Comcast is bigger than Disney. Comcast's market capitalization is
76.3B, while Disney's is only
49.2B. (These number will move some in reaction to this bid.)
One reason for the increase in cable bills is the cost of programming, especially for the ESPN sports channels. ESPN is owned by Disney.
Also, this bid is a reaction to Murdoch's putting together his Fox channels with DirectTV.
On answer to the question of "what are Grids for" is given by the paper
The Anatomy of the Grid.
I think the paper can be summarized by the following quote from it:
The real and specific problem that underlies the Grid concept is coordinated resource sharing
and problem solving in dynamic, multi-institutional virtual organizations. The sharing that we
are concerned with is not primarily file exchange but rather direct access to computers, software,
data, and other resources, as is required by a range of collaborative problem-solving and resource brokering
strategies emerging in industry, science, and engineering. This sharing is, necessarily,
highly controlled, with resource providers and consumers defining clearly and carefully just what
is shared, who is allowed to share, and the conditions under which sharing occurs. A set of
individuals and/or institutions defined by such sharing rules form what we call a virtual
organization (VO).
'Angry' Ark Royal crew switch off BBC
The BBC has been axed from the nation's flagship naval vessel following claims of pro-Iraqi bias.
The Navy says it has switched off News 24 aboard HMS Ark Royal after complaints by the crew.
...
One senior rating said: "The BBC always takes the Iraqis' side. It reports what they say as gospel but when it comes to us it questions and doubts everything the British and Americans are reporting. A lot of people on board are very unhappy."
Capitalism works not because the merchant cares about his customer, but because it is in the self interest of both.
As Adam Smith said in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations:
It is not from
the benevolence of the butcher the brewer, or the baker that we expect our
dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves,
not to their humanity, but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our
own necessities, but of their advantages. Nobody but a beggar chooses to
depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow-citizens. Even a beggar
does not depend upon it entirely.
Making a a copy is a violation if the copy is "fixed in tangible medium."
Is a disk copy "fixed"? In
MAI v. Peak
the the Ninth Circuit held that copying to RAM is fixed enough:
The law also supports the conclusion that Peak's loading of copyrighted software into RAM creates a "copy" of that software in violation of the Copyright Act.
Clearly disk if RAM is a fixed media then disk is a fixed media.
Anyone who made a copy of the infringing code is liable. Copying from a CDROM to the hard drive is enough to be liable. If the infringing code was in RadHat's distribution then RedHat would also be liable.
If a book is found to contain copyright violations, the purchaser of the book has no liability since they are not making a copy.
Since playing a music CD requires copying the data into the CD player's memory their might be a liability there.
If SCO copied code from Linux then whoever owns the copyright to the code could sue SCO. FSF/Linus could sue only if they wrote the code or the copyright was signed over to them. Submitting code to a project is not the same as signing over a copyright.
If SCO can show they own part of Linux, they can also get damages for the use of their code. Even if the offending code is replaced at once, they can still be awarded damages based on past usage.
Copyrights are subject to
"strict liablility", which means that damages can be awarded even if the infringer did not know they were infringing.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics,
the
unemployment rate in the "information" section was 7.2% in December 2002 and 6.5% in December of 2003. The actual number of unemployed was 255K in 12/2002 and 224 in 12/2003.
The article noted that
the apartment's lighting system cost an estimated $50,000.
That probably accounts for the lack of popularity of LEDs for home lighting.
An alternative to LEDs are Organic LEDs,
a much cheaper, plastic-based technology. Unfortunately, they are not yet ready for prime time.
In the self-reliant state of Texas, statute
9.42. Deadly Force to Protect Property
allows the use of deadly force against another to protect land or tangible, movable property
in some situations. Basically, deadly force is allowed after dark when there is no other way to protect or recover the property.
The high level of confidentiality Swiss banks offer their customers does not and will never protect terrorists and their financial transactions. When a crime - including acts of terrorism - is being investigated the judicial authorities have complete and unlimited access to information in the banks.
Having enough margin is not always enough to maintain a short.
In order to short a stock your broker must be able to borrow the shares sold short. If the owner of the borrowed shares calls them back, and the broker can not find other shares to borrow, you can be forced to cover your short. This is not likely to happen shorting a large cap stock, but can happen with smaller cap stocks, like SCOX.
Icann, the committee that assigns top-level Internet domains, refuses to create an adult zone that can easily be kept from kids' eyes. Porn won't disappear, so deal with it.
If a.sex TLD was created it would not keep porn from kids eyes unless porn was removed from.com and all other TLDs. This would require heavy dose of regulation. Just try to define what content has to go in into.sex would be just about impossible.
Many the intention is to just allow porn in.sex and also in.com. This may lead to some sites duplicating content in both TLDs, but why would a porn site abandon.com for.sex voluntarily? What do they have from making their sites easier to block?
Why put VoIP in its own "area code"? In the US, companies like Vonage allow VoIP to be registered with a regular telephone number. In many markets it is possible to reassign your existing POTS number to a Vonage VoIP service.
Virginia Postrel has an
article
about the booming business of professional Christmas lighting installation.
One franchise company installs lights for 300,000 customers each year. The business grew through the recession.
Most customers earn over $400K.
As a source of mass employment, we have moved from agriculture, to manufacturing, and now into aesthetics.
It is not that agriculture has disappeared from the US, but it is down to about 3% of the economy.
According to the
Guardian,
the sea is shallower along the proposed longer route than along the shorter route. The depth of the tunnel would go from 300m to 900m if the shorter route were taken.
The flow of refugees is though France and into the UK. At one time, a large building that originally was used to store the equiptment used to build the chunnel, was turned into a Red Cross shelter. This shelter has since been closed.
Up to 2,000 persons were staying at the Sangatte shelter.
A paper ballot system works ok when there is only one race. In the next US election, most voters will have 3 federal-level races. Many will have a long list of state and local contests. I think it would be a long and error prone process to hand count ballots, each with dozens of races.
Rules (1) and (3) are already required. Rule (2) is impractical. There is no way to stop legislators from using software to evaluate a proposed map. Rule (5) will often not work because the number of districts in a state can change with every census. Rule (4) is "softly" imposed by the courts, but it is a judgment call by a judge, not a mathematical formula.
The Voting Rights Act, and subsequent rulings, impose additional constraints. As with Rule (4), they are not a formula, but they do require that race be taken into account to a degree. But race cannot be overused either. It is an error to either overweight or underweight it as a criterion. Since the rules are complex and fuzzy, districts in certain states (including Texas) must have the US Justice department approve a redistricting map before it can be used ("preclearance").
This may be a bit off-topic, but a different point of view.
From CBS MarketWatch
Barron's quotes a Deutsche Bank analyst who said there's a chance for more "dramatic gains" in SCO's stock price, based on the company's intellectual property lawsuits that seek compensation for what SCO claims is its stolen code that's included in the widely used Linux operating system.
Barron's is published by the Wall Street Journal; its web site is paid-only.
Filing a lawsuit is not extortion. The case you refer to was originally filed in CA (not as a class action). It was thrown out by the judge. The plaintiffs were also order to pay about $100K of DirectTV's legal costs.
This is in addition to paying the damages that DirectTV in the original case.
They have refiled in Federal court and are seeking class action status. Class action status is not automatic and the judge has not ruled on this issue yet.
The three big US phone companies are
planning for fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP). They have RFPs out to suppliers.
Field testing is expected to start next year.
Slashdot Mirror
One reason for the increase in cable bills is the cost of programming, especially for the ESPN sports channels. ESPN is owned by Disney.
Also, this bid is a reaction to Murdoch's putting together his Fox channels with DirectTV.
As Adam Smith said in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations:
If a book is found to contain copyright violations, the purchaser of the book has no liability since they are not making a copy. Since playing a music CD requires copying the data into the CD player's memory their might be a liability there.
If SCO copied code from Linux then whoever owns the copyright to the code could sue SCO. FSF/Linus could sue only if they wrote the code or the copyright was signed over to them. Submitting code to a project is not the same as signing over a copyright.
Copyrights are subject to "strict liablility", which means that damages can be awarded even if the infringer did not know they were infringing.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in the "information" section was 7.2% in December 2002 and 6.5% in December of 2003. The actual number of unemployed was 255K in 12/2002 and 224 in 12/2003.
"The SEC believes IBM may have aided and abetted Dollar General when it misstated financial results in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2000."
The article noted that the apartment's lighting system cost an estimated $50,000. That probably accounts for the lack of popularity of LEDs for home lighting.
An alternative to LEDs are Organic LEDs, a much cheaper, plastic-based technology. Unfortunately, they are not yet ready for prime time.
In the self-reliant state of Texas, statute 9.42. Deadly Force to Protect Property allows the use of deadly force against another to protect land or tangible, movable property in some situations. Basically, deadly force is allowed after dark when there is no other way to protect or recover the property.
In order to short a stock your broker must be able to borrow the shares sold short. If the owner of the borrowed shares calls them back, and the broker can not find other shares to borrow, you can be forced to cover your short. This is not likely to happen shorting a large cap stock, but can happen with smaller cap stocks, like SCOX.
Many the intention is to just allow porn in .sex and also in .com. This may lead to some sites duplicating content in both TLDs, but why would a porn site abandon .com for .sex voluntarily? What do they have from making their sites easier to block?
Why put VoIP in its own "area code"? In the US, companies like Vonage allow VoIP to be registered with a regular telephone number. In many markets it is possible to reassign your existing POTS number to a Vonage VoIP service.
As a source of mass employment, we have moved from agriculture, to manufacturing, and now into aesthetics. It is not that agriculture has disappeared from the US, but it is down to about 3% of the economy.
According to the Guardian, the sea is shallower along the proposed longer route than along the shorter route. The depth of the tunnel would go from 300m to 900m if the shorter route were taken.
The flow of refugees is though France and into the UK. At one time, a large building that originally was used to store the equiptment used to build the chunnel, was turned into a Red Cross shelter. This shelter has since been closed. Up to 2,000 persons were staying at the Sangatte shelter.
A paper ballot system works ok when there is only one race. In the next US election, most voters will have 3 federal-level races. Many will have a long list of state and local contests. I think it would be a long and error prone process to hand count ballots, each with dozens of races.
Who needs people? Our newest toll road in Houston (Westpark Tollway) will be EZ Tag only, when it opens in the Spring.
The Voting Rights Act, and subsequent rulings, impose additional constraints. As with Rule (4), they are not a formula, but they do require that race be taken into account to a degree. But race cannot be overused either. It is an error to either overweight or underweight it as a criterion. Since the rules are complex and fuzzy, districts in certain states (including Texas) must have the US Justice department approve a redistricting map before it can be used ("preclearance").
See The Register for the story.
They have refiled in Federal court and are seeking class action status. Class action status is not automatic and the judge has not ruled on this issue yet.
The three big US phone companies are planning for fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP). They have RFPs out to suppliers. Field testing is expected to start next year.