I was going to suggest the same but not for the financial reasons, which are fairly obvious.
We need more lawyers. Let me modify that. We need more lawyers on our side.
Besides the altruistic part, you might also find The Law to be interesting from a Comp Sci POV. In a very abstract sense, The Law is like computer code that governs our society. It's our OS. And case law is like the libraries that a sub program (the courts) might call, since it is undesirable to reinvent the wheel for each case.
Tangent: It's funny how someone who programs in one language wouldn't advise someone programming in a language they didn't know (other than to advise them to switch to their favorite language), yet when they are completely ignorant of the law they feel free to give opinions on matters on which they are completely ignorant.
Even if you don't end up practicing law, a degree in law could be invaluable to whatever field in which you finally settle.
If you go to work for a start up, don't make the mistake I did, and negotiate for sock options in lieu of compensation. On that note, check my ebay auction for unmatched socks. I'm selling them for pennies on the dollar.
I don't think you understand the word Tenure in this usage. Outside of incompetence, gross misconduct, or financial necessity, a college or university can't fire a tenured professor for criticizing the college or university.
Incompetence means that they do not understand their subject.
Gross misconduct could be a number of things, from a sex scandal to reckless endangerment of students to physically assaulting the dean.
Financial necessity means that the college or university can no longer afford to pay it's staff, so they begin cutting positions.
I don't know whether there are laws that govern this (there might be in state universities), but it's part of the traditions of academic freedom. If a college or university didn't uphold these traditions, they wouldn't be in operation very long.
instead of being spoon-fed every kind of s**t, we'll have a voice to tell or indicate "what we want" and "what we don't want anymore."
"I can shovel shit into my own mouth, thank you very much."
My feelings about show cancellation protests can best be expressed by the following poem and accompanying interpretive dance:
You wake up late for school man you don't wanna go You ask you mom, "Please?" but she still says, "No!" You missed two classes and no homework But your teacher preaches class like you're some kind of jerk
You gotta fight for your right to Star Trek!
You pops caught you smoking and he said, "No way!" That hypocrite smokes two packs a day Man, living at home is such a drag Now your mom threw away your best porno mag!
You gotta fight for your right to Star Trek!
Don't step out of this house if that's the clothes you're gonna wear I'll kick you out of my home if you don't cut that hair Your mom busted in and said, "What's that noise?" Aw, mom you're just jealous it's the Berman Boy!
What they're doing is smart, and I think it will pay off for them. A TV program lives and dies by ratings, which determine the price for advertising for the network or channel. BSG is attempting to grow a fan base to insure that they get high rating. They've already succeeded enough to get a second season.
The little extras they're giving us are just part of their overall campaign. It's a small part, but the attention to detail (such as the behind the scenes interviews with cast and crew) definitely adds to my enjoyment.
I join you in your hope that they will continue to release online versions of all the episodes, but I don't think it will happen beyond a very limited basis. FWIW, I got the miniseries off of BT and watched it last night and ordered the DVD from Amazon about 15 minutes ago. I don't like to think of myself as a pirate, but I'll accept the title of "illegal previewer". =)
I haven't seen the whole series yet, but I think part of what makes Baltar so compelling is that he is very human. He's not sympathetic as he's a pathological egoist (not an egotist, mind you, but an egoist), yet his frailties makes him strangely approachable.
I think the Baltar character is evidence both of the sophistication of the writers and their belief that their audience is sophisticated enough to appreciate such a three dimensional ambiguous character.
While I agree with your point to a certain extent (because it's evident that Apple is a business and it's goal is to make a profit), I have to take issue with some of your examples.
Microsoft: copy innovations without any consideration to the originators Apple: Watson, Konfabulator
Watson was an extension to Sherlock and Apple "offered consideration" to the developer. The developer turned it down.
Konfabulator: What exactly was the innovation that Apple copied? Nice implementation, though.
Microsoft: choke the life out of people they have contracts with Apple: Clone manufacturers and Resellers
It was and is pretty clear that the Clone manufacturers were choking the life out of Apple. When Jobs tried to negotiate a better deal for Apple for the next version of the OS, the clonemakers turned him down.
Microsoft: Even in their originally innovative products, they primarily engage in anti-competitive, intentional incompatibilities Apple: Fairplay DRM
Pretty much a non-issue, unless you are of the opinion that all DRM is evil, and that creators and copyright holders have no rights to control their works.
If you've actually looked under the hood at both Konfabulator and at Dashboard, how can you say that "Apple has ripped off the majority of K"?
Konfabulator is based on a custom variant Javascript and a custom runtime engine. Dashboard is based on HTML + CSS + JS and the runtime engine was already built into Webcore. Are you saying that Apple is ripping of Javascript? Isn't that a bit preposterous?
I think you should read Jon Gruber's take on the Dashboard vs. Konfabulator controversy.
You said:
To MS' credit, when they steal an idea, they at least offer to buy off the inventor, ESPECIALLY if the inventor is a small to midsized firm.
What exactly is it that Arlo Rose invented? He didn't invent applets. He didn't invent the concept of the user being able to create their own applets.
What exactly did Arlo do that was original enough that he might be granted a monopoly on applets?
The answer is, absolutely nothing. He came up with a cool implementation that looked good, nothing more.
Only Steve Jobs could find a way to make a guy who wrote an extraordinarily popular platform for OSX so pissed off the guy declared he was moving the whole thing over to Windows.
Factually wrong. The port to windows was announced six months prior to anyone outside of Apple having a hint that Dashboard was coming. Do you just repeat shit that you've heard without checking, or are you in the habit of pulling things out of your ass?
They hired the head programmer at Cassady & Greene, maker of the best OS9 MP3 software called SoundJam, and hired him to help make iTunes which is virtually a clone of that software, and now C&G is out of business.
By "head programmer", do you mean a developer for whom C & G was acting as publisher? C & G was a publisher, not a developer. C & G stopped selling SoundJam at the developer's request, not Apple's request.
By "virtually a clone" do you mean that iTunes was written completely fresh from the ground up?
C & G's flagship product was Conflict Catcher, a utility for managing extensions in OS 7 - 9. There is no need for an extension manager in OS X. That, more than anything else, is why C & G closed it's doors. The Mac world moved on, and C & G as a collective identity didn't move with it. I'm sure that the individual developers that C & G published or hired were able to move on.
Also you should have a look at the C & G site itself. They say that "We have endured many industry downturns, but the last three years have presented a series of economic disasters from which we were unable to rebound", not that Apple drove them out of business. Not even a hint. It might just as easily be that with the growth of the web, C & G's purpose as a publisher became irrelevant. Why would a developer need C & G when they could self publish on the web?
It's was sad when C & G went out of business. But why must you look for a scapegoat? And why must you twist the facts into lies in order to make Apple that scapegoat?
I've had posts modded "overrated" when it hadn't even been modded up in the first place. Clearly abuse, whether intentional or unintentional (in the case of a moderator not understanding the use of the overrated mod).
Is "giving back to the OSS community" equivalent to providing a binary RPM that only runs on a recent Red Hat/Fedora?
I wonder how many of those that complain that Apple hasn't "given enough back" to the OSS community have given anything back to the linux community themselves.
I see that the originator of this thread, FyRE666 has written games in Javascript, so perhaps he has some justification for his criticism. But I think there are many free loaders who are just bitter that they can't also freeload off of Apple.
3. The purpose of the Galaxy is to flip out and kill people.
Check out this site all about galaxies, REAL GALAXIES. This site is awesome.I can't stop thinking about Galaxies. These guys are cool; and by cool, I mean totally sweet.
Slashdot Mirror
I was going to suggest the same but not for the financial reasons, which are fairly obvious.
We need more lawyers. Let me modify that. We need more lawyers on our side.
Besides the altruistic part, you might also find The Law to be interesting from a Comp Sci POV. In a very abstract sense, The Law is like computer code that governs our society. It's our OS. And case law is like the libraries that a sub program (the courts) might call, since it is undesirable to reinvent the wheel for each case.
Tangent: It's funny how someone who programs in one language wouldn't advise someone programming in a language they didn't know (other than to advise them to switch to their favorite language), yet when they are completely ignorant of the law they feel free to give opinions on matters on which they are completely ignorant.
Even if you don't end up practicing law, a degree in law could be invaluable to whatever field in which you finally settle.
If you go to work for a start up, don't make the mistake I did, and negotiate for sock options in lieu of compensation. On that note, check my ebay auction for unmatched socks. I'm selling them for pennies on the dollar.
I don't think you understand the word Tenure in this usage. Outside of incompetence, gross misconduct, or financial necessity, a college or university can't fire a tenured professor for criticizing the college or university.
Incompetence means that they do not understand their subject.
Gross misconduct could be a number of things, from a sex scandal to reckless endangerment of students to physically assaulting the dean.
Financial necessity means that the college or university can no longer afford to pay it's staff, so they begin cutting positions.
I don't know whether there are laws that govern this (there might be in state universities), but it's part of the traditions of academic freedom. If a college or university didn't uphold these traditions, they wouldn't be in operation very long.
TURN OFF YOUR TV!
The best sci-fi is in BOOKS not TELEVISION.
What channel is that on?
Wouldn't we then refer to Him as Gpd?
2nd AD: Oh my God! They're holding Crafty hostage and won't release him until we send over the Set PAs.
Transportation Capt.: That explains the lack of donuts.
(to Teamsters)
Saddle up, boys. We've got a mission. Except for you, Pappy. I want you to circle the honey wagons.
instead of being spoon-fed every kind of s**t, we'll have a voice to tell or indicate "what we want" and "what we don't want anymore."
"I can shovel shit into my own mouth, thank you very much."
My feelings about show cancellation protests can best be expressed by the following poem and accompanying interpretive dance:
You wake up late for school man you don't wanna go
You ask you mom, "Please?" but she still says, "No!"
You missed two classes and no homework
But your teacher preaches class like you're some kind of jerk
You gotta fight for your right to Star Trek!
You pops caught you smoking and he said, "No way!"
That hypocrite smokes two packs a day
Man, living at home is such a drag
Now your mom threw away your best porno mag!
You gotta fight for your right to Star Trek!
Don't step out of this house if that's the clothes you're gonna wear
I'll kick you out of my home if you don't cut that hair
Your mom busted in and said, "What's that noise?"
Aw, mom you're just jealous it's the Berman Boy!
You gotta fight for your right to Star Trek!
What they're doing is smart, and I think it will pay off for them. A TV program lives and dies by ratings, which determine the price for advertising for the network or channel. BSG is attempting to grow a fan base to insure that they get high rating. They've already succeeded enough to get a second season.
The little extras they're giving us are just part of their overall campaign. It's a small part, but the attention to detail (such as the behind the scenes interviews with cast and crew) definitely adds to my enjoyment.
I join you in your hope that they will continue to release online versions of all the episodes, but I don't think it will happen beyond a very limited basis. FWIW, I got the miniseries off of BT and watched it last night and ordered the DVD from Amazon about 15 minutes ago. I don't like to think of myself as a pirate, but I'll accept the title of "illegal previewer". =)
I haven't seen the whole series yet, but I think part of what makes Baltar so compelling is that he is very human. He's not sympathetic as he's a pathological egoist (not an egotist, mind you, but an egoist), yet his frailties makes him strangely approachable.
I think the Baltar character is evidence both of the sophistication of the writers and their belief that their audience is sophisticated enough to appreciate such a three dimensional ambiguous character.
I just BTed the 2003 miniseries/pilot and I liked it so much I'm going to buy the DVD this afternoon.
Check that. Just ordered it.
Perhaps the fact that your sidekick is named CP/M boy is a bit of a give away.
Actually, they give you a choice, Tony. Download MP3s or subscribe to the Podcast. Nice to see you being so diligent.
If anyone is interested, there's also a new behind the scenes video.
If you think that one was bad, you should have seen the reject (A highlander giving a sheep a reach-around).
An ATM would be the ultimate phishing site.
You might want to look into Air Foil. It allows you to stream any audio to AP Express.
It's OS X only at this point, unfortunately for users of other OSes.
Right. Forbes. Who never printed any anti-Linux FUD. Ever.
In case you haven't noticed, Forbes is practically a Microsoft and SCO shill. Forbes' Daniel Lyons is one of SCO's biggest cheerleaders.
Forbes has little credibility to me.
I think it would be more accurate to say that MS did screw Apple, but that Sculley was considerate enough to pull down his pants and bend over.
While I agree with your point to a certain extent (because it's evident that Apple is a business and it's goal is to make a profit), I have to take issue with some of your examples.
Microsoft: copy innovations without any consideration to the originators
Apple: Watson, Konfabulator
Watson was an extension to Sherlock and Apple "offered consideration" to the developer. The developer turned it down.
Konfabulator: What exactly was the innovation that Apple copied? Nice implementation, though.
Microsoft: choke the life out of people they have contracts with
Apple: Clone manufacturers and Resellers
It was and is pretty clear that the Clone manufacturers were choking the life out of Apple. When Jobs tried to negotiate a better deal for Apple for the next version of the OS, the clonemakers turned him down.
Microsoft: Even in their originally innovative products, they primarily engage in anti-competitive, intentional incompatibilities
Apple: Fairplay DRM
Pretty much a non-issue, unless you are of the opinion that all DRM is evil, and that creators and copyright holders have no rights to control their works.
If you've actually looked under the hood at both Konfabulator and at Dashboard, how can you say that "Apple has ripped off the majority of K"?
Konfabulator is based on a custom variant Javascript and a custom runtime engine. Dashboard is based on HTML + CSS + JS and the runtime engine was already built into Webcore. Are you saying that Apple is ripping of Javascript? Isn't that a bit preposterous?
I think you should read Jon Gruber's take on the Dashboard vs. Konfabulator controversy.
You said:
To MS' credit, when they steal an idea, they at least offer to buy off the inventor, ESPECIALLY if the inventor is a small to midsized firm.
What exactly is it that Arlo Rose invented? He didn't invent applets. He didn't invent the concept of the user being able to create their own applets.
What exactly did Arlo do that was original enough that he might be granted a monopoly on applets?
The answer is, absolutely nothing. He came up with a cool implementation that looked good, nothing more.
Only Steve Jobs could find a way to make a guy who wrote an extraordinarily popular platform for OSX so pissed off the guy declared he was moving the whole thing over to Windows.
Factually wrong. The port to windows was announced six months prior to anyone outside of Apple having a hint that Dashboard was coming. Do you just repeat shit that you've heard without checking, or are you in the habit of pulling things out of your ass?
They hired the head programmer at Cassady & Greene, maker of the best OS9 MP3 software called SoundJam, and hired him to help make iTunes which is virtually a clone of that software, and now C&G is out of business.
By "head programmer", do you mean a developer for whom C & G was acting as publisher? C & G was a publisher, not a developer. C & G stopped selling SoundJam at the developer's request, not Apple's request.
By "virtually a clone" do you mean that iTunes was written completely fresh from the ground up?
C & G's flagship product was Conflict Catcher, a utility for managing extensions in OS 7 - 9. There is no need for an extension manager in OS X. That, more than anything else, is why C & G closed it's doors. The Mac world moved on, and C & G as a collective identity didn't move with it. I'm sure that the individual developers that C & G published or hired were able to move on.
Also you should have a look at the C & G site itself. They say that "We have endured many industry downturns, but the last three years have presented a series of economic disasters from which we were unable to rebound", not that Apple drove them out of business. Not even a hint. It might just as easily be that with the growth of the web, C & G's purpose as a publisher became irrelevant. Why would a developer need C & G when they could self publish on the web?
It's was sad when C & G went out of business. But why must you look for a scapegoat? And why must you twist the facts into lies in order to make Apple that scapegoat?
I've had posts modded "overrated" when it hadn't even been modded up in the first place. Clearly abuse, whether intentional or unintentional (in the case of a moderator not understanding the use of the overrated mod).
Is "giving back to the OSS community" equivalent to providing a binary RPM that only runs on a recent Red Hat/Fedora?
I wonder how many of those that complain that Apple hasn't "given enough back" to the OSS community have given anything back to the linux community themselves.
I see that the originator of this thread, FyRE666 has written games in Javascript, so perhaps he has some justification for his criticism. But I think there are many free loaders who are just bitter that they can't also freeload off of Apple.
1. Galaxies are mammals.
2. Galaxies fight ALL the time.
3. The purpose of the Galaxy is to flip out and kill people.
Check out this site all about galaxies, REAL GALAXIES. This site is awesome.I can't stop thinking about Galaxies. These guys are cool; and by cool, I mean totally sweet.