I agree that flaming people for not reading the article, much less a variety of articles, is inappropriate. What the anonymous coward did, however, is called torpor a "tinfoil" and then made a statement that was exactly opposite the truth.
If you look at Microsoft's market strategy over the last couple of decades, you really have to admire the genius that they have for forward thinking.
By giving free software to school districts, they're just bringing up the next generation of MS junkies. Brilliant. They do similar things all the time.
Why is this AC giving torpor a hard time for being sarcastic when he's absolutely right? Defending yourself from being called a "tinfoil" and citing proof to back it up is absolutely proper.
Maybe what/. needs is to do away with Anonymous Cowards all together.
I get about 2500 spams a week to my work address, and I can't change my work email. It's on my business cards, and as a DB geek they won't get me new ones:(
Because of the extreme amount of spam that I get, my Bayesian spam filters are pretty strict. I lose valid email all the time!!!
Why just this morning, I came in and was going through my spam folder, and found that my good friend Gooshot Moneyface has been trying to get in touch with me! I was wondering why I hadn't heard from her for so long.
This guy Gauthier was going 98 miles an hour in a 30 MPH zone, and killed someone, and severely injured his passenger. What would be the analogous charge in the US? I can't believe that he's only getting 18 months in jail and his lawyer is calling the punishment "very very severe."
I'm not defending the US justice system, I think we have some f'd up laws, but this sentence seems pretty lenient to me, consider the guy's obviously a maniacal driver.
I know this comment will be modded down, but really why is DRM frowned upon by Slashdotters?
Are you serious? Have you read any of the other posts in this thread, or any of the other DRM threads? DRM is for many many reasons. The biggest ones for me is that it prevents me from fair use of material and content that I have legally paid for. Another reason that DRM is bad is because it is a method of control over what sort of content I'm exposed to. For other reasons that DRM is bad, please read some of the other posts.
From the article: Intel and other supporters of trusted computing believe the extra layer of security will spur content providers to make more songs and movies available on the Internet.
From parent comment: If DRM enabled devices will make content creators feel comfortable making more content available, then I'm all for it. Also, since theft won't be an issue (unauthorized copying) they won't have to try to recover their losses by charging more for the content.
I have no trouble downloading songs from iTunes music store, or a multitude of other places. I've actually been pretty impressed with the variety of music that I can download for a fee. I think that the extra layer of security is going to do a lot more for Microsoft than for any content providers. I think that MS loses MUCH more on piracy than the RIAA or the MPAA.
With a single punishment for every 300 times you do something, there is a disconnect.
Obviously you've never gone driving with my girlfriend (or someone like her)...
Watch out for the yellow light!... Aren't you going a little fast?... That guy has his turn signal on... You're a little close, could you back off?
She has other winning attributes, but sometimes I really wish I had the Homer-mobile. The funniest thing is that she gives me a hard time about my road rage, and I'm fine when she's not around!
Unix is written in C, many variants of which and decendents of which are still in use, so it isn't nearly as obscure as something written in Pascal or Fortran, not to mention some of the MUCH more outdated relics. The article didn't even mention what outdated language was used by the IRS in 1962.
Also, Unix is an OS that has evolved in the public domain for decades, open to the light of day. The IRS hodgepodge has grown up and together like a blackberry bush. Neither system looks the same as it did when created, but at least some order was imposed on Unix.
Spare us, please, until you have read the book. Heinlein had an extremely romanticized view of honor and obligation, and imagined a military where honor and obligation superceded the ideals of glory and profit. Typical Heinlein.
You are definitely correct, a submachine gun is most definitely NOT an assault rifle. As an avid gun rights supporter, the absolutely last thing that I would wish to do is to offend you. The way in which I glossed over any distinctions between an assault rifle and a submachine gun was done simply to ease the reading of my comment, and had no basis in fact.
As an avid supporter, not of gun control, but meaningful discourse, however, I would like to point out that both a submachine gun (which can certainly be semi-automatic) and an assault rifle (which is NOT functionally speaking equivalent to any other semiautomatic firearm) both are weapons that are expressly designed for killing other human beings. I do not have a problem with this. I do not think that their being designed expressly to end the lives of other people should mean that they should be banned. This is the reason that the right to bear arms is constitutionally guaranteed, so that we the populace can rise up and slay our oppressive overlords! In order to do so, we will definitely need to kill other humans. I do, however, think that the distribution infrastructure should be designed to ensure that life-termination tools do not become easily obtainable on the black market, as they currently are today.
The use of firearms to end the lives of others in our country is not a small problem. It is a much bigger problem than P2P filesharing. I do not think that we need to all out ban firearms, but there's obviously something wrong that needs to be addressed.
This is the sort of non-excusing excuse that I was talking about when I said that people shrug and say "business as usual." There ARE public serving selfless politicians out there. There ARE people who run because they want to make things better. They do not get the monetary support that they need in order to compete with greedy, bribe-able politicians in the media, because they have scruples.
Stop being a sheeple and start being a human. Vote your conscience. Make a difference. Express yourself so that things will improve instead of being a part of the problem.
And the right to bear arms is a constitutionally protected right. You are correct. What does that mean, though? Does it mean that there is no onus on the government to protect the public as much as possible while still affording people the right to bear arms?
are being studiously ignored in so many other ways?
Let's take a look at guns, for example. REPLACE([Wired Article],'P2P software','assault rifles') and suddenly you've got the arguments for every single pro-gun-control group in the USA. Personally, I'm much more worried about the imminent public danger of a submachine gun than I am worried about the threat to public safety presented by Kazaa. Yet why is the state AG not addressing gun control instead of P2P?!
If we wanted to pull this little idea out a little further, how about we apply it to speeding? Car companies sell us their cars by telling us how fast we can go! McDonalds only recently started cutting back on portion size, but I don't remember any state AGs railing against the public safety risk of a Big Mac.
It's no surprise that our politicians are in the pockets of big corporations. When I talk to people about situations like this, they most often say, "business as usual," shrug, and turn away. Not enough of them get angry and vote. Our politicians are crooked because they are ALLOWED to be.
And most likely, the FBI didn't tell the hosting company exactly what it is they wanted. When the Feds come in with a search warrant, they don't ask for your help. They say, "stand aside" and commence ransacking.
SCO announced today in a press release that they have acquired ownership of Infinium Labs and all rights to the Phantom game console.
In news related to this related news, legal procedings have been initiated against Slashdot, Penny Arcade, and the chick who used to work for Infinium who said something on Slashdot.
I don't have any thing for or against the Swiss, but am pretty sure that this is rampantly specious. Those ovens were famously built by German corporations.
Like I said, I don't have anything for or against the Swiss, and neither the Germans, but mis-information is always harmful.
I've seen a few people suggest that not having the Hubble will be okay, because it's going to be replaced by the James Webb Space Telescope. There was a good discussion on slashdot about this before, however, that led me to this site that explains the Lagrange points.
The Lagrange points are so far away from the earth that there are no reusable space craft that can reach them. This will make it next to impossible to service the JWST should something malfunction or fail (like the Hubble did so notoriously).
I know that they did. They voted on it under duress, without being allowed to debate, and they got swept up in the tide of nationalism. Now that things have cooled down, however, people with their head screwed on straight are ready to sit down and seriously examine the ramifications of the legislation that was so hastily and unfortunately passed.
Did you watch the state of the union address? Did you notice who was cheering when Dubya said we needed to renew the Patriot act? Quick hint...it wasn't the Democrats.
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It doesn't help that it will only play on Sony devices, where iTMS songs can be downloaded in MP3 and played anywhere.
but it IS genious. Just because it's evil genious doesn't make it less so.
And I agree that our governments have done an inadequate job of protecting the consumers.
I agree that flaming people for not reading the article, much less a variety of articles, is inappropriate. What the anonymous coward did, however, is called torpor a "tinfoil" and then made a statement that was exactly opposite the truth.
ridicule + direct untruth = flamebait
Case in point, both for "do away with Anonymous Cowards" and "-1 idiocy filter required".
They're on my shelf right next to my 10Mbps ethernet card, my NES, and my 2400 baud modem.
...No, wait! Don't leave baby...but...but I...okay, you're right, I have plenty of software...yes ma'am, I'll throw it all away....
And my gf said I should throw that stuff out! HAHAHAHA I'm getting free software now, wench! HAHAHAHAHAHA
If you look at Microsoft's market strategy over the last couple of decades, you really have to admire the genius that they have for forward thinking.
By giving free software to school districts, they're just bringing up the next generation of MS junkies. Brilliant. They do similar things all the time.
Why is this AC giving torpor a hard time for being sarcastic when he's absolutely right? Defending yourself from being called a "tinfoil" and citing proof to back it up is absolutely proper.
/. needs is to do away with Anonymous Cowards all together.
Maybe what
I have a sad, sad, boring life.
I get about 2500 spams a week to my work address, and I can't change my work email. It's on my business cards, and as a DB geek they won't get me new ones :(
Because of the extreme amount of spam that I get, my Bayesian spam filters are pretty strict. I lose valid email all the time!!!
Why just this morning, I came in and was going through my spam folder, and found that my good friend Gooshot Moneyface has been trying to get in touch with me! I was wondering why I hadn't heard from her for so long.
This guy Gauthier was going 98 miles an hour in a 30 MPH zone, and killed someone, and severely injured his passenger. What would be the analogous charge in the US? I can't believe that he's only getting 18 months in jail and his lawyer is calling the punishment "very very severe."
I'm not defending the US justice system, I think we have some f'd up laws, but this sentence seems pretty lenient to me, consider the guy's obviously a maniacal driver.
I know this comment will be modded down, but really why is DRM frowned upon by Slashdotters?
Are you serious? Have you read any of the other posts in this thread, or any of the other DRM threads? DRM is for many many reasons. The biggest ones for me is that it prevents me from fair use of material and content that I have legally paid for. Another reason that DRM is bad is because it is a method of control over what sort of content I'm exposed to. For other reasons that DRM is bad, please read some of the other posts.
From the article: Intel and other supporters of trusted computing believe the extra layer of security will spur content providers to make more songs and movies available on the Internet.
From parent comment: If DRM enabled devices will make content creators feel comfortable making more content available, then I'm all for it. Also, since theft won't be an issue (unauthorized copying) they won't have to try to recover their losses by charging more for the content.
I have no trouble downloading songs from iTunes music store, or a multitude of other places. I've actually been pretty impressed with the variety of music that I can download for a fee. I think that the extra layer of security is going to do a lot more for Microsoft than for any content providers. I think that MS loses MUCH more on piracy than the RIAA or the MPAA.
With a single punishment for every 300 times you do something, there is a disconnect.
... Aren't you going a little fast? ... That guy has his turn signal on ... You're a little close, could you back off?
Obviously you've never gone driving with my girlfriend (or someone like her)...
Watch out for the yellow light!
She has other winning attributes, but sometimes I really wish I had the Homer-mobile. The funniest thing is that she gives me a hard time about my road rage, and I'm fine when she's not around!
a few key differences...
Unix is written in C, many variants of which and decendents of which are still in use, so it isn't nearly as obscure as something written in Pascal or Fortran, not to mention some of the MUCH more outdated relics. The article didn't even mention what outdated language was used by the IRS in 1962.
Also, Unix is an OS that has evolved in the public domain for decades, open to the light of day. The IRS hodgepodge has grown up and together like a blackberry bush. Neither system looks the same as it did when created, but at least some order was imposed on Unix.
I have not read the book...
...My view of the book...
Spare us, please, until you have read the book. Heinlein had an extremely romanticized view of honor and obligation, and imagined a military where honor and obligation superceded the ideals of glory and profit. Typical Heinlein.
Minus the hot nubile incestuous women.
You are definitely correct, a submachine gun is most definitely NOT an assault rifle. As an avid gun rights supporter, the absolutely last thing that I would wish to do is to offend you. The way in which I glossed over any distinctions between an assault rifle and a submachine gun was done simply to ease the reading of my comment, and had no basis in fact.
As an avid supporter, not of gun control, but meaningful discourse, however, I would like to point out that both a submachine gun (which can certainly be semi-automatic) and an assault rifle (which is NOT functionally speaking equivalent to any other semiautomatic firearm) both are weapons that are expressly designed for killing other human beings. I do not have a problem with this. I do not think that their being designed expressly to end the lives of other people should mean that they should be banned. This is the reason that the right to bear arms is constitutionally guaranteed, so that we the populace can rise up and slay our oppressive overlords! In order to do so, we will definitely need to kill other humans. I do, however, think that the distribution infrastructure should be designed to ensure that life-termination tools do not become easily obtainable on the black market, as they currently are today.
The use of firearms to end the lives of others in our country is not a small problem. It is a much bigger problem than P2P filesharing. I do not think that we need to all out ban firearms, but there's obviously something wrong that needs to be addressed.
our policiticians suck because the public sucks
This is the sort of non-excusing excuse that I was talking about when I said that people shrug and say "business as usual." There ARE public serving selfless politicians out there. There ARE people who run because they want to make things better. They do not get the monetary support that they need in order to compete with greedy, bribe-able politicians in the media, because they have scruples.
Stop being a sheeple and start being a human. Vote your conscience. Make a difference. Express yourself so that things will improve instead of being a part of the problem.
And the right to bear arms is a constitutionally protected right. You are correct. What does that mean, though? Does it mean that there is no onus on the government to protect the public as much as possible while still affording people the right to bear arms?
are being studiously ignored in so many other ways?
Let's take a look at guns, for example. REPLACE([Wired Article],'P2P software','assault rifles') and suddenly you've got the arguments for every single pro-gun-control group in the USA. Personally, I'm much more worried about the imminent public danger of a submachine gun than I am worried about the threat to public safety presented by Kazaa. Yet why is the state AG not addressing gun control instead of P2P?!
If we wanted to pull this little idea out a little further, how about we apply it to speeding? Car companies sell us their cars by telling us how fast we can go! McDonalds only recently started cutting back on portion size, but I don't remember any state AGs railing against the public safety risk of a Big Mac.
It's no surprise that our politicians are in the pockets of big corporations. When I talk to people about situations like this, they most often say, "business as usual," shrug, and turn away. Not enough of them get angry and vote. Our politicians are crooked because they are ALLOWED to be.
And most likely, the FBI didn't tell the hosting company exactly what it is they wanted. When the Feds come in with a search warrant, they don't ask for your help. They say, "stand aside" and commence ransacking.
SCO announced today in a press release that they have acquired ownership of Infinium Labs and all rights to the Phantom game console.
In news related to this related news, legal procedings have been initiated against Slashdot, Penny Arcade, and the chick who used to work for Infinium who said something on Slashdot.
I don't have any thing for or against the Swiss, but am pretty sure that this is rampantly specious. Those ovens were famously built by German corporations.
Like I said, I don't have anything for or against the Swiss, and neither the Germans, but mis-information is always harmful.
I've seen a few people suggest that not having the Hubble will be okay, because it's going to be replaced by the James Webb Space Telescope. There was a good discussion on slashdot about this before, however, that led me to this site that explains the Lagrange points.
The Lagrange points are so far away from the earth that there are no reusable space craft that can reach them. This will make it next to impossible to service the JWST should something malfunction or fail (like the Hubble did so notoriously).
It's ok to let a few billion burn in.
I know that they did. They voted on it under duress, without being allowed to debate, and they got swept up in the tide of nationalism. Now that things have cooled down, however, people with their head screwed on straight are ready to sit down and seriously examine the ramifications of the legislation that was so hastily and unfortunately passed.
Did you watch the state of the union address? Did you notice who was cheering when Dubya said we needed to renew the Patriot act? Quick hint...it wasn't the Democrats.
we'll all die of a mysterious disease spread by unused voting machines!