help facility into a low maintenance pet. MS Research is working on HiFi Clippy for the next svc pack.
Uh oh, a slew of impressive patents coming down from Redmond...
But then, in the big swinging arena of world media giants a looming threat of a $5M judgement draws the same reaction it did on Austin Powers.
I've never once had VirusScan or a message box saying "warning - low on disk space" or "your password expires in 5 days" pop up in my face while I was watching TV (I suppose you could argue Jerry Glanville on FoxSports is similar).
Watching TV, I've never had my application permanently reconfigure its UI or words turned upside down because my hand slipped.
As for tint, contrast, bass, etc. these don't help much when I'm watching Dan Rather. Although mute would come in handy for Dick Vitale, if I was able to find it.
There probably should have been a "dude, are you serious?" choice.
Cringley's article does a good job of explaining why that didn't happen. More hard nosed than Murdoch! Geez.
Don't like the color of the universe? Send your suggestions to larry@oracle.com.