I agree with your general conclusion, though not with your reasoning.
I've clicked a few banner ads from time to time, but they were clicked out of self-interest and not because I feel it's my duty to give money to Slashdot. I bought a/. t-shirt from Copyleft, not because I wanted to help/. get money, but because it looked cool.
You should never feel you're obligated to click banner ads. Bypassing adfu.blockstackers.com is akin to pressing fast-forward on your VCR. Whoever stopped to watch ads because they felt the show deserved support?
What advertising firms are interested in is the demographics and number of people who come to/.; if they don't get many clicks, they'll just review their strategy. It won't put/. out of existence.
Well, that's a nice piece of, as Granny Weatherfax would say, 'headology' on the part of the BPI. It doesn't make sense at first glance, but let's see what they mean...
Clearly they want to hunt down illegal MP3 sites, and since they can't get people to agree it's a dangerous activity, they're using a bit of collateral damage. It's the same argument being used against, for instance, pot and prostitution. (Disclaimer: I'm not defending nor promoting either, just observing.)
Whereas many people say pot is not bad for your health and not intrinsictly dangerous, the main argument used by the police to crack down on pot is that it leads to other criminal activities. You're smoking pot? Well, you'll probably snort cocaine in the long run. And you're encouraging criminal groups that commit worse crimes because of it.
Never mind that it's a bit of circular logic.
Anyway... It's true. If you're looking for a few "illegal" MP3 and enter "MP3z" in any good search engine, you'll run into sites (sorry, sitez) who also have a lot of warez, and plenty of "passwordz" for porn sites. You'll also get so many sex banners you may as well go blind.
It's really just incidental. What it shows is that people willing to distribute copyrighted MP3s are the same crowd that distribute pr0n passwordz and cracked software. Come on, admit it. I'm not generalising, but on the whole, it happens a lot.
So... We're back to the whole collateral damage argument. It's hard to argue that free music is damaging in itself, so the BPI has to find another easy target. So they latch unto a well-known enemy likely to cause public outrage. Pornography.
And voila. Looking for MP3s makes you see a lot of porn.
Here's why. A machine can change its function, and a function can be carried out by more than one machine. And machines can carry out more than one function. There is no straightforward one-to-one link between names and functions - so don't try to force one.
There's another, more important reason why your server names should not reflect their functionality. It's a security issue; you don't want intruders to understand your network architecture at first glance by just looking at the names of the servers.
Well, like the editorial pointed out, this just means one thing: Intel is running scared of the Athlon.
I don't know if it's because I've followed the OS wars more closely than the hardware wars, but it seems to me like there's less impact to be had on the public with FUD. After all, the average buyer will only care about three things:
Price
Performance
A good household name they can recognise
It's not like the Intel chips have anything like fancy shmoozy GUI's or little singing paperclips. Right now, Celeron and Athlon are names people are beginning to recognise. Most people figure that they can go for a cheaper chipset if it's more or less the same quality, because they don't need high-performance machines, just something that can play Quake III reliably well.
Let's face it: Intel is seriously losing ground, and their last hope is to milk for all they're worth the people who want that silly "Intel Inside" sticker because they figure it means quality.
They're not saying they will package these PCs with non-Windows OSs, they're saying they want to design PCs that are exclusively designed to browse the Web.
That probably means they'll build a custom-made, low-feature OS whose sole purpose is to boot up, load a Web browser (AOL? Yuck.) and connect to the Internet. That's hardly a breakthrough for Open Source, however much we hold our breath.
Lemme explain: even IF they suddenly decided to put some sort of stripped down, alternative Open Source OS on these boxes (say, a light version of OpenBSD), that would still fail to impress the general public, because this type of install won't be a showcase to alternative OS's power. It'll just mean the computer will run in a specialised, narrow focus. So you'll be hard-put to convince your grandmother Linux is so great.
Now, what I do find interesting here is the idea of a Web browsing machine that doesn't use Internet Explorer. Is that what AOL had in mind when they said Netscape Communicator 5 wouldn't come out? Maybe they're trying to attack the Web-surfing market from another angle, by indeed building a Web browser that will give IE a run for its money.
And, pray tell, what difference is there between Win98 w/ IE 4, and a dedicated machine w/ a Web browser? Not much. Both browsers will be at the core of the OS, and the whole box will run on a single manufacturer's products.
But by starting by offering a cheaper alternative, it's not far-fetched to see this trend growing, and perhaps one day Netscape (if that's who they choose) will have its own dream of having a fully-integrated desktop linked closely to their browser. Ten years from now, it could be a heck of a competition to Microsoft.
But I'm not holding my breath. I just hope they'll consider some of the work done in the Open Source movement, and perhaps push it on the mainstream. This article is misleading in its suggestion that computers will soon ship with alternate OS. This is not the point here.
Besides, how long will it be before someone installs a custom distro of Linux on one of these boxes?
Nauru profits by charging fees: for example, $5,680 to establish an offshore bank and as much as $4,980 every year after that to keep the registration active. With markups, the prices advertised by middlemen run about $20,000 to get started.
Heh heh. I could put a penny in a Nauru anonymous bank account, and no one would be the wiser!
Let's just say this bank is not for you and me. They cost more than I had in a bank account my whole life.
Having a place where you can put money in anonymously is nothing new. I mean, the Swiss do it, more or less. So they're not novel.
This would be big news if Nauru decided to alleviate the bank transactions on the island of any international control, including themselves. That was the major point in Cryptonomicon; that the only way to create a true data haven is to put it somewhere outside the influence of any country, period.
That's when it would severely screw up the world's economy, because a perfectly anonymous electronic currency would be untaxable and uncheckable. That is, even by the bank itself, which is not the case of Swiss banks.
And I still think the best place to put a data haven is on the Moon.:)
A community, in my sense of the word, is a group of people with similar interests or goals. We're all doing software with a particular philosophy behind it, and I fail to see why we're always fighting over it.
Please keep your politics out of the software, thankyou.
My point exactly. Let's ditch the whole bloody debates about licenses and GNU vs. Free vs. Open Source vs. whogivesadamnwhatelse. And let's just code.
I don't think an American company would hold much hope trying to sue the French Government in their own country. France isn't America, you can't just lawyer your way through everything.
Socialism means you can tell companies to shut up.
I agree wholeheartedly with the poster on this. Indeed, this should be taken as a warning. License troubles have been overcome so far, and I'm sure this case will be solved easily enough as well.
But...
Well, just witness the problems with the whole KDE vs. Gnome conflict. What's the problem, here? I think it essentially boils down to the use of QT in KDE. I rarely see much discussion of the relative merits of the respective GUIs, only philosophical discussions of the two licenses.
What this is doing, people, is breaking down a unity that would serve us very well. This division can only harm us... Sure, we can solve the license problems one by one, and continue arguing about FreeBSD vs. Linux vs. GNU/Linux and what have you. But it's the software that matters. The software is the product, and the various licenses only reflect the philosophy behind the software.
Sure, we can keep solving license problems one by one. But ultimately, we need to proact instead of react. Someone should seriously sit down and think on this problem. The software and the freedom only matter. The rest is details. But as they say, that's where the Devil is.
I'm not surprised such a breakthrough event would happen in Europe. Although nothing is set in stone just yet, I think we can expect it to work out in one form or another.
Why in Europe and not in the US? Because most of the large software companies (IBM and Microsoft, to name only two) are in America. The US, were it to suggest Open Source alternatives should be considered for Governmental use, would only be shooting down its own IT economy.
The French, however, are slightly behind on IT and catching up at a frightening pace. You also have to understand that in a European eye, Open Source is something more European than American; remember how Linux is much more important in Europe than America.
So, in Europe, I think Linux has stood the test. It's only natural that the payoffs we've been rambling about for so long are starting to come into the Government's eye. Yes, it's exactly right: Open Source initiatives will spare money for the Government, and everyone is a winner about that.
I'm also tempted to say the French being such fervent believers in democracy (as opposed to capitalism), it's only natural they would jump the Open Source bandwagon first.
Expect the rest of Europe to follow suit. And as European Governments pick up the OS trend, more developpers will get into it. And the products of the Open Source movement will just get better and better.
Until... Until even the US have to recognise those loony Europeans are on to something.
This is a major breakthrough, people, don't underestimate it. This may be the public breakthrough the Open Source movement has been waiting for. Vive la République! Vive la France!
If I remember correctly, real estate on other planets and the moon has been sold for quite some time now. The rationale is that, whereas governments are not allowed to own planetary bodies, there is nothing preventing individuals to own them.
How do you take ownership of a patch of the Moon, then? Well, back in the old days (i.e., the Renaissance), you went there with a Government-sponsored team and claimed the land in the name of a nation. You then stacked it up with soldiers to make sure no one contradicts your claim.
So, if you buy a land on the Moon, how are you going to go there and claim it, much less defend it against invasion?
The simple fact of the matter is, you can't. And Governments will let you dream on about your little patch of Moon property until they decide otherwise.
In the meantime, people are giving money away, mostly because they think it's fun. But if you think that's much fun, there's a nice bridge for sale on Io. Just give me a call. "Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
I think the moderators just felt sorry for you and thought you needed that extra bit of karma.
Like I need any... I think they just think everything I post is revelant. (It's not. I can post off-topic subjects, or the occasional accidental flamebait. Wish I didn't have to point that out.)
Which begs the question, did you just become to the first user to pass 200?
Yeah, I think so! Goes to show how much of a life I have.:)
Disclaimer: See my note on my user page. It's not that I don't like receiving karma for good posts, quite the opposite. It tells me what I'm doing right, and it shows a positive response to what I post, which is encouraging and a great motivation to keep posting as intelligently as I can manage. I just don't think high karma means the next post I make will be intelligent. Each comment I make should be judged individually. "Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
Arg, nevermind... I thought my post would end at -1, now it's up at 5. I guess I had something insightful to say, even if it's (slightly) offtopic! "Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
Nowadays, when I see companies jumping into the Linux bandwagon, I'm reluctant to call them enlightened and open to the Open Source community's ideas. I figure they just ride the hype and jump on a money opportunity. I mean, let's face it. My mother knows about Linux today. FreeBSD is still far away from her daily computer concerns.
What I mean is, it's becoming an imperative for companies to support and develop for Linux. They have a business obligation to do it. It's all the best for us, but still.
Now, supporting FreeBSD is another thing altogether. It takes dedication to the Open Source movement, or at least a modicum of long-term vision not normally possessed by companies. FreeBSD is a solid, well-crafted alternative, and it is part of the Open Source revolution, in some ways better than Linux. If companies are really to embrace the OS movement, then they have to consider other OS initiatives, and not just Red Hat Linux.
So I think this is a genuine show of intelligence from Compaq. And I cannot help but applaud.
"There is no surer way to ruin a good discussion than to contaminate it with the facts."
Ok, so let's say you bought the domain name 'hastalavista.com' to proclaim your love of Terminator's catchphrase. That's legit, surely. Still, Alta Vista could rule you're too close to their own name.
Let's say you love white horses. Off you go with www.whitehorse.org. Is that too close to whitehouse.gov?
What I'm saying is, it's downright silly to do this, because it's unenforceable. You'll always stumble upon examples of domain names that closely resemble an official one, but only as a coincidence. That means it's a law that'll have to be debated over and over again before the media.
Secondly, what about fair use? Isn't it fair use to do a parody site? If it is, then what about a parody site with a parody domain name to go with it?
The truth of the matter is, the Government feels that people are going to the wrong domain names because they can't tell a Government site from a normal site. So what? The same happens if you dial a Government phone number and end up dialing Luigi's pizza by mistake. Should they ban phone numbers closely resembling Government numbers, too?
Third, why is the Government allowed to protect the integrity of their websites, whereas the user cannot? What says that the US Government can have precedence when it comes to choosing a DNS entry?
Imagine, for instance, that the Government launches a site called 'www.slashdot.gov'. Can they then, were that bill passed, claim that Slashdot.org is using an illegal DNS entry? Why can't it be the opposite?
Let's hope this law is shot down before it becomes a reality. Not that I worry too much: it's gonna be unenforceable anyway. "Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
Now, I never said NT was on the same security level as Apache... As a matter of fact, I think what attracts so much attention to NT security is that, well, we're not sure what it is.
If anything, the fact that Linux is prefered by hackers means there are certainly more bugs found in Linux. People just try to fix them before they become an issue, instead of concealing the fact and hope they can find a fix in time for the next Service Pack. "Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
Sorry, guys. I know it's Microsoft, and it's always fun to gloat about the Man getting cracked. but website defacing has long since stopped impressing me. It's just a bunch of opportunistic kids who do it because they can even though they fail to understand what they're doing. This sort of exposure merely inflates their undeserving ego.
I mean, Slashdot was cracked before. So that hardly proves anything. "Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
It reminds me of the silly and utterly crappy storyline about the death of Superman, a few years ago...
They tried to ask Gaiman's permission to use Death in the final issue. Gaiman's response was, 'Well, is he dead?' Since they couldn't give him a straight answer, he said no.
"There is no surer way to ruin a good discussion than to contaminate it with the facts."
This all sounds really neat. It's amazing to consider that some of these ideas are brilliant, yet simple, and never seem to make their way as simply into the corporate world than they do in the Open Source movement, where a program is an end in itself (as opposed to a marketable product) and tools like CORBA are a mean to an end.
However, I wish there was some effort being done in making the various desktop environments intercompatible... I'd love to see development aimed at making it easier to code stuff that will run as smoothly on Gnome and KDE.
Linux definitely needs that sort of interportability, but unfortunately it seems that development of applications for Linux is mostly modular, which leads to various branching left and right. It's a good thing Gnome and KDE aren't branching.
Hackers of the world, unite? "Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
A camera that runs games doesn't strike me as so odd in this day and age. As a matter of fact, I've seen plenty of these things in recent time that it seems like a trend is forming. (I mean, who thought you could install an OS on a Lego brick??)
Where is this headed? Well, certainly if the trend follows, we'll see more and more software-oriented technology toys. As far as I'm concerned, for instance, the Palm Pilot is a notepad with an OS running on it. It starts that way, then people realise just how much they can do with what they thought a simple emulation of primitive technology.
However, the next step is more interesting. Digital cameras already exist, but they're not integrated in our highly computerised world. Sure, you have cameras which output directly into a JPG file. But how long before, oh... You can download the image directly to your computer via a wireless LAN?
I think that's the way to go: make tools simple peripherals to the awesome power of a PC. Heck, the whole wired house deal is a dream of exactly that. You run your radio through the PC and play Real Audio files. You download MP3 files to your stereo. You corrolate your fridge's contents with an online calorie table. You drive your car with assistance from online atlases.
Sounds crazy? I dunno. As long as no one gets into their mind to drive a car remote through a webcam on the hood...
Hey, how about having a camera with Photoshop integrated? It's Pac-Man now, but just you wait... "Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
Slashdot Mirror
I've clicked a few banner ads from time to time, but they were clicked out of self-interest and not because I feel it's my duty to give money to Slashdot. I bought a /. t-shirt from Copyleft, not because I wanted to help /. get money, but because it looked cool.
You should never feel you're obligated to click banner ads. Bypassing adfu.blockstackers.com is akin to pressing fast-forward on your VCR. Whoever stopped to watch ads because they felt the show deserved support?
What advertising firms are interested in is the demographics and number of people who come to /.; if they don't get many clicks, they'll just review their strategy. It won't put /. out of existence.
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
Clearly they want to hunt down illegal MP3 sites, and since they can't get people to agree it's a dangerous activity, they're using a bit of collateral damage. It's the same argument being used against, for instance, pot and prostitution. (Disclaimer: I'm not defending nor promoting either, just observing.)
Whereas many people say pot is not bad for your health and not intrinsictly dangerous, the main argument used by the police to crack down on pot is that it leads to other criminal activities. You're smoking pot? Well, you'll probably snort cocaine in the long run. And you're encouraging criminal groups that commit worse crimes because of it.
Never mind that it's a bit of circular logic.
Anyway... It's true. If you're looking for a few "illegal" MP3 and enter "MP3z" in any good search engine, you'll run into sites (sorry, sitez) who also have a lot of warez, and plenty of "passwordz" for porn sites. You'll also get so many sex banners you may as well go blind.
It's really just incidental. What it shows is that people willing to distribute copyrighted MP3s are the same crowd that distribute pr0n passwordz and cracked software. Come on, admit it. I'm not generalising, but on the whole, it happens a lot.
So... We're back to the whole collateral damage argument. It's hard to argue that free music is damaging in itself, so the BPI has to find another easy target. So they latch unto a well-known enemy likely to cause public outrage. Pornography.
And voila. Looking for MP3s makes you see a lot of porn.
Nice FUD, eh?
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
There's another, more important reason why your server names should not reflect their functionality. It's a security issue; you don't want intruders to understand your network architecture at first glance by just looking at the names of the servers.
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
Heh. Katz, talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Replace 'Clark' with 'Geek' and see just how it applies to Katz' portrayal of geeks...
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
I don't know if it's because I've followed the OS wars more closely than the hardware wars, but it seems to me like there's less impact to be had on the public with FUD. After all, the average buyer will only care about three things:
Price
Performance
A good household name they can recognise
It's not like the Intel chips have anything like fancy shmoozy GUI's or little singing paperclips. Right now, Celeron and Athlon are names people are beginning to recognise. Most people figure that they can go for a cheaper chipset if it's more or less the same quality, because they don't need high-performance machines, just something that can play Quake III reliably well.
Let's face it: Intel is seriously losing ground, and their last hope is to milk for all they're worth the people who want that silly "Intel Inside" sticker because they figure it means quality.
Cause otherwise, they lost already.
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
That probably means they'll build a custom-made, low-feature OS whose sole purpose is to boot up, load a Web browser (AOL? Yuck.) and connect to the Internet. That's hardly a breakthrough for Open Source, however much we hold our breath.
Lemme explain: even IF they suddenly decided to put some sort of stripped down, alternative Open Source OS on these boxes (say, a light version of OpenBSD), that would still fail to impress the general public, because this type of install won't be a showcase to alternative OS's power. It'll just mean the computer will run in a specialised, narrow focus. So you'll be hard-put to convince your grandmother Linux is so great.
Now, what I do find interesting here is the idea of a Web browsing machine that doesn't use Internet Explorer. Is that what AOL had in mind when they said Netscape Communicator 5 wouldn't come out? Maybe they're trying to attack the Web-surfing market from another angle, by indeed building a Web browser that will give IE a run for its money.
And, pray tell, what difference is there between Win98 w/ IE 4, and a dedicated machine w/ a Web browser? Not much. Both browsers will be at the core of the OS, and the whole box will run on a single manufacturer's products.
But by starting by offering a cheaper alternative, it's not far-fetched to see this trend growing, and perhaps one day Netscape (if that's who they choose) will have its own dream of having a fully-integrated desktop linked closely to their browser. Ten years from now, it could be a heck of a competition to Microsoft.
But I'm not holding my breath. I just hope they'll consider some of the work done in the Open Source movement, and perhaps push it on the mainstream. This article is misleading in its suggestion that computers will soon ship with alternate OS. This is not the point here.
Besides, how long will it be before someone installs a custom distro of Linux on one of these boxes?
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
Heh heh. I could put a penny in a Nauru anonymous bank account, and no one would be the wiser!
Let's just say this bank is not for you and me. They cost more than I had in a bank account my whole life.
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
This would be big news if Nauru decided to alleviate the bank transactions on the island of any international control, including themselves. That was the major point in Cryptonomicon; that the only way to create a true data haven is to put it somewhere outside the influence of any country, period.
That's when it would severely screw up the world's economy, because a perfectly anonymous electronic currency would be untaxable and uncheckable. That is, even by the bank itself, which is not the case of Swiss banks.
And I still think the best place to put a data haven is on the Moon. :)
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
My point exactly. Let's ditch the whole bloody debates about licenses and GNU vs. Free vs. Open Source vs. whogivesadamnwhatelse. And let's just code.
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
They reviewed the original and dubbed versions. (So you can see what you're missing.)
The reviews are heartfelt but also quite funny.
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
Socialism means you can tell companies to shut up.
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
But...
Well, just witness the problems with the whole KDE vs. Gnome conflict. What's the problem, here? I think it essentially boils down to the use of QT in KDE. I rarely see much discussion of the relative merits of the respective GUIs, only philosophical discussions of the two licenses.
What this is doing, people, is breaking down a unity that would serve us very well. This division can only harm us... Sure, we can solve the license problems one by one, and continue arguing about FreeBSD vs. Linux vs. GNU/Linux and what have you. But it's the software that matters. The software is the product, and the various licenses only reflect the philosophy behind the software.
Sure, we can keep solving license problems one by one. But ultimately, we need to proact instead of react. Someone should seriously sit down and think on this problem. The software and the freedom only matter. The rest is details. But as they say, that's where the Devil is.
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
Why in Europe and not in the US? Because most of the large software companies (IBM and Microsoft, to name only two) are in America. The US, were it to suggest Open Source alternatives should be considered for Governmental use, would only be shooting down its own IT economy.
The French, however, are slightly behind on IT and catching up at a frightening pace. You also have to understand that in a European eye, Open Source is something more European than American; remember how Linux is much more important in Europe than America.
So, in Europe, I think Linux has stood the test. It's only natural that the payoffs we've been rambling about for so long are starting to come into the Government's eye. Yes, it's exactly right: Open Source initiatives will spare money for the Government, and everyone is a winner about that.
I'm also tempted to say the French being such fervent believers in democracy (as opposed to capitalism), it's only natural they would jump the Open Source bandwagon first.
Expect the rest of Europe to follow suit. And as European Governments pick up the OS trend, more developpers will get into it. And the products of the Open Source movement will just get better and better.
Until... Until even the US have to recognise those loony Europeans are on to something.
This is a major breakthrough, people, don't underestimate it. This may be the public breakthrough the Open Source movement has been waiting for. Vive la République! Vive la France!
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
Oh, that's their philosophy. Especially the "prosper" bit.
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
How do you take ownership of a patch of the Moon, then? Well, back in the old days (i.e., the Renaissance), you went there with a Government-sponsored team and claimed the land in the name of a nation. You then stacked it up with soldiers to make sure no one contradicts your claim.
So, if you buy a land on the Moon, how are you going to go there and claim it, much less defend it against invasion?
The simple fact of the matter is, you can't. And Governments will let you dream on about your little patch of Moon property until they decide otherwise.
In the meantime, people are giving money away, mostly because they think it's fun. But if you think that's much fun, there's a nice bridge for sale on Io. Just give me a call.
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
Like I need any... I think they just think everything I post is revelant. (It's not. I can post off-topic subjects, or the occasional accidental flamebait. Wish I didn't have to point that out.)
Yeah, I think so! Goes to show how much of a life I have. :)
Disclaimer: See my note on my user page. It's not that I don't like receiving karma for good posts, quite the opposite. It tells me what I'm doing right, and it shows a positive response to what I post, which is encouraging and a great motivation to keep posting as intelligently as I can manage. I just don't think high karma means the next post I make will be intelligent. Each comment I make should be judged individually.
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
Arg, nevermind... I thought my post would end at -1, now it's up at 5. I guess I had something insightful to say, even if it's (slightly) offtopic!
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
What I mean is, it's becoming an imperative for companies to support and develop for Linux. They have a business obligation to do it. It's all the best for us, but still.
Now, supporting FreeBSD is another thing altogether. It takes dedication to the Open Source movement, or at least a modicum of long-term vision not normally possessed by companies. FreeBSD is a solid, well-crafted alternative, and it is part of the Open Source revolution, in some ways better than Linux. If companies are really to embrace the OS movement, then they have to consider other OS initiatives, and not just Red Hat Linux.
So I think this is a genuine show of intelligence from Compaq. And I cannot help but applaud.
"There is no surer way to ruin a good discussion than to contaminate it with the facts."
Feel free to mark it down as offtopic.
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
Let's say you love white horses. Off you go with www.whitehorse.org. Is that too close to whitehouse.gov?
What I'm saying is, it's downright silly to do this, because it's unenforceable. You'll always stumble upon examples of domain names that closely resemble an official one, but only as a coincidence. That means it's a law that'll have to be debated over and over again before the media.
Secondly, what about fair use? Isn't it fair use to do a parody site? If it is, then what about a parody site with a parody domain name to go with it?
The truth of the matter is, the Government feels that people are going to the wrong domain names because they can't tell a Government site from a normal site. So what? The same happens if you dial a Government phone number and end up dialing Luigi's pizza by mistake. Should they ban phone numbers closely resembling Government numbers, too?
Third, why is the Government allowed to protect the integrity of their websites, whereas the user cannot? What says that the US Government can have precedence when it comes to choosing a DNS entry?
Imagine, for instance, that the Government launches a site called 'www.slashdot.gov'. Can they then, were that bill passed, claim that Slashdot.org is using an illegal DNS entry? Why can't it be the opposite?
Let's hope this law is shot down before it becomes a reality. Not that I worry too much: it's gonna be unenforceable anyway.
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
If anything, the fact that Linux is prefered by hackers means there are certainly more bugs found in Linux. People just try to fix them before they become an issue, instead of concealing the fact and hope they can find a fix in time for the next Service Pack.
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
I mean, Slashdot was cracked before. So that hardly proves anything.
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
They tried to ask Gaiman's permission to use Death in the final issue. Gaiman's response was, 'Well, is he dead?' Since they couldn't give him a straight answer, he said no.
"There is no surer way to ruin a good discussion than to contaminate it with the facts."
However, I wish there was some effort being done in making the various desktop environments intercompatible... I'd love to see development aimed at making it easier to code stuff that will run as smoothly on Gnome and KDE.
Linux definitely needs that sort of interportability, but unfortunately it seems that development of applications for Linux is mostly modular, which leads to various branching left and right. It's a good thing Gnome and KDE aren't branching.
Hackers of the world, unite?
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"
A camera that runs games doesn't strike me as so odd in this day and age. As a matter of fact, I've seen plenty of these things in recent time that it seems like a trend is forming. (I mean, who thought you could install an OS on a Lego brick??)
Where is this headed? Well, certainly if the trend follows, we'll see more and more software-oriented technology toys. As far as I'm concerned, for instance, the Palm Pilot is a notepad with an OS running on it. It starts that way, then people realise just how much they can do with what they thought a simple emulation of primitive technology.
However, the next step is more interesting. Digital cameras already exist, but they're not integrated in our highly computerised world. Sure, you have cameras which output directly into a JPG file. But how long before, oh... You can download the image directly to your computer via a wireless LAN?
I think that's the way to go: make tools simple peripherals to the awesome power of a PC. Heck, the whole wired house deal is a dream of exactly that. You run your radio through the PC and play Real Audio files. You download MP3 files to your stereo. You corrolate your fridge's contents with an online calorie table. You drive your car with assistance from online atlases.
Sounds crazy? I dunno. As long as no one gets into their mind to drive a car remote through a webcam on the hood...
Hey, how about having a camera with Photoshop integrated? It's Pac-Man now, but just you wait...
"Knowledge = Power = Energy = Mass"