"Then MS needs to invent new tactics. I have a suggestion. A hitman contract can cost as little as 10-100 grands. Using just one billion (out of about 50 that MS has in cash) dollars Microsoft can assassinate about 10-100 thousand Linux developers, promoters and users. That would deal a devastating blow to the OSS community. Of course, that might raise some uncomfortable questions and I don't think courts will turn a blind eye on that (at least not all of them), but Microsoft is probably slippery enough to get out of that unharmed."
They could hire OJ Simpson to plan the assasinations for them;)
This "study" which is about as credible as a plagarized term paper proves it.
Linux is Microsoft's latest, last, and to date, MOST DANGEROUS competitor. NONE of Microsoft's classic tactics can defeat it, as:
1. Linux is cheaper (how do you get cheaper than free ?).
2. Linux is regarded to be as good if not better in quality and functionality.
3. Linux cannot be bought.
4. Linux cannot be "embraced, extended, extinguished" because of the GPL license.
So, what MS has tried to do over the years is slander it. Which, even they have admitted hasn't worked.
I'm abut this cynical... I think that MS backed SCaldera merely so the could try to make the "Linux has higher TCO" argument fly... Then, when Darl proved to be his own worst enemy, they've pulled the plug and now are back to slander.
This piece is out and out slander and defamation against Linus Torvalds. This "institute" which I won't name because they are slandering yet another great name by using it needs to be sued.
"Creationism is a protestant thing, both in the US and in Australia -- the only two places where it has any grip at all on the culture. My Southern Baptist relations talk, I swear, about "Converting the Catholics to Christianity."
ROFL...
That's how it feels here... I converted from protestantism to Catholicism...
The Baptists around here think the Catholic Church is a cult. It's been around for over 2,000 years, but it's a cult;;)
Those who think they can disprove God by finding alien life better think again.
There is NO REASON whatsoever to believe that Earth is the only creation, or even this universe. I happen to be Roman Catholic. The discovery of aliens would not shake my religious foundation one bit.
I see science not as competition for religion, but as complimentary. When we discover how things work, we discover more about God.
I have no problem accepting evolution as the PROCEESS that was used, for example.
I don't like the extremists on either side on this debate. On one side, you have the atheists, who think science can replace religion. Then, on the other side, you religious nutcases who think the Earth is only 5,000 years old, who scream BLASPHEMY! at you when you mention Mars is closer than it's been in 600,000 years.
But those types of nutcases aren't Roman Catholic, but they are a lot of my neighbors here in Easern Kentucky;)
We should be seeking to discover other life for many reasons, none of which have to do with proving or disproving God. Either task is impossible, BTW.
"Isn't this like hireing Diebold to secure your house, and then having someone (say Jehovah's Witnesses) complain and file a suit against Diebold because they can no longer come up to your house and just enter?
I know I know.. I'm stretching the example a bit... but JW can 'technically' come up to my house knock and I can talk to them if I wish. I can also turn them away.. it's MY house.. MY property. I install a third party system which does something or other to keep them away... how's this diebold's problem? or mine for that matter?"
Or the JW suing me because I'm Roman Catholic and they want to FLEE when they come to my door and find that out?;)
I'd not use this sort of thing... I own my own cable modem (Surfboard 5100), and sitting behind that is a Cisco Pix 501 firewall.
One thing I can say for Adelphia, is that I've seen no evidence of them using "secret" caps, etc, disconnecting users, etc, except for serious abuse (uncapping, running servers that degrade the network, etc).
"If I was an OEM, I'd get a license from one of the companies to include AdAware/Spybot on the shipped systems and set it to run once a week. That's gotta be worth it to remove 12% of support calls!"
A lot of the spyware comes FROM the dealers...
Take a brand new HP Pavillion or Compaq PreSorrio that has never been connected to the internet and run Spybot/AdAware.
I think loser pays is a good idea, but some other things need to be added as well:
1. An agency will be set up to oversee the state Bar... They will track how many frivilous suits a laywer is involved in and sanction attorneys who, say, take 5 of them to court that get tossed or they lose invoking loser pays. Sanctions should include suspensions and eventual disbarment.
2. Loser pays should only be invoked under these circumstances:
1. The loser reprsesents a corporation 2. The loser has means (more than a $5 million net worth) in the case of it being an individual.
Loser pays should be up to the judge, as a sanction against a party filing and PURSUING a frivilous claim, wasting the court's time.
3. The losing lawyer should have to forefit all fees to the WINNING party if loser pays is invoked.
4. A defendant should never be subject to loser pays, only the initiator.
5. Contingency fees should be subject to a 75% tax.
6. Judges should have greater lattitude in disposing of frivilous cases out of hand, INCLUDING forcing the plantiff to show sufficient evidence in initial discovery to show cause for there to be a valid claim for trial (think SCO here). This should be based on the theroy that if you DONT ALREADY HAVE EVIDENCE TO TRY SOMEONE, you don't belong in court!
I've been seriously considering quitting my job, running some classified ads in the local papers, and working from home doing nothing BUT removing spyware and viruses from home and small office machines...
Plenty of clients pay my employer $90/hr for me to go do that. I bet I can get $40/hr for it...
1. ALL seperate programs not fully integrated into the main program have to have a seperate EULA.
2. Software must come with an uninstaller that completely removes ALL elements packaged with the program.
3. "Phone Home" spyware must include in the EULA a list of exactly WHAT data it sends, and what protocals and ports it uses to do it.
4. Spyware makers MUST have provisions to comply with COPPA, and not collect information on persons under 13 (the killer nuke regulation, one Gator can't possibly comply with, but one they could be prosecuted for RIGHT NOW)...
Me too. I am mainly an AM listener, because I love talk radio. If I want music, I have my 20GB Nomad player in the car.
I don't think it's AM or FM that is doomed, but it's MUSIC RADIO itself that is doomed to die off.
15-20 stations in a market just can't compete with the greater variety that portable MP3, satellite, and internet radio offer.
Internet radio is ALSO a threat. As internet becomes more and more unwired, the day may come soon when we can listen to our favorite Live 365 station in the car...
" ClearChannel are a failing business? Aren't they practically in a monopoly situation and trying to keep it that way?"
Radio ITSELF is a failing business. Arbitron ratings show that people are listening to it less and less, and that the decline has accelerated since the consolidation after the 1996 telecoms act.
What CC fears is competition, of course, so they are trying to use the FCC to prevent one.
I wonder what they think of internet radio, a competitor that is growing faster than satellite...
I, myself run an internet station, hosted at Live 365, and I do live/local shows in the evening on it. http://cat92fm.com I try to actually appeal to a LOCAL audience with it. Though it's more of a hobby than a serious effort, I do have some listeners, and most of them are local, and they listen during the day because the music I play isn't played by the local CC cluster (they own 9 stations in our small merket)
I think CC wants to impose something like what is done to cable TV providers: Federally mandated monopoly. With cable or satellite, you are legally stuck with your local stations, you can't choose a different one, and it's illegal for the provider to sell them to you.
"BayStar's letter did not provide specific information regarding SCO's alleged breaches of the Exchange Agreement. SCO is attempting to obtain specific information from BayStar and is evaluating its obligations and options with respect to the redemption notice. "
ROFLMFAO!!! Anyone notice that little bit of irony?
SCaldera's been running around saying that IBM, Novell, Redhat, Linus, your grandma, and everyone else has stolen their code and used it in Linux. MILLIONS of lines, they say.
When asked for specifics (even by the court) they refuse to grant any...
This is the first blow... Even if SCO holds off the redemtion request, they now must expend money in court to fight it. RBC might follow suit (and they should, or they are pissing away their $30 million).
Either party has an excellent chance, if they are right on their claim to have the court FREEZE those assets pending hearing.
This effectively kills SCaldera.
BayStar has made the decision to do this because they have no chance of ever getting their money back otherwise. And they are doing this knowing it destroys SCO.
Being a geek working in Huntington, WV, it kinda sucks. The geek population is very thin here, and I don't think there is a female IT professional in the entire city. At least, I've never met one here...
Not to mentiion that around here, you are expected to know EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING and get paid nothing for it. But working that way is good for expanding your capabilities.
I need to get back to Raleigh... Sigh, the good old days, before the dot-bomb, when lived somewhere where my Linux fish on the car didn't get me strange looks.
As far as this geek is concerned, I want a wife who is one extreme or the other: Either just as much a geek as I am, or else, HATES computers and doesn't like to use them.
Either way, I don't have to be tech support. I do enough of that at work and whenever a member of my family remembers my phone number.
Google is a highly ethical company, which is why I'd trust them for this.
Of course, I dont' really use IE, except for certain pages that won't render well in FireFox, but I have the Google toolbar installed on IE for those occasions.
Tax CREDITS for employers, equal to 1.5 times their payroll that is made up of US citizens or those with permanent residency (ie: "green card") to apply to the corporate tax.
The corporate tax is a farce anyway, it's not REAL revenue to the government, as it is treated as an EXPENSE that comes out of the pockets of other taxpayers who are customers or employees of the corporation.
This would level the playing field because it would INCENTIVIZE companies to use US labor (and all those extra paychecks would easily make up for the tax revenue lost), and it would allow existing companies to play by today's rules if they so choose.
It would also incentivize higher salaries, as the more a company pays their employees, the greater their tax savings!
I really think this is a great idea, but I have no clue as to how to try to get it to someone's attention who can do something about it.
I'd not refuse to train them, neither would I do a very good JOB of it...
And neither should anyone else.
If your managers (who presumably AREN'T being replaced, knew everything about your job duties and had your skills, THEY'd be doing the training, so there is little chance they'd know.
And, presumably, your replacements won't know, as to need such training, they clearly don't have the skills needed to DO your job...
I'd deliberately leave out as much as I can get away with. It's the company's own fault, if they NEED you to transfer proprietary skills of YOURS to do things that they should have documented, they deserve what they get.
And they deserve to get fucked ANYWAY for the despicable practice of outsourcing.
Isn't very good, is it? I mean, he TOTALLY missed out on being first in on the internet, MS was very late to the party.
I suppose his wet dream is hardware sold like cell phones: free (or very cheap) but tied to a service contract (or software contract in this case).
The hardware wouldn't be "owned" by you, and it would be a DMCA violation to run any non MS approved software on it. And if you cancel your software "service", the hardware is useless.
I don't think that this will ever work as a business model.
"BTW: I do know which end of the IDE cable goes into the motherboard but we tend to use SCSI these days on any machine that I'm likely to touch so I'll probably forget eventually;)"
I work in West Virginia... Cost is everything. IDE RAID, and Serial ATA are all the rage.
Better do a refresher on IDE.
PS: my PC (AMD Athlon 64 3200) has a WD Raptor 10K SATA hard drive, as fast as anything but a 15K SCSI drive...
SATA/IDE is the future, for cost, if any other reason. Performance is becoming less and less a reason to go SCSI.
Slashdot Mirror
"Then MS needs to invent new tactics. I have a suggestion. A hitman contract can cost as little as 10-100 grands. Using just one billion (out of about 50 that MS has in cash) dollars Microsoft can assassinate about 10-100 thousand Linux developers, promoters and users. That would deal a devastating blow to the OSS community. Of course, that might raise some uncomfortable questions and I don't think courts will turn a blind eye on that (at least not all of them), but Microsoft is probably slippery enough to get out of that unharmed."
;)
They could hire OJ Simpson to plan the assasinations for them
Sorry, couldn't resist.
This "study" which is about as credible as a plagarized term paper proves it.
Linux is Microsoft's latest, last, and to date, MOST DANGEROUS competitor. NONE of Microsoft's classic tactics can defeat it, as:
1. Linux is cheaper (how do you get cheaper than free
?).
2. Linux is regarded to be as good if not better in quality and functionality.
3. Linux cannot be bought.
4. Linux cannot be "embraced, extended, extinguished" because of the GPL license.
So, what MS has tried to do over the years is slander it. Which, even they have admitted hasn't worked.
I'm abut this cynical... I think that MS backed SCaldera merely so the could try to make the "Linux has higher TCO" argument fly... Then, when Darl proved to be his own worst enemy, they've pulled the plug and now are back to slander.
This piece is out and out slander and defamation against Linus Torvalds. This "institute" which I won't name because they are slandering yet another great name by using it needs to be sued.
"That's a shocker. What would shake it?"
Not much at this point. I've seen too much to NOT belive in God, and in the Catholic Christianity I was raised in. NOTHING makes sense without God.
Might aliens refuse God? Sure. So do some people on Earth. Should we destroy them for that? No. I don't belive in religious warfare.
"Creationism is a protestant thing, both in the US and in Australia -- the only two places where it has any grip at all on the culture. My Southern Baptist relations talk, I swear, about "Converting the Catholics to Christianity."
;;)
ROFL...
That's how it feels here... I converted from protestantism to Catholicism...
The Baptists around here think the Catholic Church is a cult. It's been around for over 2,000 years, but it's a cult
Those who think they can disprove God by finding alien life better think again.
;)
There is NO REASON whatsoever to believe that Earth is the only creation, or even this universe. I happen to be Roman Catholic. The discovery of aliens would not shake my religious foundation one bit.
I see science not as competition for religion, but as complimentary. When we discover how things work, we discover more about God.
I have no problem accepting evolution as the PROCEESS that was used, for example.
I don't like the extremists on either side on this debate. On one side, you have the atheists, who think science can replace religion. Then, on the other side, you religious nutcases who think the Earth is only 5,000 years old, who scream BLASPHEMY! at you when you mention Mars is closer than it's been in 600,000 years.
But those types of nutcases aren't Roman Catholic, but they are a lot of my neighbors here in Easern Kentucky
We should be seeking to discover other life for many reasons, none of which have to do with proving or disproving God. Either task is impossible, BTW.
"Isn't this like hireing Diebold to secure your house, and then having someone (say Jehovah's Witnesses) complain and file a suit against Diebold because they can no longer come up to your house and just enter?
;)
I know I know.. I'm stretching the example a bit... but JW can 'technically' come up to my house knock and I can talk to them if I wish. I can also turn them away.. it's MY house.. MY property. I install a third party system which does something or other to keep them away... how's this diebold's problem? or mine for that matter?"
Or the JW suing me because I'm Roman Catholic and they want to FLEE when they come to my door and find that out?
I'd not use this sort of thing... I own my own cable modem (Surfboard 5100), and sitting behind that is a Cisco Pix 501 firewall.
;)
One thing I can say for Adelphia, is that I've seen no evidence of them using "secret" caps, etc, disconnecting users, etc, except for serious abuse (uncapping, running servers that degrade the network, etc).
That, and they give us 3000/256 for $40 a month
"If I was an OEM, I'd get a license from one of the companies to include AdAware/Spybot on the shipped systems and set it to run once a week. That's gotta be worth it to remove 12% of support calls!"
A lot of the spyware comes FROM the dealers...
Take a brand new HP Pavillion or Compaq PreSorrio that has never been connected to the internet and run Spybot/AdAware.
It finds shit.
I think loser pays is a good idea, but some other things need to be added as well:
1. An agency will be set up to oversee the state Bar... They will track how many frivilous suits a laywer is involved in and sanction attorneys who, say, take 5 of them to court that get tossed or they lose invoking loser pays. Sanctions should include suspensions and eventual disbarment.
2. Loser pays should only be invoked under these circumstances:
1. The loser reprsesents a corporation
2. The loser has means (more than a $5 million net worth) in the case of it being an individual.
Loser pays should be up to the judge, as a sanction against a party filing and PURSUING a frivilous claim, wasting the court's time.
3. The losing lawyer should have to forefit all fees to the WINNING party if loser pays is invoked.
4. A defendant should never be subject to loser pays, only the initiator.
5. Contingency fees should be subject to a 75% tax.
6. Judges should have greater lattitude in disposing of frivilous cases out of hand, INCLUDING forcing the plantiff to show sufficient evidence in initial discovery to show cause for there to be a valid claim for trial (think SCO here). This should be based on the theroy that if you DONT ALREADY HAVE EVIDENCE TO TRY SOMEONE, you don't belong in court!
These proposals aren't perfect, but they'd help.
I've been seriously considering quitting my job, running some classified ads in the local papers, and working from home doing nothing BUT removing spyware and viruses from home and small office machines...
Plenty of clients pay my employer $90/hr for me to go do that. I bet I can get $40/hr for it...
There is a lot of spyware out there that borders on viral behavior. Indeed, I've seen systems harmed more by spyware than viruses...
Shit like Gator, MyWay Search Bar, Ezula, etc, all behave like viruses, the only difference is that there is a EULA somewhere.
Some sensible regulations:
1. ALL seperate programs not fully integrated into the main program have to have a seperate EULA.
2. Software must come with an uninstaller that completely removes ALL elements packaged with the program.
3. "Phone Home" spyware must include in the EULA a list of exactly WHAT data it sends, and what protocals and ports it uses to do it.
4. Spyware makers MUST have provisions to comply with COPPA, and not collect information on persons under 13 (the killer nuke regulation, one Gator can't possibly comply with, but one they could be prosecuted for RIGHT NOW)...
I wonder how much dosh the DMA have been uh, "contributing" to members of the FTC?
Marketers make me sick.
"What do you broadcast on Live365? What format? What's the name of your station? I'm a Live365 listener. :o)
"
Mainly 80s rock and pop, but I play some 70's and 90's too. Basically, what I grew up with.
CC owns 9 stations in my 20-something station market.
Those 9 stations, in the ratings, account for about 50% of the listening audience.
" I dont listent to FM anymore, only AM..."
Me too. I am mainly an AM listener, because I love talk radio. If I want music, I have my 20GB Nomad player in the car.
I don't think it's AM or FM that is doomed, but it's MUSIC RADIO itself that is doomed to die off.
15-20 stations in a market just can't compete with the greater variety that portable MP3, satellite, and internet radio offer.
Internet radio is ALSO a threat. As internet becomes more and more unwired, the day may come soon when we can listen to our favorite Live 365 station in the car...
" ClearChannel are a failing business?
Aren't they practically in a monopoly situation and trying to keep it that way?"
Radio ITSELF is a failing business. Arbitron ratings show that people are listening to it less and less, and that the decline has accelerated since the consolidation after the 1996 telecoms act.
What CC fears is competition, of course, so they are trying to use the FCC to prevent one.
I wonder what they think of internet radio, a competitor that is growing faster than satellite...
I, myself run an internet station, hosted at Live 365, and I do live/local shows in the evening on it. http://cat92fm.com I try to actually appeal to a LOCAL audience with it. Though it's more of a hobby than a serious effort, I do have some listeners, and most of them are local, and they listen during the day because the music I play isn't played by the local CC cluster (they own 9 stations in our small merket)
I think CC wants to impose something like what is done to cable TV providers: Federally mandated monopoly. With cable or satellite, you are legally stuck with your local stations, you can't choose a different one, and it's illegal for the provider to sell them to you.
"BayStar's letter did not provide specific information regarding SCO's alleged breaches of the Exchange Agreement. SCO is attempting to obtain specific information from BayStar and is evaluating its obligations and options with respect to the redemption notice. "
ROFLMFAO!!! Anyone notice that little bit of irony?
SCaldera's been running around saying that IBM, Novell, Redhat, Linus, your grandma, and everyone else has stolen their code and used it in Linux. MILLIONS of lines, they say.
When asked for specifics (even by the court) they refuse to grant any...
This is the first blow... Even if SCO holds off the redemtion request, they now must expend money in court to fight it. RBC might follow suit (and they should, or they are pissing away their $30 million).
Either party has an excellent chance, if they are right on their claim to have the court FREEZE those assets pending hearing.
This effectively kills SCaldera.
BayStar has made the decision to do this because they have no chance of ever getting their money back otherwise. And they are doing this knowing it destroys SCO.
This whole thing is over within 6 months now.
Being a geek working in Huntington, WV, it kinda sucks. The geek population is very thin here, and I don't think there is a female IT professional in the entire city. At least, I've never met one here...
Not to mentiion that around here, you are expected to know EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING and get paid nothing for it. But working that way is good for expanding your capabilities.
I need to get back to Raleigh... Sigh, the good old days, before the dot-bomb, when lived somewhere where my Linux fish on the car didn't get me strange looks.
As far as this geek is concerned, I want a wife who is one extreme or the other: Either just as much a geek as I am, or else, HATES computers and doesn't like to use them.
Either way, I don't have to be tech support. I do enough of that at work and whenever a member of my family remembers my phone number.
Google is a highly ethical company, which is why I'd trust them for this.
Of course, I dont' really use IE, except for certain pages that won't render well in FireFox, but I have the Google toolbar installed on IE for those occasions.
Tax CREDITS for employers, equal to 1.5 times their payroll that is made up of US citizens or those with permanent residency (ie: "green card") to apply to the corporate tax.
The corporate tax is a farce anyway, it's not REAL revenue to the government, as it is treated as an EXPENSE that comes out of the pockets of other taxpayers who are customers or employees of the corporation.
This would level the playing field because it would INCENTIVIZE companies to use US labor (and all those extra paychecks would easily make up for the tax revenue lost), and it would allow existing companies to play by today's rules if they so choose.
It would also incentivize higher salaries, as the more a company pays their employees, the greater their tax savings!
I really think this is a great idea, but I have no clue as to how to try to get it to someone's attention who can do something about it.
I'd not refuse to train them, neither would I do a very good JOB of it...
And neither should anyone else.
If your managers (who presumably AREN'T being replaced, knew everything about your job duties and had your skills, THEY'd be doing the training, so there is little chance they'd know.
And, presumably, your replacements won't know, as to need such training, they clearly don't have the skills needed to DO your job...
I'd deliberately leave out as much as I can get away with. It's the company's own fault, if they NEED you to transfer proprietary skills of YOURS to do things that they should have documented, they deserve what they get.
And they deserve to get fucked ANYWAY for the despicable practice of outsourcing.
Isn't very good, is it? I mean, he TOTALLY missed out on being first in on the internet, MS was very late to the party.
I suppose his wet dream is hardware sold like cell phones: free (or very cheap) but tied to a service contract (or software contract in this case).
The hardware wouldn't be "owned" by you, and it would be a DMCA violation to run any non MS approved software on it. And if you cancel your software "service", the hardware is useless.
I don't think that this will ever work as a business model.
I'd buy it there from a store that sells over the counter then go to a UPS store and ship it to your home.
That way you don't deal with customs at all.
"BTW: I do know which end of the IDE cable goes into the motherboard but we tend to use SCSI these days on any machine that I'm likely to touch so I'll probably forget eventually ;)"
I work in West Virginia... Cost is everything. IDE RAID, and Serial ATA are all the rage.
Better do a refresher on IDE.
PS: my PC (AMD Athlon 64 3200) has a WD Raptor 10K SATA hard drive, as fast as anything but a 15K SCSI drive...
SATA/IDE is the future, for cost, if any other reason. Performance is becoming less and less a reason to go SCSI.