Heh, this is nothing new. Remember that fire in a Chinese disco hall back in 1999? 50+ poeple were killed there, because all except 1 door was locked. Ive been to other disco halls and places of social gatherings in China, and they just don't follow proper fire safety codes. On a cultural note, the Chinese are pretty damn protective of their property and profits, so they lock all doors except one to keep out those who do not pay an admission fee to get in, as in the case of internet cafes and disco halls, which is the reason they lock most doors except for the entrance. They have yet to learn.
Re:Example of full write access over Kazza network
on
Kazaa Usability Study
·
· Score: 1
Stange...are you sure it was his use of Kazaa that allowed other file-sharers to delete his files? The HD could have suffered electromagnetic or heat damage from an external source.
If full write access was implemented, which I have not found, did Sharman or possibly even rogue employees at Brilliant Digital plant this feature in Kazaa in the hopes of stealing valuable financial data from unsuspecting users? Also, is Kazaa Lite affected?
The push for free software in Taiwan, which plans to develop it, and China, which plans to use RedFlagLinuix on gov't systems, is nothing new. As I had stated in an earlier post, the Chinese will always go for the lowest possible price for something they want, if not free. However, when a product they want is beyond their budget, they'll try to get a "pirated" or "knockoff" version of it, because it usually costs less. As in the case of properietary software, they would rather get a pirated copy of Microsoft Office or WindowsXP than pay stratospheric licensing fees. Also, as "western" fashions are popular in Hong Kong, a lot of people their are on a budget. Instead of forking over 200 US dollars worth of HK currency for say, a genuine Louie Vallerie handbag, most citizens would prefer the "knockoffs" sold in flea markets, because trendy items to the Chinese are about appearances, not the quality of the material. From my experiences in these flea markets, I can tell one that while these "counterfeit handbags" are made of plastic rather than leather, it looks identical to the real thing.
However, times are changing for China. As this country tries its hardest to enter the WTO, the Chinese government has been cracking down on piracy in government-owned computers and in markets all over the country. (As stated in a CNET article, an anti-piracy official in China was quoted as saying "We arrest the persons involved (in piracy rings) and turn to execute them). Yet the Chinese government, which had been running pirated versions of its software for years until recently, knows they they cannot afford licsensing fees from coporate juggernauts such as Microsoft. Therefore, they pushed for the use of RedFlagLinuix. This situation also applies to the free software movement in Taiwan, which has its roots in centuries old Chinese mentality: give me what I want for the lowest price.
One last note...the Chinese have also considered sofware as an essential component for learining about technology. They do not feel it is a crime to "copy" software such as Windows XP, which is required to run Microsoft Word, a word processing program theyre most familiar with, which is used to type up various documents, especially for education. As one Chinese famous scohlar once said "Stealing a book is elegance".
That doesn't mean its impossible. Since Ogg is open source...people can perfect it to a point that will enable groups such as Rockbox can write a firmware small enough to fit in the Archos's ROM. It could happen in this year, next year, who knows...
Yes, you can find the new firmware at the Diamond Multimedia FTP site. Its Version 2.00 BETA, with extra features such as a steroscope. Here's the link:
ftp://ftp.diamondmm.com/pub/rio/riovolt/sp250/ Download the "riovolt_sp250_200-firmware.exe" file (the firmware) and its corresonding text file (the readme explaining the new features). Note that in this version, some buttons will perform completely different actions than in the original firmware.
The days of playing a single format; mp3, are over for the archos...and in a good way. Hopfully the archos execs won't slap the DMCA on these guys using the "reverse-engineering excuse".
-Jay
What is the point of gaming on these high-end, high-speed laptops when the refresh rates of their screens are lower than what a typical CRT can offer? I distinctly remember a CNET review of a Dell Notebook Inspiron that featured a GeForce2 Go. It mentioned that the GeForce2Go could retain refresh rates higher than the notebook's TFT screen. This appears to defeat the purpose of hardcore notebook gaming, which of course requires fast refresh rates. (However, an exception would include most RTS games). In turn, this can degrade gameplay, especially with 1st person shooters. In addition, notebook screens are capable of displaying a limited amount of colors-around 1.5 million I believe, correct me if im wrong. Washed out images of flying objects, such as grenades in Counterstrike would make one's notebook gaming experience fragtastic...for the player and others.
Actually, its not Chinese servers that deliver the junk mail directly. Usually, its Crackers/spammers from other countries comprimise the servers' security settings and rerouting their spam. Software on those servers are usually outdated, contain a lot of bugs, and have many security holes. Also, most system admins in China cannot read the English-language manuals. As a result, they cannot upgrade their software or get security patches, and cracker/spammers can do their dirty work via Chinese servers.
Heres some related links:
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50455, 00 . tml (Not All Spam is From Asia)
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50856, 00 . tml (China Sweet, Sour On Spam)...on the political situation of spam in China.
I will add that the Chinese have always been hardcore bargain hunters perhaps since the beggining of the Tang dynasty. Lower class civilians usually learned to get obtain the best deal first. Yes, China started to become a poor country towards the end of the Qing Dyansty as a result of attempted colonialism and poor descisions on the part of the Qing. After the Nationalist-Communist wars, communist takeover, Cultural Revolution (where extreme amounts of money were taken away from businesspeople and middle-class citizens), many Chinese have learned to manage their cash, and *reenforce* their bargaining skills as they do not have an abundance of cash.
If you don't see my point, you may have to go to cities such as Shanghai or Hong Kong to see this bargain-hunting behaviour in action. Better yet, if you have one, ask a Chinese friend if they've observed their family members (usually the parents or grand-parents) if they push market vendors for a good deal. Then ask them why.
In conclusion, the driving force of the pirated media/software market in China, as well as the will of the Taiwanese and Chinese companies to sidestep royalties is the combination of the bargain-hunting mentality that begun in the early dynasties, and the wars and revolutions that drained many of their cash reserves which re-enforced the bargain hunting mentality and the habit of managing money.
It wasn't my intention to blame communism for the begginnings of poverty in China, but rather it instigated the start of "product piracy". In the early 1950's, the product piracy market began with knockoffs of popular products (toothpastes, board games, etc...) in sold in the western world. About 30 years later, piracy of music recordings began to proliferate. Now, its software and as well as other digital media.
And no, it was not my intention to present this as a "problem" unique to China. I did mention that Brazil ranked above China in the size of their pirated media markets.
I would like to mention that impoverished countries are not the only ones that may have sizable piracy markets. Italy has the one of the largest pirated media/software markets in the Europe, believe it or not. See this for yourself at the flea markets.
As a person of Chinese descent, I observe that many Chinese, if not other Asians living in Asia, will only pay what is neccesary to obtain the material object. Reason why is because they simply don't have enough cash to pay for royalties that entertainment and technology companies want them to pay. The a lawyer in China only makes about $141. The GDP per capita in China is about $3,600. Ever since the Communist takeover in the 20th century, many Chinese have become thirfty, budget-minded consumers.
Believe me, many Chinese are hardcore bargain-hunters (Ive observed this in Hong Kong) and usually do not purchase something without getting the lowest possible price.
As a result, Chinese usually spend their money on neccessities such as food, health care products, etc...they also would like other commodities sold in the Western world, but cannot afford them. One of these much-wanted commodities is entertainment such as DVDs, software etc...Anyway, they usually buy pirated products because the legal ones typically cost 5 times more.
The Chinese and Taiwanese governments really don't care about royalty payments demanded from companies in foreign countries...simply because they want to save money. As a result, Taiwan and China rank among the largest pirated software and home video markets in the world, just below Brazil.
Software and entertainment companies should really take a look at how much the average person makes in the country they release theire products in...
Here's an interesting article I found at www.nme.com...
Link (http://www.nme.com/news/101808.htm)
EMINEM'S PIRATE WAR!
EMINEM is threatening to "beat the shit" out of fans who have illegally uploaded his music onto the Internet. Despite his new album, 'The Eminem Show', being one of the most closely guarded pre-release projects in history, it is now widely available to buy and download illegally weeks ahead of release.
Despite strict security measures, all 20 tracks from 'The Eminem Show' are available on the Internet, almost a month ahead of the album's June 3 release - meaning his label Interscope could lose millions.
The rapper said bluntly: "I think that shit is fucking bullshit. Whoever put my shit on the Internet, I want to meet that motherf***er and beat the shit out of him, because I picture this scrawny little dickhead going 'I got Eminem's new CD! I got Eminem's new CD! I'm going to put it on the Internet.' I think that anybody who tries to make excuses for that shit is a fucking bitch."
Internet downloading of music has concerned labels and artists, but there is an even greater fear about bootlegging - selling copies of the downloaded music to fans who can't wait for the real thing or can't afford it. Copies of 'The Eminem Show'' were being sold openly in New York last week for $5.
As a result of the leak, the album will now be released on Monday (May 27). For more on this story, see this week's NME, which is out in London now and nationwide tomorrow (May 22). ---
Ouch. Eminen should really take some Prozac or Ritalin before press conferences...he might get better PR...
Slashdot Mirror
Haha. In my area, the pierced, painted goths have great taste in LSD....
.13 wafers...OEM flavored...
Duuuuuude... my shirt's playing MP3s
Duude....Bill gates is morphing in to Satan...totallly psychadelic!
Duude....someone forgot to put the heatsink on the AMD...mmm...silicon bacon....tasty
OEMs are still cheaper for the public by far...retail has too many useless software bundles that jack up the price.
Heh, this is nothing new. Remember that fire in a Chinese disco hall back in 1999? 50+ poeple were killed there, because all except 1 door was locked. Ive been to other disco halls and places of social gatherings in China, and they just don't follow proper fire safety codes. On a cultural note, the Chinese are pretty damn protective of their property and profits, so they lock all doors except one to keep out those who do not pay an admission fee to get in, as in the case of internet cafes and disco halls, which is the reason they lock most doors except for the entrance. They have yet to learn.
Stange...are you sure it was his use of Kazaa that allowed other file-sharers to delete his files? The HD could have suffered electromagnetic or heat damage from an external source.
If full write access was implemented, which I have not found, did Sharman or possibly even rogue employees at Brilliant Digital plant this feature in Kazaa in the hopes of stealing valuable financial data from unsuspecting users? Also, is Kazaa Lite affected?
The push for free software in Taiwan, which plans to develop it, and China, which plans to use RedFlagLinuix on gov't systems, is nothing new. As I had stated in an earlier post, the Chinese will always go for the lowest possible price for something they want, if not free. However, when a product they want is beyond their budget, they'll try to get a "pirated" or "knockoff" version of it, because it usually costs less. As in the case of properietary software, they would rather get a pirated copy of Microsoft Office or WindowsXP than pay stratospheric licensing fees. Also, as "western" fashions are popular in Hong Kong, a lot of people their are on a budget. Instead of forking over 200 US dollars worth of HK currency for say, a genuine Louie Vallerie handbag, most citizens would prefer the "knockoffs" sold in flea markets, because trendy items to the Chinese are about appearances, not the quality of the material. From my experiences in these flea markets, I can tell one that while these "counterfeit handbags" are made of plastic rather than leather, it looks identical to the real thing.
However, times are changing for China. As this country tries its hardest to enter the WTO, the Chinese government has been cracking down on piracy in government-owned computers and in markets all over the country. (As stated in a CNET article, an anti-piracy official in China was quoted as saying "We arrest the persons involved (in piracy rings) and turn to execute them). Yet the Chinese government, which had been running pirated versions of its software for years until recently, knows they they cannot afford licsensing fees from coporate juggernauts such as Microsoft. Therefore, they pushed for the use of RedFlagLinuix. This situation also applies to the free software movement in Taiwan, which has its roots in centuries old Chinese mentality: give me what I want for the lowest price.
One last note...the Chinese have also considered sofware as an essential component for learining about technology. They do not feel it is a crime to "copy" software such as Windows XP, which is required to run Microsoft Word, a word processing program theyre most familiar with, which is used to type up various documents, especially for education. As one Chinese famous scohlar once said "Stealing a book is elegance".
Well, rockbox doesn't have to, but another group or person can.
That doesn't mean its impossible. Since Ogg is open source...people can perfect it to a point that will enable groups such as Rockbox can write a firmware small enough to fit in the Archos's ROM. It could happen in this year, next year, who knows...
Yes, you can find the new firmware at the Diamond Multimedia FTP site. Its Version 2.00 BETA, with extra features such as a steroscope. Here's the link:
ftp://ftp.diamondmm.com/pub/rio/riovolt/sp250/
Download the "riovolt_sp250_200-firmware.exe" file (the firmware) and its corresonding text file (the readme explaining the new features). Note that in this version, some buttons will perform completely different actions than in the original firmware.
The days of playing a single format; mp3, are over for the archos...and in a good way. Hopfully the archos execs won't slap the DMCA on these guys using the "reverse-engineering excuse". -Jay
What is the point of gaming on these high-end, high-speed laptops when the refresh rates of their screens are lower than what a typical CRT can offer? I distinctly remember a CNET review of a Dell Notebook Inspiron that featured a GeForce2 Go. It mentioned that the GeForce2Go could retain refresh rates higher than the notebook's TFT screen. This appears to defeat the purpose of hardcore notebook gaming, which of course requires fast refresh rates. (However, an exception would include most RTS games). In turn, this can degrade gameplay, especially with 1st person shooters. In addition, notebook screens are capable of displaying a limited amount of colors-around 1.5 million I believe, correct me if im wrong. Washed out images of flying objects, such as grenades in Counterstrike would make one's notebook gaming experience fragtastic...for the player and others.
Well, thats my 2 cents.
Actually, its not Chinese servers that deliver the junk mail directly. Usually, its Crackers/spammers from other countries comprimise the servers' security settings and rerouting their spam. Software on those servers are usually outdated, contain a lot of bugs, and have many security holes. Also, most system admins in China cannot read the English-language manuals. As a result, they cannot upgrade their software or get security patches, and cracker/spammers can do their dirty work via Chinese servers.
, 00 . tml (Not All Spam is From Asia)
, 00 . tml (China Sweet, Sour On Spam)...on the political situation of spam in China.
Heres some related links:
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50455
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50856
I will add that the Chinese have always been hardcore bargain hunters perhaps since the beggining of the Tang dynasty. Lower class civilians usually learned to get obtain the best deal first. Yes, China started to become a poor country towards the end of the Qing Dyansty as a result of attempted colonialism and poor descisions on the part of the Qing. After the Nationalist-Communist wars, communist takeover, Cultural Revolution (where extreme amounts of money were taken away from businesspeople and middle-class citizens), many Chinese have learned to manage their cash, and *reenforce* their bargaining skills as they do not have an abundance of cash.
If you don't see my point, you may have to go to cities such as Shanghai or Hong Kong to see this bargain-hunting behaviour in action. Better yet, if you have one, ask a Chinese friend if they've observed their family members (usually the parents or grand-parents) if they push market vendors for a good deal. Then ask them why.
In conclusion, the driving force of the pirated media/software market in China, as well as the will of the Taiwanese and Chinese companies to sidestep royalties is the combination of the bargain-hunting mentality that begun in the early dynasties, and the wars and revolutions that drained many of their cash reserves which re-enforced the bargain hunting mentality and the habit of managing money.
It wasn't my intention to blame communism for the begginnings of poverty in China, but rather it instigated the start of "product piracy". In the early 1950's, the product piracy market began with knockoffs of popular products (toothpastes, board games, etc...) in sold in the western world. About 30 years later, piracy of music recordings began to proliferate. Now, its software and as well as other digital media.
And no, it was not my intention to present this as a "problem" unique to China. I did mention that Brazil ranked above China in the size of their pirated media markets.
I would like to mention that impoverished countries are not the only ones that may have sizable piracy markets. Italy has the one of the largest pirated media/software markets in the Europe, believe it or not. See this for yourself at the flea markets.
As a person of Chinese descent, I observe that many Chinese, if not other Asians living in Asia, will only pay what is neccesary to obtain the material object. Reason why is because they simply don't have enough cash to pay for royalties that entertainment and technology companies want them to pay. The a lawyer in China only makes about $141. The GDP per capita in China is about $3,600. Ever since the Communist takeover in the 20th century, many Chinese have become thirfty, budget-minded consumers.
Believe me, many Chinese are hardcore bargain-hunters (Ive observed this in Hong Kong) and usually do not purchase something without getting the lowest possible price.
As a result, Chinese usually spend their money on neccessities such as food, health care products, etc...they also would like other commodities sold in the Western world, but cannot afford them. One of these much-wanted commodities is entertainment such as DVDs, software etc...Anyway, they usually buy pirated products because the legal ones typically cost 5 times more.
The Chinese and Taiwanese governments really don't care about royalty payments demanded from companies in foreign countries...simply because they want to save money. As a result, Taiwan and China rank among the largest pirated software and home video markets in the world, just below Brazil.
Software and entertainment companies should really take a look at how much the average person makes in the country they release theire products in...
Here's an interesting article I found at www.nme.com...
Link (http://www.nme.com/news/101808.htm)
EMINEM'S PIRATE WAR!
EMINEM is threatening to "beat the shit" out of fans who have illegally uploaded his music onto the Internet.
Despite his new album, 'The Eminem Show', being one of the most closely guarded pre-release projects in history, it is now widely available to buy and download illegally weeks ahead of release.
Despite strict security measures, all 20 tracks from 'The Eminem Show' are available on the Internet, almost a month ahead of the album's June 3 release - meaning his label Interscope could lose millions.
The rapper said bluntly: "I think that shit is fucking bullshit. Whoever put my shit on the Internet, I want to meet that motherf***er and beat the shit out of him, because I picture this scrawny little dickhead going 'I got Eminem's new CD! I got Eminem's new CD! I'm going to put it on the Internet.' I think that anybody who tries to make excuses for that shit is a fucking bitch."
Internet downloading of music has concerned labels and artists, but there is an even greater fear about bootlegging - selling copies of the downloaded music to fans who can't wait for the real thing or can't afford it. Copies of 'The Eminem Show'' were being sold openly in New York last week for $5.
As a result of the leak, the album will now be released on Monday (May 27). For more on this story, see this week's NME, which is out in London now and nationwide tomorrow (May 22).
---
Ouch. Eminen should really take some Prozac or Ritalin before press conferences...he might get better PR...