The target audience seem to be Mac users who are forced to use a Windows PC for some reason, and developers who want to make their webpages iPhone-ready. I can think of another potential market.
At D5, Jobs talked about dot Mac needing a major overhaul, but it wasn't one of the technologies unveiled at WWDC. That he said anything at all says that something is forthcoming (although what and when are unknowns). If I was going to pull something out of my ass and offer it around for everyone to get a smell, it would be this: Apple is preparing a new service that will integrate with iPhone and Mac OS X, and Windows, and accessible via Safari. What its elements will be is anyone's guess, although I'm sure you'll see various sync services (contacts, bookmarks, calendars, what have you), possibly iPhone back up, iTunes locker, possibly a store that would allow you to buy music, movies, games, and apps directly onto the phone, possibly . . . . whatever amazing thing you can think of that will get all the rumors sites buzzing. And it all came out of my ass. How does it smell? I'm thinking it will be unveiled at MWSF or on a Tuesday.
You're probably using the wrong metaphor for slashdot. Slashdot is like a wine cellar. This story is an amusing vintage with citrus-y overtones and an underlying note of distopia. Should go great with Salmon.
No, you're right. The revolution won't be subverted this time, because this time we can trust our leaders! I'm so glad you helped me to see the light and saving me before I committed a thoughtcrime, Comrade. All users are created equal, but some users are more equal than others. Does that about sum it up, Comrade?
Yeah, it was a bit obscure. But in my alternate timeline, Led Zeppelin were Star Trek geeks, and wrote a song called "Transporter to Heaven".
If there's a bustle in Engineering, don't be alarmed now, It's just a spring clean for the chick that's green. Yes, there are two vectors you can go by, but in the long run There's still time to set course for Alpha Tau Ceti. And it makes me wonder.
And it is quite admirable satire, in the tradition of Orwell. The writer is aware of a trend or tendency within the FSF and embodied in the GPL 3, and takes us on a little journey where that trend is realized, a bit at a time. It's a logical progression, although not an inescapable progression.
My fear is that the FSF is moving the GPL and F/OSS towards a collective proprietary "state", with the FSF operating as the "dictatorship of the proletariat", i.e., a move away from an anarchist social model towards a Marxist-Leninist social model with control coming from the top downwards. Perhaps this fear is unjustified. Many have pointed out to me that Comrade Stallman would never compromise the revolution because he loves freedom. While I respect what Stallman, Moglen, and the FSF have done in the past, I still remain suspicious. History is littered with examples of revolutions hijacked and subverted.
No, it can happen. It would just take a lot of work and organizing. The upside would be that you wouldn't need to put your license thru contortions that ultimately compromise your principles. Perhaps some fights can only be won incrementally, but I don't count it as a win when you are incrementally giving up your principles.
The beauty of GPL 2 is that it paradoxically and quite beautifully used the proprietary tool of copyright to protect freedom, sharing, and cooperation, and it did so by offering a quid pro quo. You gave up a little and gained a lot. I don't see anything beautiful or equitable or balanced in the GPL 3 anti-Tivo provisions. If contractual language is anything like microcode, GPL 2 is an elegant solution, while GPL 3 is an ugly brute force hack that might come back to bite us all on the ass.
We had to sacrifice freedom 0 to preserve freedom 0.
Benjamin felt a nose nuzzling at his shoulder. He looked round. It was Clover. Her old eyes looked dimmer than ever. Without saying anything, she tugged gently at his mane and led him round to the end of the big barn, where the Seven Commandments were written. For a minute or two they stood gazing at the tatted wall with its white lettering.
"My sight is failing," she said finally. "Even when I was young I could not have read what was written there. But it appears to me that that wall looks different. Are the Seven Commandments the same as they used to be, Benjamin?"
For once Benjamin consented to break his rule, and he read out to her what was written on the wall. There was nothing there now except a single Commandment. It ran:
ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
After that it did not seem strange when next day the pigs who were supervising the work of the farm all carried whips in their trotters. It did not seem strange to learn that the pigs had bought themselves a wireless set, were arranging to install a telephone, and had taken out subscriptions to John Bull, TitBits, and the Daily Mirror. It did not seem strange when Napoleon was seen strolling in the farmhouse garden with a pipe in his mouth-no, not even when the pigs took Mr. Jones's clothes out of the wardrobes and put them on, Napoleon himself appearing in a black coat, ratcatcher breeches, and leather leggings, while his favourite sow appeared in the watered silk dress which Mrs. Jones had been used to wear on Sundays. I'm not sure if this quote applies, but I am always suspicious when people want to take away freedom in order to protect it from some big bad external threat.
For example, I know guys who have IBM x-Series workstations and servers running at home. Does this mean IBM can't tivoize the x-Series? Arrrrgghhh!! My big iron set top box just crushed my TV set! I hate when that happens.
That's the whole point, imho. I don't think it's the right way to go about it, as (again, imho) a software license should cover software and not cover control of hardware. Instead, the DMCA should be struck down. But what do I know?
In certain situations/locations, triangulation from Cell bases can be more effective than GPS in determining your location. Hell, people are doing it with wifi. Maybe the iPhone will have an accelerometer, so you set the phone from a known location and it keeps track of itself after that (I doubt this, but it's an interesting idea).
GPS is not the only geo location technology out there.
Wow! I don't even know where to begin in addressing our disagreements! I'm glad I didn't bring up AMLO, or we'd probably be fistfighting! (oops!) And yet, I sense that despite our differences, we actually share many similar values. I could probably learn a lot from you. Is there a secure way to contact you privately or outside of slashdot to continue our discussion? Should I look for you at perlmonks? I'm quite interested in your take on Proudhon and how his ideas apply today.
And as I said, the software license is not the way to go about protecting against "Tivoization". It's probably the worst way, short of breaking into the Tivo factory and burning it down.
My problem is that, in order to fight "the man" you are taking away from the individual, in contradiction to the "four freedoms". You're limiting what an individual can do with hardware in terms of creating and selling it, and I find this limitation both unnecessary and harmful. GPL 2 places a limitation on what the individual can do with software in terms of distribution. This limitation is necessary and not harmful. It enriches.
(And no, I don't consider disagreement between us to be harassment. You're not attacking me or my computer, afaik.)
When you nationalize industry, you effectively shut down private investment. Without private investment, you are handicapping yourself, consigning your people to a status of permanent poverty. Look at the People's Republic of China, the largest of the Socialist states. After many years of failing with a nationalized socialist economy, they've moved to a market based economy and have moved towards away from state owned enterprise. As a result, billions of dollars of private investment have flowed into their economy and they are the fastest developing nation in the world today. The Chinese leadership woke up to reality and decided to harness the power of the market for the good of their people.
(Please don't assume that I worship Capitalism. It is an economic system rife with contradictions and potential for abuse. However, it's the best system for creating value we've seen. Socialism has been a failure on the whole.)
It depends on how you do it. What Chavez is doing is unsustainable and will most likely leave Venezuela with a wrecked or at least vastly underdevelped economy in the long run. Chavez is bad for Venezuela in general and for the long term. But it could be worse. They could have George Bush for a President.
You explained it really well! However, it doesn't help me overcome my objection. The downstream user can still do whatever they want with the software, as its source will be made available to them. If I've tried to make my hardware tamperproof, they can always try to hack or crack whatever measures I may have put into place.
The DMCA needs to be abolished, but using the GPL (I want to say, perverting the GPL, but that's pretty strong) to do an end run ultimately hurts freedom.
I think you're right, though. Our differences on this matter are based on deep philosophical differences. I will disagree non-violently, and honor that you and I don't think alike. I've never actually read any of Prince Kropotkin's works. Thank you for the nudge to do so, and thank you for keeping the discussion friendly. You are to be credited with keeping my blood pressure down! =)
I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. I appreciate the fact that you and I could discuss this calmly and rationally and with good will. Last time I got involved in the GPL 3 debate, I got harassed quite a bit, both here and in "extracurricular" settings. I dropped off of slashdot for a while it got so bad.
Anyway, I've had my say, and I won't be able to convince you. I don't think you'll be able to convince me. Let's call it a day and not be enemies.
I thought Chavez was a hoot when he spoke at the UN. Major lulz. And I really don't think he is a threat to democracy in the Western Hemisphere, beyond Venezuela itself.
But he's a thug who maintains his popularity by bribing the poor, not addressing the deeper structural problems of the country. Before he's thru, I think he's going to ruin Venezuela. Probably not as badly as the way Bush has damaged the U.S., but ultimately, Venezuela is paying and is going to pay a hefty price for Chavez.
That said, it's an internal Venezuelan matter, and the U.S. government should keep their noses out, and let the Venezuelan political situation play itself out.
I'm not a strict isolationist that wants to seal our borders by any means, but if we cannot engage other countries constructively, we should stay home. The Bush administration's foreign policies have been a total disaster and they have left our country at the weakest and most vulnerable position it's ever been internationally.
Starbuck and Apollo are faced with having to leave New Caprica for Earth. Before doing so, they decide to take Adama's private viper to meet with Col. Tighe and Kramer, for one "last hurrah". Unfortunately, Kramer causes engine troubles by hopping up and down on the viper while trying to get water out of his ears, nearly killing the four friends in a crash. Upon what looks to be their final moments of life, Apollo reveals he cheated in "The Contest", and Col. Tighe tells Starbuck "I've always loved you", but the pilot manages to steady the plane, so Tighe awkwardly finishes his comment by adding "-nited Airlines." They make an emergency landing in the small, fictional town of Latham, Massachusetts. While killing time in Latham, waiting for the plane to be repaired, they witness an overweight man getting carjacked at gunpoint. Instead of helping him, they crack jokes about his size while Kramer films it all on his camcorder, then they proceed to walk away. The victim notices this, and tells the reporting officer. The four main characters are then taken into custody for violating the Good Samaritan law that requires bystanders to help out in such a situation. The most serious violation punishment in the real world would be a mere $2500 fine, meaning the writers exaggerated the consequences of the offense. A lengthy trial ensues, bringing back many characters from past shows as character witnesses testifying against the group for their "selfish" acts from throughout the series. The Virgin, the low-talker, the Bubble Boy, Babu Bhatt, Six, the Soup Nazi, the Chief, George Steinbrenner, Boomer, Susan Ross' doctor from the night she died, the overweight man who was carjacked, and several others are called to the witness stand, among many more enemies and acquaintances. Attorney Jackie Chiles defends them with the defence that the witnesses are just trying to settle scores with the four and are really exaggerating, that the four did not want to get shot by the criminal, and even Apollo's father (played by Edward James Olmos) tries to get them released by offering to have sex with the judge. The four are found guilty, and sentenced to a year in prison, with Judge Arthur Vandelay (Art Vandelay - Apollo's fictitious alter ego) proclaiming: "I can think of nothing more fitting than for the four of you to spend a year removed from society so that you can contemplate the manner in which you have conducted yourselves. I know I will."
I don't buy this whole "tivoization" argument for limiting hardware makers and sellers. If they are distributing the code, they must make the code available. That's GPL 2. Beyond that, the hardware maker should be able to do whatever they want with their hardware. You, as the user, can choose to buy their hardware or not. If you decide to buy, you can still try to hack whatever preventative measures the maker may have put in place.
Now, you might then argue, what about the DMCA? The DMCA needs to be abolished, but using the GPL to do an end run around it is the wrong way to go about it, especially when you are damaging freedoms in order to do so.
Slashdot Mirror
Do you think Google Gears is going to play into this strategy?
At D5, Jobs talked about dot Mac needing a major overhaul, but it wasn't one of the technologies unveiled at WWDC. That he said anything at all says that something is forthcoming (although what and when are unknowns). If I was going to pull something out of my ass and offer it around for everyone to get a smell, it would be this: Apple is preparing a new service that will integrate with iPhone and Mac OS X, and Windows, and accessible via Safari. What its elements will be is anyone's guess, although I'm sure you'll see various sync services (contacts, bookmarks, calendars, what have you), possibly iPhone back up, iTunes locker, possibly a store that would allow you to buy music, movies, games, and apps directly onto the phone, possibly . . . . whatever amazing thing you can think of that will get all the rumors sites buzzing. And it all came out of my ass. How does it smell? I'm thinking it will be unveiled at MWSF or on a Tuesday.
You're probably using the wrong metaphor for slashdot. Slashdot is like a wine cellar. This story is an amusing vintage with citrus-y overtones and an underlying note of distopia. Should go great with Salmon.
Cool! Give me a chance to read the wikipedia entry on Proudhoun. =)
No, you're right. The revolution won't be subverted this time, because this time we can trust our leaders! I'm so glad you helped me to see the light and saving me before I committed a thoughtcrime, Comrade. All users are created equal, but some users are more equal than others. Does that about sum it up, Comrade?
It's just a spring clean for the chick that's green.
Yes, there are two vectors you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to set course for Alpha Tau Ceti.
And it makes me wonder.
And it is quite admirable satire, in the tradition of Orwell. The writer is aware of a trend or tendency within the FSF and embodied in the GPL 3, and takes us on a little journey where that trend is realized, a bit at a time. It's a logical progression, although not an inescapable progression.
My fear is that the FSF is moving the GPL and F/OSS towards a collective proprietary "state", with the FSF operating as the "dictatorship of the proletariat", i.e., a move away from an anarchist social model towards a Marxist-Leninist social model with control coming from the top downwards. Perhaps this fear is unjustified. Many have pointed out to me that Comrade Stallman would never compromise the revolution because he loves freedom. While I respect what Stallman, Moglen, and the FSF have done in the past, I still remain suspicious. History is littered with examples of revolutions hijacked and subverted.
No, it can happen. It would just take a lot of work and organizing. The upside would be that you wouldn't need to put your license thru contortions that ultimately compromise your principles. Perhaps some fights can only be won incrementally, but I don't count it as a win when you are incrementally giving up your principles.
The beauty of GPL 2 is that it paradoxically and quite beautifully used the proprietary tool of copyright to protect freedom, sharing, and cooperation, and it did so by offering a quid pro quo. You gave up a little and gained a lot. I don't see anything beautiful or equitable or balanced in the GPL 3 anti-Tivo provisions. If contractual language is anything like microcode, GPL 2 is an elegant solution, while GPL 3 is an ugly brute force hack that might come back to bite us all on the ass.
"My sight is failing," she said finally. "Even when I was young I could not have read what was written there. But it appears to me that that wall looks different. Are the Seven Commandments the same as they used to be, Benjamin?"
For once Benjamin consented to break his rule, and he read out to her what was written on the wall. There was nothing there now except a single Commandment. It ran:
ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
After that it did not seem strange when next day the pigs who were supervising the work of the farm all carried whips in their trotters. It did not seem strange to learn that the pigs had bought themselves a wireless set, were arranging to install a telephone, and had taken out subscriptions to John Bull, TitBits, and the Daily Mirror. It did not seem strange when Napoleon was seen strolling in the farmhouse garden with a pipe in his mouth-no, not even when the pigs took Mr. Jones's clothes out of the wardrobes and put them on, Napoleon himself appearing in a black coat, ratcatcher breeches, and leather leggings, while his favourite sow appeared in the watered silk dress which Mrs. Jones had been used to wear on Sundays. I'm not sure if this quote applies, but I am always suspicious when people want to take away freedom in order to protect it from some big bad external threat.
That's the whole point, imho. I don't think it's the right way to go about it, as (again, imho) a software license should cover software and not cover control of hardware. Instead, the DMCA should be struck down. But what do I know?
In certain situations/locations, triangulation from Cell bases can be more effective than GPS in determining your location. Hell, people are doing it with wifi. Maybe the iPhone will have an accelerometer, so you set the phone from a known location and it keeps track of itself after that (I doubt this, but it's an interesting idea).
GPS is not the only geo location technology out there.
Viva Kottke!
It's OK. When you get there, the stores are all closed.
What movie were you watching on your Blackberry that got you in the mood for seafood?
Wow! I don't even know where to begin in addressing our disagreements! I'm glad I didn't bring up AMLO, or we'd probably be fistfighting! (oops!) And yet, I sense that despite our differences, we actually share many similar values. I could probably learn a lot from you. Is there a secure way to contact you privately or outside of slashdot to continue our discussion? Should I look for you at perlmonks? I'm quite interested in your take on Proudhon and how his ideas apply today.
And as I said, the software license is not the way to go about protecting against "Tivoization". It's probably the worst way, short of breaking into the Tivo factory and burning it down.
My problem is that, in order to fight "the man" you are taking away from the individual, in contradiction to the "four freedoms". You're limiting what an individual can do with hardware in terms of creating and selling it, and I find this limitation both unnecessary and harmful. GPL 2 places a limitation on what the individual can do with software in terms of distribution. This limitation is necessary and not harmful. It enriches.
(And no, I don't consider disagreement between us to be harassment. You're not attacking me or my computer, afaik.)
When you nationalize industry, you effectively shut down private investment. Without private investment, you are handicapping yourself, consigning your people to a status of permanent poverty. Look at the People's Republic of China, the largest of the Socialist states. After many years of failing with a nationalized socialist economy, they've moved to a market based economy and have moved towards away from state owned enterprise. As a result, billions of dollars of private investment have flowed into their economy and they are the fastest developing nation in the world today. The Chinese leadership woke up to reality and decided to harness the power of the market for the good of their people.
(Please don't assume that I worship Capitalism. It is an economic system rife with contradictions and potential for abuse. However, it's the best system for creating value we've seen. Socialism has been a failure on the whole.)
I should have said "in modern times". =)
It depends on how you do it. What Chavez is doing is unsustainable and will most likely leave Venezuela with a wrecked or at least vastly underdevelped economy in the long run. Chavez is bad for Venezuela in general and for the long term. But it could be worse. They could have George Bush for a President.
You explained it really well! However, it doesn't help me overcome my objection. The downstream user can still do whatever they want with the software, as its source will be made available to them. If I've tried to make my hardware tamperproof, they can always try to hack or crack whatever measures I may have put into place.
The DMCA needs to be abolished, but using the GPL (I want to say, perverting the GPL, but that's pretty strong) to do an end run ultimately hurts freedom.
I think you're right, though. Our differences on this matter are based on deep philosophical differences. I will disagree non-violently, and honor that you and I don't think alike. I've never actually read any of Prince Kropotkin's works. Thank you for the nudge to do so, and thank you for keeping the discussion friendly. You are to be credited with keeping my blood pressure down! =)
I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. I appreciate the fact that you and I could discuss this calmly and rationally and with good will. Last time I got involved in the GPL 3 debate, I got harassed quite a bit, both here and in "extracurricular" settings. I dropped off of slashdot for a while it got so bad.
Anyway, I've had my say, and I won't be able to convince you. I don't think you'll be able to convince me. Let's call it a day and not be enemies.
I thought Chavez was a hoot when he spoke at the UN. Major lulz. And I really don't think he is a threat to democracy in the Western Hemisphere, beyond Venezuela itself.
But he's a thug who maintains his popularity by bribing the poor, not addressing the deeper structural problems of the country. Before he's thru, I think he's going to ruin Venezuela. Probably not as badly as the way Bush has damaged the U.S., but ultimately, Venezuela is paying and is going to pay a hefty price for Chavez.
That said, it's an internal Venezuelan matter, and the U.S. government should keep their noses out, and let the Venezuelan political situation play itself out.
I'm not a strict isolationist that wants to seal our borders by any means, but if we cannot engage other countries constructively, we should stay home. The Bush administration's foreign policies have been a total disaster and they have left our country at the weakest and most vulnerable position it's ever been internationally.
I think you're going to LOVE the final episode.
Starbuck and Apollo are faced with having to leave New Caprica for Earth. Before doing so, they decide to take Adama's private viper to meet with Col. Tighe and Kramer, for one "last hurrah". Unfortunately, Kramer causes engine troubles by hopping up and down on the viper while trying to get water out of his ears, nearly killing the four friends in a crash. Upon what looks to be their final moments of life, Apollo reveals he cheated in "The Contest", and Col. Tighe tells Starbuck "I've always loved you", but the pilot manages to steady the plane, so Tighe awkwardly finishes his comment by adding "-nited Airlines." They make an emergency landing in the small, fictional town of Latham, Massachusetts.
While killing time in Latham, waiting for the plane to be repaired, they witness an overweight man getting carjacked at gunpoint. Instead of helping him, they crack jokes about his size while Kramer films it all on his camcorder, then they proceed to walk away. The victim notices this, and tells the reporting officer. The four main characters are then taken into custody for violating the Good Samaritan law that requires bystanders to help out in such a situation. The most serious violation punishment in the real world would be a mere $2500 fine, meaning the writers exaggerated the consequences of the offense.
A lengthy trial ensues, bringing back many characters from past shows as character witnesses testifying against the group for their "selfish" acts from throughout the series. The Virgin, the low-talker, the Bubble Boy, Babu Bhatt, Six, the Soup Nazi, the Chief, George Steinbrenner, Boomer, Susan Ross' doctor from the night she died, the overweight man who was carjacked, and several others are called to the witness stand, among many more enemies and acquaintances. Attorney Jackie Chiles defends them with the defence that the witnesses are just trying to settle scores with the four and are really exaggerating, that the four did not want to get shot by the criminal, and even Apollo's father (played by Edward James Olmos) tries to get them released by offering to have sex with the judge. The four are found guilty, and sentenced to a year in prison, with Judge Arthur Vandelay (Art Vandelay - Apollo's fictitious alter ego) proclaiming: "I can think of nothing more fitting than for the four of you to spend a year removed from society so that you can contemplate the manner in which you have conducted yourselves. I know I will."
Read more here: Secret surprise ending for Battlestar Galactica
I don't buy this whole "tivoization" argument for limiting hardware makers and sellers. If they are distributing the code, they must make the code available. That's GPL 2. Beyond that, the hardware maker should be able to do whatever they want with their hardware. You, as the user, can choose to buy their hardware or not. If you decide to buy, you can still try to hack whatever preventative measures the maker may have put in place.
Now, you might then argue, what about the DMCA? The DMCA needs to be abolished, but using the GPL to do an end run around it is the wrong way to go about it, especially when you are damaging freedoms in order to do so.