There's a municipality near me where there is a widely-known "trash Nazi" who does exactly what you described the Japanese doing. He roots through trash to look for cans, bottles, etc. The offender gets warned, but repeat offenses wind up resulting in summary offenses for violating the solid waste ordinance. Every so and when, the newspaper runs an article about it and interviews the trash Nazi as well as some outraged homeowner.
Admittedly, the trash Nazi is relatively exceptional, which is why the item is "newsworthy." The point being that it does occur on occasion here in the US.
I think that rather than checking all the trash, a careful "auditing" process might be enough to encourage more careful enforcement. The problem is that local trash service is often provided by a municipality or a consortium of municipalities via a joint municipal authority. The folks on the municipal boards (township supervisors or borough council) are elected and rooting through people's trash from time to time and fining them on occasion would likely result in ballot box action against the backers of any serious enforcement of solid waste rules. Where I live, we're just a few steps removed from burn barrels, after all.
Changing the mindset of Joe Sixpack is clearly needed here, which is more or less your proposition. I agree.
I had a ballast go bad on a regular tube Flourescent light recently. It smelled bad, but didn't start a fire.
I have also had an incandescent bulb lamp tip over, lose the shade and lean against a wall, which actually did start a fire when it lit the paneling. Although it has not happened to me, I suspect that there have been instances of bulbs being placed in inappropriate fixtures causing fires, from halogen to incandescent and everything in between. My SWAG is that CFLs are not really any more or less dangerous than regular bulbs. I've replaced every single light in my house with them, and I have not had to change a bulb in nine months (since the replacement of the incandescents). My light bill is a little lower. To me, the real benefit is convenience: I do not have to change light bulbs in strange fixtures that are a pain to remove.
From a safety perspective, I suspect that there is not much appreciable difference in risk from CFLs versus other means of lighting. If they are incredibly dangerous, have no fear: our uber-efficient tort system will regulate them out of existence.
You do enough of the required behavior and get a reward. The key is to make the reward incentive strong enough to continue the behavior.
In WoW, and other online games, the goal is to keep the player paying money to the company to keep playing. What attracts players? A good game, marketing, other gamers, escapism, etc. The players, thusly attracted, must be kept entertained reasonably. A guy from Atari used to talk about how they developed games and thought about things like Skinner Boxes.
My comment is not particularly insightful or novel -- just google for Skinner Box and WoW. It's a connection that lots of folks have made.
Part of dealing with the problem is to recognize it when it comes at you and and realize the manipulation taking place. I don't think that the WoW owners are evil for operating their Skinner Box, as ultimately it is an issue that, IMHO, drops to the level of "personal responsibility." I'd like to see more education for kids so that they can recognize these sorts of traps in life.
We teach kids to cross streets, to stay away from old wells, not to smoke, not to shoot heroin, not to get into cars with strangers, etc. Why don't we teach them some basic life skills like recognizing likely "modern day" traps where the danger is not as obvious? Things like shopping and the dopamine connection. How fast food places manipulate their seating to encourage you to leave. How grocery stores manipulate you into walking around the entire store to get to the milk.
While I mentioned "personal responsibility" above re: WoW, the fact that some folks are either more educated about such things or more innately sensitive to the manipulation of SB's should not result in us thinking of those who fall prey to SB's as being morally deficient or lacking in self-control. To some extent, they may not recognize the danger until the SB behavior is so reinforced that changing it is difficult. I have often wondered if there are chemical or physical changes in the brain in gaming addicts that are akin to those who are addicted to alcohol or drugs, for instance. Ignorance of possible harm, rather than lack of self-control, can likely explain at least some of the fallout or collateral damage that can result from overdoing online (or offline) games.
I'm sure that we will see someone ultimately argue that online games (since they are new and shiny and an "in" target) are psycholocigal conditioning devices. I suspect that, as with DOOM in the Columbine case (and GTA, and others), that video games, online and otherwise, will continue to be whipping boys in criminal cases and possibly in the tort system (regulation through litigation).
In any case, I understand the perils of gaming to some extent, and that understanding has helped to inform my personal decisions about doing it. Likewise, I'll try to educate my kids about it. I think that seeing these stories from time to time, though we all roll our eyes at them, is probably useful on the whole, as it reminds us that excesses are often unplanned and that they take their toll over time.
Perhaps we have another 100,000 years and the Homo Sapian will be replaced with another Hominid. Certainly the the optomistic view is that another Homo Sapien subspecies will appear, wipe us out, and carry on the Sapien branch.
Tab reordering is nice (I'm at 1.5.0.7). Something I'd like to see is the ability to drag and drop folders in my bookmarks. The links themselves can be moved, but I can't seem to be able to move folders around. That sort of sucks.
Last year, the police were recorded by a guy in my town as they were being obnoxious, roughing him up, etc. They confiscated his recording device and destroyed the tapes while threatening him with wiretapping charges. This hit the papers and blew up for a bit, and ultimately the cops dropped the charges and returned his tape. The tape was erased when it was returned, and nobody knew how this could have happened.
dial-up networking to let your laptop connect via evdo
voice memos (formerly needed an add-on to do this)
more built-in memory
different built-in mp3 player
Form factor is the same. Slightly heavier.
Looks like a nice upgrade, for my purposes, anyway. Plus I could punt my 650 to my wife. I wish they'd have a standard headphone jack, though, for mp3 playback.
If it's from the horse's mouth, I suppose it's not bs. Plus, Palm's website is unlikely to be slashdotted. The site also has, you know, lists of features, brochures, and stuff.
There are a number of threads here with points worth responding to. I'm too lazy to put them all in the respective threads, so I put them here in one place. Here is the skinny on Sales and Use tax issues, at least in PA. It applies to taxability of digital downloads specifically but touches on other issues as well.
1. Sales tax: To be required to collect sales tax from customers, businesses must have a nexus with the state. Physical presence is sufficient, as Lynn Swann found out from selling his footballs. Sales tax is collected by businesses, not consumers. Physical things (tangible personal property) must be sold to the end consumer in order for the sales tax to be due in PA. Services (some) also incur sales tax. For property sales, however, you needed tangible personal property, not intangible ones.
2. Use tax: This is required to be paid by customers (purchasers of tangible personal property). If I buy a sofa in MD (5% sales tax) and bring it to PA (6% sales tax on a taxable item of personal property), I am required to pay sales tax. I can get credit for sales tax paid to MD (see: http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/revenue/lib/revenue/rev-227.pdf), but I haveto pay the additional 1% to PA on a use tax return.
From a practical standpoint, use tax is paid in two scenarios, primarily. First is by businesses with multijurisdictional operations that transfer property between states. Second is by consumers who buy cars elsewhere and register them in PA.
3. Sales and use tax issues - tangible personal property: One of my partners does SALT work (State and Local Taxation) and he specializes in going to businesses to do reverse audits to reduce taxes paid going forward by changing business practices and in appling for refunds for improperly paid sales and use tax.
One big issue with sales and use tax is whether something qualifies as tangible personal property. Software has been a big issue in Pennsylvania. The Graham Packaging case decided that issue:
The relevant stipulated facts of the case are as follows:
In connection with the appeal to this court, the parties entered into a stipulation of facts which states, among other things, that: (1) users of software programs do not own the software program; rather, users purchase the right to use the program in accordance with the licensing agreement and copyright law; (2) computer disks are often provided free of charge to multiple user license holders; (3) computer disks do not give users rights of ownership to the software; (4) computer disks remain the property of the licensor of the software program; (5) the physical delivery of the computer software program can be accomplished without the transfer of the computer disk and the computer disk is not necessary for the use of the program; (6) the physical quality of the computer disk does not affect the price of the computer software program; (7) Graham paid Dell for two-year license renewals of software licenses previously purchased by Graham; (8) the delivery of the computer software sold to Graham was originally accomplished by disk; (9) the license renewals at issue did not involve computer disks; and (10) the original computer disks were obsolete at the time of the license renewals. See Stipulation of Facts (filed March 2, 2005).
Before Graham Packaging, there was a big difference whether software was downloaded or delivered via CD. To wit: say I want an AV program. If I want the most sales tax advantaged way of buying one, I purchase and download AVG Antivirus instead of buying a copy of the Syman
The following link is from the Lancaster papers' website. It has greater detail on the case and more information about what Judge Feudale actually authorized, which was a relatively limited search and in camera review of the findings prior to allowing them to be turned over to the Commonwealth.
In addition, the Lancaster papers' attorney failed to secure any witness or provide any testimony that could demonstrate that the computer forensics work could be done in the newspapers' offices as opposed to taking the drives to the AG's forensics lab. You have to at least put up a fight to win. I think that the attorney for the paper knows bupkis about technology and he was completely unprepared to fight the subpoena on that basis. It's an example of having the wrong lawyer and being outgunned by people who specialize in this sort of criminal prosecution.
I suspect also, having read the bio of the attorney (George C. Werner) on his firm's (Barley Snyder) website (http://www.barley.com/attorney/bios/bio.cfm?attor neyID=24) that he knows bupkis about criminal law. Barley Snyder attorneys are usually pretty sharp folks, but they are not who I would select for this sort of case, either for the newspaper company or the journalists in the underlying criminal case.
How, for instance, will the logs at the server level produce any compelling evidence as to who was physically using the workstations involved?
Circumstantial evidence is sufficient to obtain a criminal conviction in Pennsylvania. The Commonwealth's argument here will be that the circumstantial evidence here is that: (1)The restricted access website Z was accessed by computer X (2)Computer X was seized from person Y (3)Computer X was issued to and used by person Y (4)Details accessed through Computer X appeared in a newspaper article penned by person Y (5)While it cannot be directly shown that person Y was the person accessing website Z from the computer assigned to or used by person Y, an inference exists which would allow a finder of fact (a jury in a jury trial or a judge in a non-jury trial) to conclude that person Y was the person who accessed website Z.
The classic example given during jury instructions on circumstantial evidence is that of snow: 1. I went to bed at night and the yard was clear and grassy. 2. I woke up and the entire town was covered in 6 inches of snow, evenly distributed all over the place. 3. While I did not see it, it must have snowed after I went to bed.
Circumstantial evidence is no better or worse than direct evidence. It is still evidence and a good defense attorney is very careful about circumstantial evidence. Prosecutors always use the "The Defendant's attorney thinks that you were born yesterday..." argument during closings if the defense tries to make a too-cute-by-half argument that circumstantial evidence is somehow defective or of a lesser quality or value than direct evidence.
This is not to say that a prosecutor wouldn't want to have direct evidence, such as an eyewitness to the reporter accessing the website or a witness who could testify to an admission against interest of the reporter ("I heard reporter Y talking about the JNET website when he was writing the story on the ZZZZ murder case..."). [1]
For what it's worth, Judge Feudale is an interesting bird. He has served as a visiting judge in a high-profile case in my county where all the judges had to recuse themselves. I also recently (successfully, at least for the time being) argued the appealability of an interlocutory order in a drug forfeiture case before him. He's sharp.
[1]While this statement is hearsay, it is admissible as an exception.
GF.
Re:From the perspective of a new cube monkey...
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Cubicles a Giant Mistake
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· Score: 2, Interesting
They give people the illusion of privacy, which is why a lot of people look at porn at work, and it also makes it much more casual to walk in and engage in idle chit chat since you have no door to knock on or authenticate access to.
I think I see a market opportunity here. I'll hook a spare line from my desk phone to a RADIUS server and maybe some sort of electronic lock. Anyone who wants in my door must call me first on their cell phone and enter their code. I could probably even set times of day for more or less limited access. I could probably even verify by caller ID. A simple phone number pasted to the door would probably be sufficient to instruct visitors. I could link it to our office's remote access server to keep the passwords synched.
Something about Google is irritating investors, as they have been flocking away from GOOG lately. Obviously, there are many, many possible reasons for this (valuation issues, the disclosure of certain search data, etc., etc.), but disclosure/guidance issues may be part of the story.
When a company has such a premium valuation as does GOOG, I would want asolutely clean books and as much transparency as can be managed while at the same time keeping strategic information protected. Admittedly, that is a tough line to walk, but if you want your company to justify an extreme valuation, you have to be perfect. Anything else is itself an excuse for a reduced multiplier.
Managing investors is an essential part of managing any public or private company. If a company focuses only on its operations aspects without giving sufficient attention to investor issues, the company may end up with a suboptimal valuation that could hurt (1) credit facilities, (2) acquisition opportunities (stock deals are more costly, for instance), and (3) the brand, among others.
I think that there is room for a device between laptop size and pda size. I remember the old HP Omnibooks and the Jornada-type devices.
MSFT's info says that this thing is the size of a paperback. Maybe a trade paperback. I'd like something in a clamshell design with a screen that is maybe the size of my HP17BII calculator, or just under 6" by about 3". A little keyboard below and a screen on top. Maybe use a Thinkpad nub for a pointing device. Allow PCMCIA and USB, and really that's all I want. I could add wifi via pcmcia if I really need it, or a Verizon wireless card that way.
I'd need maybe a couple of gigs on the drive, like 2 or 4. They can get that in an iPod, why not a small palmtop?
I wouldn't look for a really snappy processor, as battery life (and size/heat) would obviously be issues.
It would just be nice to have something small and thin to work with from time to time if I'm waiting in court or travelling or sitting at home with the kids. PLus, lugging around a laptop is a pain in the ass.
You are correct - it is JetBlue, not Southwest. The details were a little foggy. I read the book a while back.
I think that the development (outsourcing to remote areas) is a positive consequence in that it does allow wage arbitrage within the United States, which may help to reduce the pressure on urban areas as well as empower and enrich more remote communities where employment can be a hit or miss thing. Lose one of your majors, and the community suffers tremendously.
By broadening the possible options for labor and making them less dependent on things like geography, it will enrich and stabilize rural areas while giving a lower cost structure to businesses. Essentially, it is a "benefits of trade" type argument, only within the political boundaries of the US as opposed to a benefits of trade scenario involving different countries. It still involves multiple markets, and the differences between the markets can be exploited to create value on both sides of the equation.
I note that Thomas Friedman talked about this in his book, "The World is Flat" where he discussed how, I believe, Southwest Airlines sent its booking to stay-at-home moms in Utah. They were stable, ad low turnover, the pay was good for them, and Southwest cut their costs fairly significantly.
In addition, you are less likely to see unionization, you can sometimes farm out (heh!) work on a piece basis, reducing the benefits/workers comp/unemployment comp, etc.
I live in a built-up area of PA. I grew up in the boonies. I have long considered the possibility of giving someone where I grew up a copy of Openoffice, a dialup account, and a computer so that I can email my dictation out there and have them send it back on a piece rate basis.
I could probably save about 25-30% on my transcription costs.
On the voice recorder issue, why not gin up a plug in for Win Amp or something like that in order to allow transcription of the recorded voice note? You could use a standard USB pedal to control speed, rewind, etc. Voice recording is great and all, but for instance with my Treo, the big issue is getting the recording to my secretary and having her transcribe it.
Civ type games on other platforms
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Ask Sid Meier
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· Score: 1
What are the chances that games such as Railroad Tycoon, Civ, Colonization, etc., may be released for non-PC platforms?
I enjoyed them in the past and I would gladly pay to have a compilation of them available for my PS2 or my Treo (Palm OS). I like the turn-based "god" type games and I would like to be able to play them on something other than a PC. Why haven't these games already been released for PS2/Xbox/Gamecube/handhelds?
You have no idea how tired I am of these crazy convergence devices that play mp3s, watch movies, take photos, check emails, play games, cellphone, organizer, calender, does GPS... but doesnt do any of them well!
You have no idea how tired I am of having to lug around devices to do everything. Fortunately, I have found a way around my problem with the Treo 650:
I need: 1. Cell phone 2. Organizer 3. Dictation machine 4. Internet access 5. SMS
I want: 1. Video 2. Games 3. MP3 player 4. Basic camera with basic video/sound recording and cam-phone pictures
I got a Treo 650 and put in a big ass SD card. I have about 500 megs of MP3s on it, which is plenty for a portable. My headphone adapter doo-hickey works fine.
It does phone stuff. It does organizer stuff. It takes video/pictures acceptably. It does dictation (with an add-on program for a minimal amount). I can then email the dictation to my secretary from anywhere. Obviously, it has internet access.
It plays mpeg video very well (for free - google TCMP).
It does SMS. It does reasonable games (Scrabble (though the Scrabble-bot is stupid) and backgammon. I'm not a Half-Life gamer, just need something to kill some time occasionally, and it does it well.
I hated carrying around an mp3 player, a cassette dictation recorder, a camera, a Palm Tungsten, and a cell phone. This is much more convenient for me and I am thrilled with what I got for it. Is everything absolutely perfect? Nope, but it is good enough for me.
Those who have more sophisticated needs may need a specialized device, but it works for me. YMMV.
Slashdot Mirror
+1. So many people fail to understand the purpose of the Second Amendment.
As I have told countless friends through the years: the Second Amendment is not about duck hunting.
There's a municipality near me where there is a widely-known "trash Nazi" who does exactly what you described the Japanese doing. He roots through trash to look for cans, bottles, etc. The offender gets warned, but repeat offenses wind up resulting in summary offenses for violating the solid waste ordinance. Every so and when, the newspaper runs an article about it and interviews the trash Nazi as well as some outraged homeowner.
Admittedly, the trash Nazi is relatively exceptional, which is why the item is "newsworthy." The point being that it does occur on occasion here in the US.
I think that rather than checking all the trash, a careful "auditing" process might be enough to encourage more careful enforcement. The problem is that local trash service is often provided by a municipality or a consortium of municipalities via a joint municipal authority. The folks on the municipal boards (township supervisors or borough council) are elected and rooting through people's trash from time to time and fining them on occasion would likely result in ballot box action against the backers of any serious enforcement of solid waste rules. Where I live, we're just a few steps removed from burn barrels, after all.
Changing the mindset of Joe Sixpack is clearly needed here, which is more or less your proposition. I agree.
GF.
I had a ballast go bad on a regular tube Flourescent light recently. It smelled bad, but didn't start a fire.
I have also had an incandescent bulb lamp tip over, lose the shade and lean against a wall, which actually did start a fire when it lit the paneling. Although it has not happened to me, I suspect that there have been instances of bulbs being placed in inappropriate fixtures causing fires, from halogen to incandescent and everything in between. My SWAG is that CFLs are not really any more or less dangerous than regular bulbs. I've replaced every single light in my house with them, and I have not had to change a bulb in nine months (since the replacement of the incandescents). My light bill is a little lower. To me, the real benefit is convenience: I do not have to change light bulbs in strange fixtures that are a pain to remove.
From a safety perspective, I suspect that there is not much appreciable difference in risk from CFLs versus other means of lighting. If they are incredibly dangerous, have no fear: our uber-efficient tort system will regulate them out of existence.
WoW and other similar online games are generally designed to be Skinner Boxes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinner_box
You do enough of the required behavior and get a reward. The key is to make the reward incentive strong enough to continue the behavior.
In WoW, and other online games, the goal is to keep the player paying money to the company to keep playing. What attracts players? A good game, marketing, other gamers, escapism, etc. The players, thusly attracted, must be kept entertained reasonably. A guy from Atari used to talk about how they developed games and thought about things like Skinner Boxes.
My comment is not particularly insightful or novel -- just google for Skinner Box and WoW. It's a connection that lots of folks have made.
Part of dealing with the problem is to recognize it when it comes at you and and realize the manipulation taking place. I don't think that the WoW owners are evil for operating their Skinner Box, as ultimately it is an issue that, IMHO, drops to the level of "personal responsibility." I'd like to see more education for kids so that they can recognize these sorts of traps in life.
We teach kids to cross streets, to stay away from old wells, not to smoke, not to shoot heroin, not to get into cars with strangers, etc. Why don't we teach them some basic life skills like recognizing likely "modern day" traps where the danger is not as obvious? Things like shopping and the dopamine connection. How fast food places manipulate their seating to encourage you to leave. How grocery stores manipulate you into walking around the entire store to get to the milk.
While I mentioned "personal responsibility" above re: WoW, the fact that some folks are either more educated about such things or more innately sensitive to the manipulation of SB's should not result in us thinking of those who fall prey to SB's as being morally deficient or lacking in self-control. To some extent, they may not recognize the danger until the SB behavior is so reinforced that changing it is difficult. I have often wondered if there are chemical or physical changes in the brain in gaming addicts that are akin to those who are addicted to alcohol or drugs, for instance. Ignorance of possible harm, rather than lack of self-control, can likely explain at least some of the fallout or collateral damage that can result from overdoing online (or offline) games.
I'm sure that we will see someone ultimately argue that online games (since they are new and shiny and an "in" target) are psycholocigal conditioning devices. I suspect that, as with DOOM in the Columbine case (and GTA, and others), that video games, online and otherwise, will continue to be whipping boys in criminal cases and possibly in the tort system (regulation through litigation).
In any case, I understand the perils of gaming to some extent, and that understanding has helped to inform my personal decisions about doing it. Likewise, I'll try to educate my kids about it. I think that seeing these stories from time to time, though we all roll our eyes at them, is probably useful on the whole, as it reminds us that excesses are often unplanned and that they take their toll over time.
GF
Perhaps we have another 100,000 years and the Homo Sapian will be replaced with another Hominid. Certainly the the optomistic view is that another Homo Sapien subspecies will appear, wipe us out, and carry on the Sapien branch.
Or, perhaps we are replaced by Cylons.
Thanks for the tip. Works great. Maybe I'm dumb for not Googling for it or reading TFM, but it is an annoyance no longer.
Tab reordering is nice (I'm at 1.5.0.7). Something I'd like to see is the ability to drag and drop folders in my bookmarks. The links themselves can be moved, but I can't seem to be able to move folders around. That sort of sucks.
Hopefully it will sop being a memory hog.
Last year, the police were recorded by a guy in my town as they were being obnoxious, roughing him up, etc. They confiscated his recording device and destroyed the tapes while threatening him with wiretapping charges. This hit the papers and blew up for a bit, and ultimately the cops dropped the charges and returned his tape. The tape was erased when it was returned, and nobody knew how this could have happened.
Fucking amazing.
http://www.palm.com/us/products/smartphones/treo7
(coming soon, allegedly)
Form factor is the same. Slightly heavier.
Looks like a nice upgrade, for my purposes, anyway. Plus I could punt my 650 to my wife. I wish they'd have a standard headphone jack, though, for mp3 playback.
I guess it's for real, and not just some blogger's fantasy:
0 0p/index.html?sssdmh=dm13.112777
http://www.palm.com/us/products/smartphones/treo7
If it's from the horse's mouth, I suppose it's not bs. Plus, Palm's website is unlikely to be slashdotted. The site also has, you know, lists of features, brochures, and stuff.
comicbookguy=on
Wasn't that Star Blazers? Or Space Battleship/Cruiser Yamato (seen it referred to in both ways).
comicbookguy=off
There are a number of threads here with points worth responding to. I'm too lazy to put them all in the respective threads, so I put them here in one place. Here is the skinny on Sales and Use tax issues, at least in PA. It applies to taxability of digital downloads specifically but touches on other issues as well.
/rev-227.pdf), but I haveto pay the additional 1% to PA on a use tax return.
1. Sales tax:
To be required to collect sales tax from customers, businesses must have a nexus with the state. Physical presence is sufficient, as Lynn Swann found out from selling his footballs. Sales tax is collected by businesses, not consumers. Physical things (tangible personal property) must be sold to the end consumer in order for the sales tax to be due in PA. Services (some) also incur sales tax. For property sales, however, you needed tangible personal property, not intangible ones.
2. Use tax:
This is required to be paid by customers (purchasers of tangible personal property). If I buy a sofa in MD (5% sales tax) and bring it to PA (6% sales tax on a taxable item of personal property), I am required to pay sales tax. I can get credit for sales tax paid to MD (see: http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/revenue/lib/revenue
From a practical standpoint, use tax is paid in two scenarios, primarily. First is by businesses with multijurisdictional operations that transfer property between states. Second is by consumers who buy cars elsewhere and register them in PA.
3. Sales and use tax issues - tangible personal property:
One of my partners does SALT work (State and Local Taxation) and he specializes in going to businesses to do reverse audits to reduce taxes paid going forward by changing business practices and in appling for refunds for improperly paid sales and use tax.
One big issue with sales and use tax is whether something qualifies as tangible personal property. Software has been a big issue in Pennsylvania. The Graham Packaging case decided that issue:
http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/revenue/cwp/view.as p?a=318&q=252626
http://www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/CWealth/ou t/652FR02_9-15-05.pdf
The relevant stipulated facts of the case are as follows:
In connection with the appeal to this court, the parties entered into a
stipulation of facts which states, among other things, that: (1) users of software programs do not own the software program; rather, users purchase the right to use the program in accordance with the licensing agreement and copyright law; (2) computer disks are often provided free of charge to multiple user license holders; (3) computer disks do not give users rights of ownership to the software; (4) computer disks remain the property of the licensor of the software program; (5) the physical delivery of the computer software program can be accomplished without the transfer of the computer disk and the computer disk is not necessary for the use of the program; (6) the physical quality of the computer disk does not affect the price of the computer software program; (7) Graham paid Dell for two-year license renewals of software licenses previously purchased by Graham; (8) the delivery of the computer software sold to Graham was originally accomplished by disk; (9) the license renewals at issue did not involve computer disks; and (10) the original computer disks were obsolete at the time of the license renewals. See Stipulation of
Facts (filed March 2, 2005).
Before Graham Packaging, there was a big difference whether software was downloaded or delivered via CD. To wit: say I want an AV program. If I want the most sales tax advantaged way of buying one, I purchase and download AVG Antivirus instead of buying a copy of the Syman
The following link is from the Lancaster papers' website. It has greater detail on the case and more information about what Judge Feudale actually authorized, which was a relatively limited search and in camera review of the findings prior to allowing them to be turned over to the Commonwealth.
r neyID=24) that he knows bupkis about criminal law. Barley Snyder attorneys are usually pretty sharp folks, but they are not who I would select for this sort of case, either for the newspaper company or the journalists in the underlying criminal case.
http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/21327
In addition, the Lancaster papers' attorney failed to secure any witness or provide any testimony that could demonstrate that the computer forensics work could be done in the newspapers' offices as opposed to taking the drives to the AG's forensics lab. You have to at least put up a fight to win. I think that the attorney for the paper knows bupkis about technology and he was completely unprepared to fight the subpoena on that basis. It's an example of having the wrong lawyer and being outgunned by people who specialize in this sort of criminal prosecution.
I suspect also, having read the bio of the attorney (George C. Werner) on his firm's (Barley Snyder) website (http://www.barley.com/attorney/bios/bio.cfm?atto
GF.
How, for instance, will the logs at the server level produce any compelling evidence as to who was physically using the workstations involved?
Circumstantial evidence is sufficient to obtain a criminal conviction in Pennsylvania. The Commonwealth's argument here will be that the circumstantial evidence here is that:
(1)The restricted access website Z was accessed by computer X
(2)Computer X was seized from person Y
(3)Computer X was issued to and used by person Y
(4)Details accessed through Computer X appeared in a newspaper article penned by person Y
(5)While it cannot be directly shown that person Y was the person accessing website Z from the computer assigned to or used by person Y, an inference exists which would allow a finder of fact (a jury in a jury trial or a judge in a non-jury trial) to conclude that person Y was the person who accessed website Z.
The classic example given during jury instructions on circumstantial evidence is that of snow:
1. I went to bed at night and the yard was clear and grassy.
2. I woke up and the entire town was covered in 6 inches of snow, evenly distributed all over the place.
3. While I did not see it, it must have snowed after I went to bed.
Circumstantial evidence is no better or worse than direct evidence. It is still evidence and a good defense attorney is very careful about circumstantial evidence. Prosecutors always use the "The Defendant's attorney thinks that you were born yesterday..." argument during closings if the defense tries to make a too-cute-by-half argument that circumstantial evidence is somehow defective or of a lesser quality or value than direct evidence.
This is not to say that a prosecutor wouldn't want to have direct evidence, such as an eyewitness to the reporter accessing the website or a witness who could testify to an admission against interest of the reporter ("I heard reporter Y talking about the JNET website when he was writing the story on the ZZZZ murder case..."). [1]
For what it's worth, Judge Feudale is an interesting bird. He has served as a visiting judge in a high-profile case in my county where all the judges had to recuse themselves. I also recently (successfully, at least for the time being) argued the appealability of an interlocutory order in a drug forfeiture case before him. He's sharp.
[1]While this statement is hearsay, it is admissible as an exception.
GF.
They give people the illusion of privacy, which is why a lot of people look at porn at work, and it also makes it much more casual to walk in and engage in idle chit chat since you have no door to knock on or authenticate access to.
I think I see a market opportunity here. I'll hook a spare line from my desk phone to a RADIUS server and maybe some sort of electronic lock. Anyone who wants in my door must call me first on their cell phone and enter their code. I could probably even set times of day for more or less limited access. I could probably even verify by caller ID. A simple phone number pasted to the door would probably be sufficient to instruct visitors. I could link it to our office's remote access server to keep the passwords synched.
A man can dream, I guess...
Yes, but I don't see the investors complaining.
Um...have you seen GOOG's chart lately?
Something about Google is irritating investors, as they have been flocking away from GOOG lately. Obviously, there are many, many possible reasons for this (valuation issues, the disclosure of certain search data, etc., etc.), but disclosure/guidance issues may be part of the story.
When a company has such a premium valuation as does GOOG, I would want asolutely clean books and as much transparency as can be managed while at the same time keeping strategic information protected. Admittedly, that is a tough line to walk, but if you want your company to justify an extreme valuation, you have to be perfect. Anything else is itself an excuse for a reduced multiplier.
Managing investors is an essential part of managing any public or private company. If a company focuses only on its operations aspects without giving sufficient attention to investor issues, the company may end up with a suboptimal valuation that could hurt (1) credit facilities, (2) acquisition opportunities (stock deals are more costly, for instance), and (3) the brand, among others.
GF.
I think that I may have found something in the ballpark of what I want:
7 7
http://www.mobileplanet.com/product.asp?code=1289
(not pimping the site, just found it)
Anyone with OQO experiences, please feel free to share.
I think that there is room for a device between laptop size and pda size. I remember the old HP Omnibooks and the Jornada-type devices.
MSFT's info says that this thing is the size of a paperback. Maybe a trade paperback. I'd like something in a clamshell design with a screen that is maybe the size of my HP17BII calculator, or just under 6" by about 3". A little keyboard below and a screen on top. Maybe use a Thinkpad nub for a pointing device. Allow PCMCIA and USB, and really that's all I want. I could add wifi via pcmcia if I really need it, or a Verizon wireless card that way.
I'd need maybe a couple of gigs on the drive, like 2 or 4. They can get that in an iPod, why not a small palmtop?
I wouldn't look for a really snappy processor, as battery life (and size/heat) would obviously be issues.
It would just be nice to have something small and thin to work with from time to time if I'm waiting in court or travelling or sitting at home with the kids. PLus, lugging around a laptop is a pain in the ass.
You are correct - it is JetBlue, not Southwest. The details were a little foggy. I read the book a while back.
I think that the development (outsourcing to remote areas) is a positive consequence in that it does allow wage arbitrage within the United States, which may help to reduce the pressure on urban areas as well as empower and enrich more remote communities where employment can be a hit or miss thing. Lose one of your majors, and the community suffers tremendously.
By broadening the possible options for labor and making them less dependent on things like geography, it will enrich and stabilize rural areas while giving a lower cost structure to businesses. Essentially, it is a "benefits of trade" type argument, only within the political boundaries of the US as opposed to a benefits of trade scenario involving different countries. It still involves multiple markets, and the differences between the markets can be exploited to create value on both sides of the equation.
I note that Thomas Friedman talked about this in his book, "The World is Flat" where he discussed how, I believe, Southwest Airlines sent its booking to stay-at-home moms in Utah. They were stable, ad low turnover, the pay was good for them, and Southwest cut their costs fairly significantly.
In addition, you are less likely to see unionization, you can sometimes farm out (heh!) work on a piece basis, reducing the benefits/workers comp/unemployment comp, etc.
I live in a built-up area of PA. I grew up in the boonies. I have long considered the possibility of giving someone where I grew up a copy of Openoffice, a dialup account, and a computer so that I can email my dictation out there and have them send it back on a piece rate basis.
I could probably save about 25-30% on my transcription costs.
GF.
On the voice recorder issue, why not gin up a plug in for Win Amp or something like that in order to allow transcription of the recorded voice note? You could use a standard USB pedal to control speed, rewind, etc. Voice recording is great and all, but for instance with my Treo, the big issue is getting the recording to my secretary and having her transcribe it.
What are the chances that games such as Railroad Tycoon, Civ, Colonization, etc., may be released for non-PC platforms?
I enjoyed them in the past and I would gladly pay to have a compilation of them available for my PS2 or my Treo (Palm OS). I like the turn-based "god" type games and I would like to be able to play them on something other than a PC. Why haven't these games already been released for PS2/Xbox/Gamecube/handhelds?
It plays mpeg video very well (for free - google TCMP).
Perhaps I meant: TCPMP
You have no idea how tired I am of these crazy convergence devices that play mp3s, watch movies, take photos, check emails, play games, cellphone, organizer, calender, does GPS... but doesnt do any of them well!
You have no idea how tired I am of having to lug around devices to do everything. Fortunately, I have found a way around my problem with the Treo 650:
I need:
1. Cell phone
2. Organizer
3. Dictation machine
4. Internet access
5. SMS
I want:
1. Video
2. Games
3. MP3 player
4. Basic camera with basic video/sound recording and cam-phone pictures
I got a Treo 650 and put in a big ass SD card. I have about 500 megs of MP3s on it, which is plenty for a portable. My headphone adapter doo-hickey works fine.
It does phone stuff. It does organizer stuff. It takes video/pictures acceptably. It does dictation (with an add-on program for a minimal amount). I can then email the dictation to my secretary from anywhere. Obviously, it has internet access.
It plays mpeg video very well (for free - google TCMP).
It does SMS. It does reasonable games (Scrabble (though the Scrabble-bot is stupid) and backgammon. I'm not a Half-Life gamer, just need something to kill some time occasionally, and it does it well.
I hated carrying around an mp3 player, a cassette dictation recorder, a camera, a Palm Tungsten, and a cell phone. This is much more convenient for me and I am thrilled with what I got for it. Is everything absolutely perfect? Nope, but it is good enough for me.
Those who have more sophisticated needs may need a specialized device, but it works for me. YMMV.
GF.