I read this as Mr. Bill confusing a market economy with a non-market one. His argument is a straw man... that one can not approach "greatness" without being rewarded with money.
Funny, my Dad is an Episcopal priest and one of the things he taught during his sermons was the value of good works. These are (for those who skipped Church) the kind of things where you expect no reward, payment, etc.
Most people consider "good works" to be doling out food to the poor. But I would argue that writing something that a) seems useful to others and b) gives one some joy is also a good work.
After all, how many people went "thank god" when their system DIDN'T crash because some 13 year old decided to create the Windows worm du jour?
Just look at any third world economy where IP laws are lax. Very little talent comes out of those sort of countries.
Well that is total bullshit. Just because you haven't heard of them doesn't mean they don't exist!
As someone else posted, we have had music far longer than we have had IP laws. The mere fact that such a law exists does NOT spontaneously generate talent!
As for whether you can own music -- that has nothing to do with music and is purely a legal issue.
Music and law are about as intertwined as Japanese ghost stories and bicycles. In other words, not at all.
Second, the whole thing may be a stupid stunt to get you to believe that laser pointers are dangerous and should be controlled like firearms.
Okay, here is the part that bothers me the most about this story: nothing was said about the pilots other than they were "temporarily blinded". Okay, I'll bite, but isn't this rather circumstantial evidence to toss someone in jail for 25 years? Were they able to prove it was his laser? Hell, we can't get people in jail for crimes they commit while being filmed!
I'm not arguing that it is a good thing to shine laser's in pilots eyes - but I remain unconvinced that this is a valid case that proves anything other than someone has poor judgement.
Hell, if poor judgement is the case for someone to go to jail, Congress, the President, and most of the Supreme Court would be in jail!
No, I didn't write the torture memos SLAP Yes, I wrote the torture memos SLAP No, I didn't...
Heh... I was friends with the designer of that board (well, one of). He also wrote the bios (the PFM - "Pretty F'king Magic" monitor). They got screwed by their lawyer who literally sold all rights to the board to Xerox for next to nothing ($2000? I don't remember).
Man, those were the days... but they sucked compared to my iBook and house full of Macs!
Look, for $800 for a computer you are NOT going to get a Trinitron screen. If you are expecting that, they you are living in a reality far, far away from here.
Apple was yelled at for not making an under-$1000 computer. They did it. Now they are being yelled at for not making an under-$600 computer.
Some people will never be satisfied no matter how inexpensive you make them (it doesn't have this, or it doesn't do that, and my it doesn't cure my male pattern baldness).
As someone who has to deal with only ONE customer (my wife) and one mail server (mine) I know precisely the problems you will run into.
They are not pretty.
First will be the calls when "the server is down". This will be on a Friday or Saturday night when someone is keen on looking at that latest "movie" by Ms. Hilton...
Second will be the person who wonders if the "can use a voice over IP" on this wicked fast system.
Third is the multiple households that decide they're going to stream video (legally) to their household all at the same time.
Sure to YOU this is a thing that you may consider to be akin to loaning hedgeclippers. To them, you are a service provider (doesn't matter what you have in writing, informal agreements, etc.). Soon as something "bad" happens, YOU are the guy that fixes it.
As an example, I went to visit my retired parents (who happen to live many miles away from the ranch). First day I call my wife says "the server is down". I told her to reboot it. No go. So she has been without service for four days. And she was in the position to reboot the server.
Now imagine 10 people depending on your service (remember that you are now a provider) and you can see how tricky this gets.
Sure they may be neighbors, but when Aunt Clara doesn't get those baby pictures, it is YOU that will pay.
As someone whose father is one of the survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing, it really pisses me off when someone sez "I predicted the whole thing".
Bullshit.
It's easy to sit around on your ass and "predict" after the event happens. But had he known one GODDAMN thing about OKC, he MIGHT have warned everyone ahead of time.
o Well to be sure the "facts" are rather hard to come by. Microsoft is loath to part with any of its software for someone to check into it. So much of this HAS to be guesswork.
o 20-30 bugs per 1000 lines is about right (for what I was taught). My compsci class posed about 1 bug for every 50 lines. Reasoning is that if code goes beyond 1 page (printed page), it breaks up the users thought. I have yet to see anything that sez "no, no, it's not true!!!".
o As for the definition of a bug, that is a tricky question. You know what it is and I know what it is, but much like art, we only define it by seeing it. The argument that "it is behaviour that was not designed as part of the program" is such a weak definition as to be laughable (yup, I've heard that one).
o Reporters main goal is to hit the 12th grade reading level. Anything beyond goes over the readers head.
Now you know why heads of business are such morons.
1. A bunch of RF (is that the metric or English "bunch"?). 2. A large magnet (mine sez Acme, is that okay?) 3. A vacuum system... Well I know of a woman who can suck chrome, so I guess that would be good enough. 4. A chamber.... Okay yah got me stumped here sparky. Is a Altoids tin good enough?
Hmmmm.... Or how about my ol' microwave oven? (2/4 requirements)...
Lookie, ya' mashuguna, wez don' need no one tellun us how ta do production. We been doin' it fer 150 years. Yer now tellin' us, US, how to make films? That was ma bruder Frankie. He's a good kid. Needs the work. Keeps him off the dope. Or you like some sort of dope lover?
Cool don't make box office boffo. Now sid down and watch cher reruns WITH da commercials like God intended! Or do you not believe in God eider? What is you, a God hating Commie? Frankie, go rub him out... like we do in da' movies... WID a "Gone With The Wind" (royalties paid of course) soundtrack.
Sincerely,
The Hollywood Film Industry
Slashdot Mirror
I read this as Mr. Bill confusing a market economy with a non-market one. His argument is a straw man... that one can not approach "greatness" without being rewarded with money.
Funny, my Dad is an Episcopal priest and one of the things he taught during his sermons was the value of good works. These are (for those who skipped Church) the kind of things where you expect no reward, payment, etc.
Most people consider "good works" to be doling out food to the poor. But I would argue that writing something that a) seems useful to others and b) gives one some joy is also a good work.
After all, how many people went "thank god" when their system DIDN'T crash because some 13 year old decided to create the Windows worm du jour?
Just look at any third world economy where IP laws are lax. Very little talent comes out of those sort of countries.
Well that is total bullshit. Just because you haven't heard of them doesn't mean they don't exist!
As someone else posted, we have had music far longer than we have had IP laws. The mere fact that such a law exists does NOT spontaneously generate talent!
As for whether you can own music -- that has nothing to do with music and is purely a legal issue.
Music and law are about as intertwined as Japanese ghost stories and bicycles. In other words, not at all.
Is defacing a website any different from spraying graffiti on someones walls?
Dunno. Is breaking someone's fingers any different than breaking someone's links?
Okay, then.... Chinese IP violaters and pot smokers, cheek to jowl in the showers.... Sheesh!
The book "Les Miserables" detailed (partly) the plight of Jean Valjean who was convicted due to a "three strikes" law enacted in France.
I find it curious that we seem to have a government now where everyone wants to be police inspector Javert...
As much as the world changes, there is a lot that seems to remain the same...
I am not a book critic... but I hear them a lot on NPR
Second, the whole thing may be a stupid stunt to get you to believe that laser pointers are dangerous and should be controlled like firearms.
Okay, here is the part that bothers me the most about this story: nothing was said about the pilots other than they were "temporarily blinded". Okay, I'll bite, but isn't this rather circumstantial evidence to toss someone in jail for 25 years? Were they able to prove it was his laser? Hell, we can't get people in jail for crimes they commit while being filmed!
I'm not arguing that it is a good thing to shine laser's in pilots eyes - but I remain unconvinced that this is a valid case that proves anything other than someone has poor judgement.
Hell, if poor judgement is the case for someone to go to jail, Congress, the President, and most of the Supreme Court would be in jail!
No, I didn't write the torture memos SLAP Yes, I wrote the torture memos SLAP No, I didn't...
Odd, but my construction laser DOES suffer loss of power over distance.
But then I guess the fact that I don't live in a vacuum may have something to do with it...
Power is inversely proportional to the square of the distance?
/. what in the HELL was I thinking...
Oh, yeah, this is
All of the above are good points, but techie stuff doesn't make you a well rounded individual.
Literature and art are as important as statistics, logic, and any other hard science.
After you read "Dante's Inferno", you realize that hell, it could be worse!
Heh... I was friends with the designer of that board (well, one of). He also wrote the bios (the PFM - "Pretty F'king Magic" monitor). They got screwed by their lawyer who literally sold all rights to the board to Xerox for next to nothing ($2000? I don't remember).
Man, those were the days... but they sucked compared to my iBook and house full of Macs!
What I consider to be the most important:
* Literature
* History
* Physics
Literature: because there is more in life than "Lord of the Rings".
History: because if you don't know where we have been then how the hell do you think you know where we are going?
Physics: because it may be a bitch to get through, but there is a lot than can be applied to software development.
Okay, nuf of that, back to reading my manga...
Who is really counting? Oh, wait, the /.'ers who went "oh, oh, I learned this in school and NOW I can ... oh, damn, someone posted it before me..."
Look, for $800 for a computer you are NOT going to get a Trinitron screen. If you are expecting that, they you are living in a reality far, far away from here.
Apple was yelled at for not making an under-$1000 computer. They did it. Now they are being yelled at for not making an under-$600 computer.
Some people will never be satisfied no matter how inexpensive you make them (it doesn't have this, or it doesn't do that, and my it doesn't cure my male pattern baldness).
People who make more than $60,000 can afford a Mac as an impulse buy.
Hells, bells, man, for about $800 bucks you can get a eMac. My brothers (who make probably half of what I do easily) both have eMacs.
Sheesh!
...and hitting every key simultaneously in emacs.
That just jammed my typewriter.
The ATF got the tipoff though...
Oh, yeah, and that has to do with this guy in what way?
Asshole...
As someone who has to deal with only ONE customer (my wife) and one mail server (mine) I know precisely the problems you will run into.
They are not pretty.
First will be the calls when "the server is down". This will be on a Friday or Saturday night when someone is keen on looking at that latest "movie" by Ms. Hilton...
Second will be the person who wonders if the "can use a voice over IP" on this wicked fast system.
Third is the multiple households that decide they're going to stream video (legally) to their household all at the same time.
Sure to YOU this is a thing that you may consider to be akin to loaning hedgeclippers. To them, you are a service provider (doesn't matter what you have in writing, informal agreements, etc.). Soon as something "bad" happens, YOU are the guy that fixes it.
As an example, I went to visit my retired parents (who happen to live many miles away from the ranch). First day I call my wife says "the server is down". I told her to reboot it. No go. So she has been without service for four days. And she was in the position to reboot the server.
Now imagine 10 people depending on your service (remember that you are now a provider) and you can see how tricky this gets.
Sure they may be neighbors, but when Aunt Clara doesn't get those baby pictures, it is YOU that will pay.
Jesus Fucking Christ. If you don't like it, LEAVE. Slashdot is NOT a part of the commons.
Unless you are part of some wierd college program, no one is sticking toothpicks in your eyelids and forcing you to read Slashdot articles.
If you don't like what is posted, just wait a few minutes. Something new will come along...
As someone whose father is one of the survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing, it really pisses me off when someone sez "I predicted the whole thing".
Bullshit.
It's easy to sit around on your ass and "predict" after the event happens. But had he known one GODDAMN thing about OKC, he MIGHT have warned everyone ahead of time.
Last I checked, Dad never got a phone call.
Okay, here are some non-facts:
o Well to be sure the "facts" are rather hard to come by. Microsoft is loath to part with any of its software for someone to check into it. So much of this HAS to be guesswork.
o 20-30 bugs per 1000 lines is about right (for what I was taught). My compsci class posed about 1 bug for every 50 lines. Reasoning is that if code goes beyond 1 page (printed page), it breaks up the users thought. I have yet to see anything that sez "no, no, it's not true!!!".
o As for the definition of a bug, that is a tricky question. You know what it is and I know what it is, but much like art, we only define it by seeing it. The argument that "it is behaviour that was not designed as part of the program" is such a weak definition as to be laughable (yup, I've heard that one).
o Reporters main goal is to hit the 12th grade reading level. Anything beyond goes over the readers head.
Now you know why heads of business are such morons.
"Yer honor he was using Windows and..."
"That's enough for me! I sentence you to life!"
Same thought. We tried it on a friends system (I use Macs, of course) and it was, as they say, non-functional.
My friend, however, was thrilled. He bought music with it and is now using Hymn (after I showed him how to compile it).
So, I guess in my view it is non-functional, but I'm not using it. From his perspective it does (for now) what he wants.
Wow... it is like it takes all kinds!
Peace, Dudes and Dudettes!
The recipe is:
1. A bunch of RF (is that the metric or English "bunch"?).
2. A large magnet (mine sez Acme, is that okay?)
3. A vacuum system... Well I know of a woman who can suck chrome, so I guess that would be good enough.
4. A chamber.... Okay yah got me stumped here sparky. Is a Altoids tin good enough?
Hmmmm.... Or how about my ol' microwave oven? (2/4 requirements)...
Lookie, ya' mashuguna, wez don' need no one tellun us how ta do production. We been doin' it fer 150 years. Yer now tellin' us, US, how to make films? That was ma bruder Frankie. He's a good kid. Needs the work. Keeps him off the dope. Or you like some sort of dope lover? Cool don't make box office boffo. Now sid down and watch cher reruns WITH da commercials like God intended! Or do you not believe in God eider? What is you, a God hating Commie? Frankie, go rub him out... like we do in da' movies... WID a "Gone With The Wind" (royalties paid of course) soundtrack. Sincerely, The Hollywood Film Industry
Yeah, and it sucks, too. I had to eat waffles for breakfast this morning. I hate waffles. Stupid Federal Government controlling my life.
I love waffles... How do I get the Stupid Federal Government to control my life?