No, I don't mean the Ferengi. They'll take all your money if you let them, but you can do business with them successfully if you understand the rules by which they operate (hell, they have them conveniently codified in the complete Rules of Acquisition) whereas a Klingon will cheerfully assassinate you if it serves his purpose. He'll even prophylactically knock you off just because you might be a threat to him sometime in the future. Another poster mentioned that Klingons have "honor" but that is only in battle and, to a lesser degree, in personal relationships. When it comes to advancement of one's position in the military hierarchy, murder is an accepted career move.
What major Earth-based software corporation do we know that has consistently behaved in just that fashion?
Yes, but the summary does say that "... said he was blocked from entering the US on the technicality that he had (years ago) signed a contract with Black Hat as an individual, not as his company" which does indicate that the immigration folks had some specific knowledge, as opposed to his being just another illegal alien.
Well... I presume the man had a passport, so I don't think this qualifies as "random" exactly, matter of fact given their rationale for sending him packing I'd say it was pretty well targeted. The Feds seem to be sending a "we don't want your kind here" message.
ON THE OTHER HAND... you cannot ignore the history of that company, the number of times Microsoft has operated in bad faith. As Bill Cosby once said, "That's like if someone throws you a left hook, you lean into it." Given that history, and given Microsoft's numerous public statements about the evils of open source software, the correct stance is to look askance at everything they do, particularly when it relates to FOSS. Nor can Microsoft be trusted to maintain a consistent position on anything. In that regard, they're much like Klingons: they'll make a deal with you, and they'll even abide by it... until something more profitable comes along. It's only then that you'll notice the haft of the knife sticking out of your back.
Microsoft may hold out an olive branch from time to time, but just remember what's on the other side.
He did play a punk rocker in some B-grade sci-fi and got eaten by a giant house-filling snake with big teeth ("How big can it be? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!") That was ninety minutes of my life I'll never get back, but arguably Wil Wheaton's finest hour.
Or as Lewis Black put it: "Republicans and Democrats, working together. The only thing stupider than a Republican, or a Democrat, is when these little pricks work together."
And you have no understanding of the bigger picture, in which copyright infringement is but the tip of the iceberg, and not even the most important issue.
More importantly, it doesn't matter what the GP thinks is "theft", doesn't matter what you or I think is "theft", it matters what the law considers to be "theft".
Better yet, I like the idea of being able to sue officials for being bumbling incompetents. Of course, if that were true half the Federal Government would be out on their collective ears looking for jobs in the private sector.
Okay, so maybe that's not such a hot idea after all.
I think a well-funded spec-ops team would do even more. Make these guys disappear. I mean, hell, if we're gonna live in a police state, we might as well enjoy a few of the fringe benefits.
Knowledgeable masses are scary to politicians of any stripe. Period. Liberals are just as afraid of an educated, emancipated population as the conservatives, and for the same reason: it's harder to get elected/re-elected on a platform of unadulterated bullshit when the people have the mental tools to see right through you. Twisted statistics don't work well on people who can handle numbers, for one, and citizens with a broad knowledge of world history don't get taken in as easily either.
All they need to do is to get the advertising back in, by doing something like offering high quality seeds of better-than-ripped-quality un-stripped versions of the shows, and we're back where we started.
All I have to say is that, even though you feel your privacy isn't being invaded, it most certainly is. Worse yet, depending upon the long-term benevolence of government (any government) with regards to privacy is a mistake. You're taking the dangerous view that, since you aren't doing anything (currently) of interest to law enforcement, you are safe.
Because it would save them a lot of money if they didn't have millions of zombied Windows boxes burning up their capacity. Besides, it's not like any of the big ISPs really care all that much about keeping customers anyway.
It's all a matter of presentation. You don't need to tell a potential customer any scary stories, but you can simply recommend that the buy the better unit. Matter of fact, since a properly-protected customer will save you bandwidth charges, you could offer to knock a couple bucks off their monthly bill as an incentive to protect themselves.
Slashdot Mirror
"Search your filelings, you know it to be true!"
No, I don't mean the Ferengi. They'll take all your money if you let them, but you can do business with them successfully if you understand the rules by which they operate (hell, they have them conveniently codified in the complete Rules of Acquisition) whereas a Klingon will cheerfully assassinate you if it serves his purpose. He'll even prophylactically knock you off just because you might be a threat to him sometime in the future. Another poster mentioned that Klingons have "honor" but that is only in battle and, to a lesser degree, in personal relationships. When it comes to advancement of one's position in the military hierarchy, murder is an accepted career move.
What major Earth-based software corporation do we know that has consistently behaved in just that fashion?
Yes ... "diebold".
Yes, but the summary does say that "... said he was blocked from entering the US on the technicality that he had (years ago) signed a contract with Black Hat as an individual, not as his company" which does indicate that the immigration folks had some specific knowledge, as opposed to his being just another illegal alien.
Well ... I presume the man had a passport, so I don't think this qualifies as "random" exactly, matter of fact given their rationale for sending him packing I'd say it was pretty well targeted. The Feds seem to be sending a "we don't want your kind here" message.
ON THE OTHER HAND ... you cannot ignore the history of that company, the number of times Microsoft has operated in bad faith. As Bill Cosby once said, "That's like if someone throws you a left hook, you lean into it." Given that history, and given Microsoft's numerous public statements about the evils of open source software, the correct stance is to look askance at everything they do, particularly when it relates to FOSS. Nor can Microsoft be trusted to maintain a consistent position on anything. In that regard, they're much like Klingons: they'll make a deal with you, and they'll even abide by it ... until something more profitable comes along. It's only then that you'll notice the haft of the knife sticking out of your back.
Microsoft may hold out an olive branch from time to time, but just remember what's on the other side.
Do you think anyone would feel sympathy for him?
I'd say the speed of human motor activity is an even greater limiting factor.
He did play a punk rocker in some B-grade sci-fi and got eaten by a giant house-filling snake with big teeth ("How big can it be? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!") That was ninety minutes of my life I'll never get back, but arguably Wil Wheaton's finest hour.
My senior year English instructor in high school (in 1978) required handwritten papers in fountain pen. Ballpoint or pencil was an instant "F".
And let's not forget the dedicated "hardware" systems that might have an embedded Linux kernel or two running under the hood.
... and Windows throws exceptions. So what else is new?
Or as Lewis Black put it: "Republicans and Democrats, working together. The only thing stupider than a Republican, or a Democrat, is when these little pricks work together."
Thank $DIETY that they open-sourced it.
Well, since the $DIETY is involved, hopefully they managed to trim some of the fat from the code.
And you have no understanding of the bigger picture, in which copyright infringement is but the tip of the iceberg, and not even the most important issue.
More importantly, it doesn't matter what the GP thinks is "theft", doesn't matter what you or I think is "theft", it matters what the law considers to be "theft".
Better yet, I like the idea of being able to sue officials for being bumbling incompetents. Of course, if that were true half the Federal Government would be out on their collective ears looking for jobs in the private sector.
Okay, so maybe that's not such a hot idea after all.
I think a well-funded spec-ops team would do even more. Make these guys disappear. I mean, hell, if we're gonna live in a police state, we might as well enjoy a few of the fringe benefits.
Knowledgeable masses are scary to politicians of any stripe. Period. Liberals are just as afraid of an educated, emancipated population as the conservatives, and for the same reason: it's harder to get elected/re-elected on a platform of unadulterated bullshit when the people have the mental tools to see right through you. Twisted statistics don't work well on people who can handle numbers, for one, and citizens with a broad knowledge of world history don't get taken in as easily either.
All they need to do is to get the advertising back in, by doing something like offering high quality seeds of better-than-ripped-quality un-stripped versions of the shows, and we're back where we started.
Thanks a lot. Now I'm all depressed again.
Who The Fuck Cares. Apple products aside, MP3 players are a commodity item nowadays.
All I have to say is that, even though you feel your privacy isn't being invaded, it most certainly is. Worse yet, depending upon the long-term benevolence of government (any government) with regards to privacy is a mistake. You're taking the dangerous view that, since you aren't doing anything (currently) of interest to law enforcement, you are safe.
You're not.
It figures that governments would use squirrels. As a matter of fact, governments have a lot of other things in common with squirrels.
Because it would save them a lot of money if they didn't have millions of zombied Windows boxes burning up their capacity. Besides, it's not like any of the big ISPs really care all that much about keeping customers anyway.
It's all a matter of presentation. You don't need to tell a potential customer any scary stories, but you can simply recommend that the buy the better unit. Matter of fact, since a properly-protected customer will save you bandwidth charges, you could offer to knock a couple bucks off their monthly bill as an incentive to protect themselves.
Yes, well ... at least Fox Mulder was usually right, even if he could rarely prove it.