It is really amusing how Sun goes on to spread FUD about Linux in enterprise in light of the SCO lawsuit, yet they go on to employ Linux related solutions whenever it cuts the operating costs and overhead. Mad Hatter is a good example of this. Sun is stabbing Linux in a back when releasing press releases by pushing their queer Solaris/Unix in news reports how Linux might be dangerious in terms of IP infringment, yet you see them deploy Gnome and praise it for own gain.
It's a smart move on behalf of Microsoft. They're buying time before the OS becomes further bloated beyond recognition. There is only so much crap you can throw at it before it loses whatever stability users came to expect with the vanilla edition. Service packs break applications, it's not really news. It creates a lot of work for IT personnel to ensure these SPs don't interfere with their 3rd party applications, which in turn produces research data putting Windows in a terribly vulnerable position in terms of TCO compared to Linux.
Already we are seeing major instability in XP, with constant crashes, random reboots and other issues. Just visit any forum and you'll see.
The positive side? More and more people are looking for alternatives such as Linux and Macs. Suddenly, the average internet Joe doesn't fear the scary command line of Linux, thanks to ingenius work of few distributions who made it infinately easier for less savvy users to deploy the operating system on their computers. Users are realizing that the myth created by MS advocates that Linux doesn't do anything aside from giving you the bragging rights to call yourself "1337" is no longer valid. It's adequate and even superior for any modern task likely seen by majority of the computer-using population.
WindowsXP is in war with itself, and there are no winners in this one.
In short, SomethingAwful's operators specifically encouraged criminal activities and abuse of the network. Reportedly, readers of the flooded USENET group did the right thing in response -- rather than counterattacking with a flood of their own, they reported the criminal activity to the offending user's sites (including universities).
This is exactly what happened. The actions of SomethingAwful are downright criminal.
November 1, 2002 The Pinch of Piracy Wakes China Up on Copyright Issue By JOSEPH KAHN
SHENZHEN, China, Oct. 30 -- When the members of the preview audience showed up at China's fanciest new movie theater here this week, they were treated to much more than just the first look at Zhang Yimou's big-budget martial-arts film, "Hero."
Viewers had identity card numbers inscribed on their tickets. They were videotaped as they entered the theater's foyer. They handed over all cellphones, watches, lighters, car keys, necklaces and pens and put them in storage. Before taking their seats, they passed through a metal detector. Then they got a welcoming address.
"We are showing this preview for your enjoyment tonight," announced Jiang Wei, an executive with the film's Chinese distribution company. "I plead with you to support our industry. Please do not make illegal copies of this film."
Anyone in China who makes movies, writes books, develops software or sings songs for a living knows that popularity is barely half the challenge; such people must also fight intellectual piracy.
In a country where more than 90 percent of the movies, music and software are illegal copies sold for a fraction of the original price, Chinese artists have begun to join big foreign interests like Microsoft and AOL Time Warner to protest China's seemingly limitless capacity to make cheap knockoffs.
The local effort is not going to solve the problem right away. The United States trade representative's office grouped China with Paraguay and Ukraine this spring as among the worst copyright violators in the world.
Still, the tone has changed. Throughout the 1990's, intellectual property was mainly seen as a trade dispute pitting the wealthy West against the developing East. It's now also a domestic struggle, with local stars complaining that they get little fortune from their own fame.
"After the release, we often have only three days before the pirate copies hit the market," said Mr. Jiang of New Pictures distributors, which handles Mr. Zhang's movie releases in China. "The industry can't survive that."
The belt-and-suspenders security procedures during the limited release of "Hero" at New South Country Cinema here, just across the border from Hong Kong, were aimed at protecting what China's film industry hopes will be the biggest martial arts sensation since "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." The movie, with an all-star cast led by Jet Li, cost $30 million, making it China's most expensive film production to date. Beijing will submit it to the Oscars as a candidate for best foreign-language film. Miramax, a division of Disney, has bought the international rights.
Security guards heightened the drama at the theater. They ordered people to leave behind jewelry and pens to protect against "needlepoint" digital camcorders, though varying descriptions of how such devices worked sounded more like something Q made for 007 in a James Bond movie than a common pirate's tool. Uniformed policemen roamed the aisles during the film. A few sat in front of the screen and watched the audience with what appeared to be night-vision binoculars.
The intense scrutiny prompted a few complaints, but also some sympathy.
"Zhang Yimou is not about to go hungry," said Zhu Dazhong, a 48-year-old Shenzhen retailer who saw the preview. "But if he makes a good movie, people should pay a little money to see it. The quality of the pirate copies stinks anyway."
China's creative industry has been hit hard by the failure to enforce copyright laws. Artists and their lawyers say piracy has worsened since China joined the World Trade Organization late last year and pledged to meet international standards for protecting intellectual property.
"The Touch," an action-adventure film, was a recent casualty. At the release of the film in Shanghai in August, Michelle Yeoh, who produced and starred in it, boasted about how bodyguards protected the original film reels. When the show moved from theater to theater, Ms. Yeoh said at the premiere, the reels were to travel separately so pirates who got their hands on one reel could not copy the whole film.
Nonetheless, DVD copies were available on the black market four days after the nationwide release that month, and ticket sales slid fast.
A popular folk music group, Yi Ren Zhi Zao, or Made by Yi, had an even shorter run with its latest CD. A pirated disc made from a tape released early hit the market before the authentic version was in stores.
There are now 41 pirated versions of the album, said Zhou Yaping, who runs the group's production company, based in Beijing. He said many were sold openly in top department stores. The legal CD has a 1.2 percent market share, he said.
"Our hard work and money were stolen and sold cheap," Mr. Zhou said.
Foreigners have hardly been spared. Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows XP, was selling for 32 yuan, less than $4, in the back alleys of Beijing's technology district before Microsoft formally released the $180 legal version for the China market earlier this year.
What is presented as the fifth installment of the Harry Potter series, "Harry Potter and the Leopard Walk Up to Dragon," has already reached Chinese bookstores. Though the cover attributes the book to J. K. Rowling, the British author, her publisher says the official version -- its title and subject matter will be different -- will not be available until next year. The Chinese edition is an inventive fake.
Altogether, the International Intellectual Property Alliance estimates that Chinese piracy costs foreign companies about $2 billion a year, or roughly a quarter of the total global losses attributed to copyright violations.
But while Chinese copyright holders probably do not lose as much money, local outrage generates more publicity than foreign pressure. A flurry of domestic lawsuits has attracted regular attention.
The country's two leading Internet portals, Sohu.com and Sina.com, sued each other, each accusing the other of stealing content. Mr. Zhou, of Yi Ren Zhi Zao, sued Chinese factories for manufacturing the illegal CD's. He won damages of 300,000 yuan, about $36,300, in a Beijing court.
Even the Buddhist monks of the famed Shaolin Temple have joined the fight. The temple pioneered Shaolin boxing, which evolved into kung fu. It has sought to trademark its name and has flung lawsuits against companies that use Shaolin as a brand, including one maker of canned pork.
Whether the lawsuits and publicity will slow the piracy remains to be seen.
The government has sought to demonstrate that it is finally taking the matter seriously. In August, the state-run China Daily tallied the exact number of pirated video and audio discs, 43.45 million, that had been destroyed in a crackdown so far this year.
But at a huge electronics bazaar in Shenzhen, not far from the movie theater that showed Zhang Yimou's premiere, vendors offered a cornucopia of China's latest releases for about a dollar each. "Together," the latest Chen Kaige film, which hit local movie houses in late September, was for sale in the top-quality DVD-9 format.
Legitimate DVD movies cost at least five times that much, and few were on sale at the bazaar. First-run movie tickets in China go for 30 to 50 yuan, about $4 to $6, depending on the show and the quality of the cinema.
"Hero" was not available on the black market -- yet. But Mr. Jiang, of the distribution company, said that despite the extensive security, he was still nervous.
"I won't be at ease until Nov. 4 or 5," he said. "If they managed to pirate it, it will be out by then for sure."
Also, if you're going to be defeating Palladium, that's 5 years behind bars.
hahaha. That's priceless. Imagine getting locked up in a cell along with murderers, crack dealers, child abusers and general hardened criminals, and the time will come when they would ask you "So, whacha' in here for?"
"Mr. Serial Killer, I was just trying to play this DVD, and then I soldiered the CPU to get rid of the palladium..."
You damn well know, you'll get raped for that shit.
I seriously predict that people are going to start trying to assassinate Bill Gates, and those in power who think like him.
While Bill Gates still plays an essential role in Microsoft, removing him from the corporation is not going to stop the massive mechanism he helped to build.
And isn't Apple rumored to start using x86 chips soon?
Yes, for the past 10 or so years.
Right now it's closer than you think. I'm can't offer official sources, but IIRC Apple is dropping the Motorola CPUs in 2005 in favor of Intel. I believe it was announced at Mac Expo.
Get a Date and take her to one of these arcades that have DDR.
No offense virtual e-friend, but I usually take out my date to places where you can drink alcohol and be surrounded by people who grew out of the arcade life back in late 80's.
Hmmm...2 out of 10 for humor. You DO know that Windows comes on a single CD-ROM? Now if you had picked on Visual Studio....
then it wouldn't have been funny. Duh.
VS.NET comes on a single DVD, if you don't count the whole library of developer tools and other junk. On a flipside Windows image installers get ridiculously big with every other release. It's packed with all kinds of crap you will never use, and it's just getting bigger and bigger.
There is no reason to have an OS which surpasses the 700MB mark. And before you reply with some ridiculous comment like "OMG SLACKWARE COMES IN 2 CDS PACKED WITH CRAP", it's still not that bad, because you can ignore it and move on to other distributuion, or just install whatever you need. Not sit there and be forced to clutter your hard drive with "hello-kitty OMG look so pretty junk themes" (WinXP).
Slashdot Mirror
It is really amusing how Sun goes on to spread FUD about Linux in enterprise in light of the SCO lawsuit, yet they go on to employ Linux related solutions whenever it cuts the operating costs and overhead. Mad Hatter is a good example of this. Sun is stabbing Linux in a back when releasing press releases by pushing their queer Solaris/Unix in news reports how Linux might be dangerious in terms of IP infringment, yet you see them deploy Gnome and praise it for own gain.
and lets not forget, Linux is Unix, by Sun.
It's a smart move on behalf of Microsoft. They're buying time before the OS becomes further bloated beyond recognition. There is only so much crap you can throw at it before it loses whatever stability users came to expect with the vanilla edition. Service packs break applications, it's not really news. It creates a lot of work for IT personnel to ensure these SPs don't interfere with their 3rd party applications, which in turn produces research data putting Windows in a terribly vulnerable position in terms of TCO compared to Linux.
Already we are seeing major instability in XP, with constant crashes, random reboots and other issues. Just visit any forum and you'll see.
The positive side? More and more people are looking for alternatives such as Linux and Macs. Suddenly, the average internet Joe doesn't fear the scary command line of Linux, thanks to ingenius work of few distributions who made it infinately easier for less savvy users to deploy the operating system on their computers. Users are realizing that the myth created by MS advocates that Linux doesn't do anything aside from giving you the bragging rights to call yourself "1337" is no longer valid. It's adequate and even superior for any modern task likely seen by majority of the computer-using population.
WindowsXP is in war with itself, and there are no winners in this one.
November 1, 2002
The Pinch of Piracy Wakes China Up on Copyright Issue
By JOSEPH KAHN
SHENZHEN, China, Oct. 30 -- When the members of the preview audience showed up at China's fanciest new movie theater here this week, they were treated to much more than just the first look at Zhang Yimou's big-budget martial-arts film, "Hero."
Viewers had identity card numbers inscribed on their tickets. They were videotaped as they entered the theater's foyer. They handed over all cellphones, watches, lighters, car keys, necklaces and pens and put them in storage. Before taking their seats, they passed through a metal detector. Then they got a welcoming address.
"We are showing this preview for your enjoyment tonight," announced Jiang Wei, an executive with the film's Chinese distribution company. "I plead with you to support our industry. Please do not make illegal copies of this film."
Anyone in China who makes movies, writes books, develops software or sings songs for a living knows that popularity is barely half the challenge; such people must also fight intellectual piracy.
In a country where more than 90 percent of the movies, music and software are illegal copies sold for a fraction of the original price, Chinese artists have begun to join big foreign interests like Microsoft and AOL Time Warner to protest China's seemingly limitless capacity to make cheap knockoffs.
The local effort is not going to solve the problem right away. The United States trade representative's office grouped China with Paraguay and Ukraine this spring as among the worst copyright violators in the world.
Still, the tone has changed. Throughout the 1990's, intellectual property was mainly seen as a trade dispute pitting the wealthy West against the developing East. It's now also a domestic struggle, with local stars complaining that they get little fortune from their own fame.
"After the release, we often have only three days before the pirate copies hit the market," said Mr. Jiang of New Pictures distributors, which handles Mr. Zhang's movie releases in China. "The industry can't survive that."
The belt-and-suspenders security procedures during the limited release of "Hero" at New South Country Cinema here, just across the border from Hong Kong, were aimed at protecting what China's film industry hopes will be the biggest martial arts sensation since "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." The movie, with an all-star cast led by Jet Li, cost $30 million, making it China's most expensive film production to date. Beijing will submit it to the Oscars as a candidate for best foreign-language film. Miramax, a division of Disney, has bought the international rights.
Security guards heightened the drama at the theater. They ordered people to leave behind jewelry and pens to protect against "needlepoint" digital camcorders, though varying descriptions of how such devices worked sounded more like something Q made for 007 in a James Bond movie than a common pirate's tool. Uniformed policemen roamed the aisles during the film. A few sat in front of the screen and watched the audience with what appeared to be night-vision binoculars.
The intense scrutiny prompted a few complaints, but also some sympathy.
"Zhang Yimou is not about to go hungry," said Zhu Dazhong, a 48-year-old Shenzhen retailer who saw the preview. "But if he makes a good movie, people should pay a little money to see it. The quality of the pirate copies stinks anyway."
China's creative industry has been hit hard by the failure to enforce copyright laws. Artists and their lawyers say piracy has worsened since China joined the World Trade Organization late last year and pledged to meet international standards for protecting intellectual property.
"The Touch," an action-adventure film, was a recent casualty. At the release of the film in Shanghai in August, Michelle Yeoh, who produced and starred in it, boasted about how bodyguards protected the original film reels. When the show moved from theater to theater, Ms. Yeoh said at the premiere, the reels were to travel separately so pirates who got their hands on one reel could not copy the whole film.
Nonetheless, DVD copies were available on the black market four days after the nationwide release that month, and ticket sales slid fast.
A popular folk music group, Yi Ren Zhi Zao, or Made by Yi, had an even shorter run with its latest CD. A pirated disc made from a tape released early hit the market before the authentic version was in stores.
There are now 41 pirated versions of the album, said Zhou Yaping, who runs the group's production company, based in Beijing. He said many were sold openly in top department stores. The legal CD has a 1.2 percent market share, he said.
"Our hard work and money were stolen and sold cheap," Mr. Zhou said.
Foreigners have hardly been spared. Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows XP, was selling for 32 yuan, less than $4, in the back alleys of Beijing's technology district before Microsoft formally released the $180 legal version for the China market earlier this year.
What is presented as the fifth installment of the Harry Potter series, "Harry Potter and the Leopard Walk Up to Dragon," has already reached Chinese bookstores. Though the cover attributes the book to J. K. Rowling, the British author, her publisher says the official version -- its title and subject matter will be different -- will not be available until next year. The Chinese edition is an inventive fake.
Altogether, the International Intellectual Property Alliance estimates that Chinese piracy costs foreign companies about $2 billion a year, or roughly a quarter of the total global losses attributed to copyright violations.
But while Chinese copyright holders probably do not lose as much money, local outrage generates more publicity than foreign pressure. A flurry of domestic lawsuits has attracted regular attention.
The country's two leading Internet portals, Sohu.com and Sina.com, sued each other, each accusing the other of stealing content. Mr. Zhou, of Yi Ren Zhi Zao, sued Chinese factories for manufacturing the illegal CD's. He won damages of 300,000 yuan, about $36,300, in a Beijing court.
Even the Buddhist monks of the famed Shaolin Temple have joined the fight. The temple pioneered Shaolin boxing, which evolved into kung fu. It has sought to trademark its name and has flung lawsuits against companies that use Shaolin as a brand, including one maker of canned pork.
Whether the lawsuits and publicity will slow the piracy remains to be seen.
The government has sought to demonstrate that it is finally taking the matter seriously. In August, the state-run China Daily tallied the exact number of pirated video and audio discs, 43.45 million, that had been destroyed in a crackdown so far this year.
But at a huge electronics bazaar in Shenzhen, not far from the movie theater that showed Zhang Yimou's premiere, vendors offered a cornucopia of China's latest releases for about a dollar each. "Together," the latest Chen Kaige film, which hit local movie houses in late September, was for sale in the top-quality DVD-9 format.
Legitimate DVD movies cost at least five times that much, and few were on sale at the bazaar. First-run movie tickets in China go for 30 to 50 yuan, about $4 to $6, depending on the show and the quality of the cinema.
"Hero" was not available on the black market -- yet. But Mr. Jiang, of the distribution company, said that despite the extensive security, he was still nervous.
"I won't be at ease until Nov. 4 or 5," he said. "If they managed to pirate it, it will be out by then for sure."
...They got it all wrong and actually helped them by Overcloaking the Terrorist Networks?
And we all know how MUCH money web advertising generates. *snickers*
"Hey! Look, I just bought a Ferrari with those link exchange banners I've been running on my page devoted to Yo Momma Jokes."
$300 bucks (US) is all you need
That sounds really great, but then I visited their webstore. What exactly does the GPL license offer? Is it just the architecture source?
Clarify please ;)
hey, I wonder if the FreeBSD router also puts you behind NAT.
Try again at a later time.
No offense virtual e-friend, but I usually take out my date to places where you can drink alcohol and be surrounded by people who grew out of the arcade life back in late 80's.
Nice try though ;)
I'm just saying what I've experienced.
Rightfully so. RH is the Microsoft of Linux distros. They _THE ENEMY WITHIN_
Hmmm...2 out of 10 for humor. You DO know that Windows comes on a single CD-ROM? Now if you had picked on Visual Studio.... then it wouldn't have been funny. Duh. VS.NET comes on a single DVD, if you don't count the whole library of developer tools and other junk. On a flipside Windows image installers get ridiculously big with every other release. It's packed with all kinds of crap you will never use, and it's just getting bigger and bigger. There is no reason to have an OS which surpasses the 700MB mark. And before you reply with some ridiculous comment like "OMG SLACKWARE COMES IN 2 CDS PACKED WITH CRAP", it's still not that bad, because you can ignore it and move on to other distributuion, or just install whatever you need. Not sit there and be forced to clutter your hard drive with "hello-kitty OMG look so pretty junk themes" (WinXP).
maybe computers will be fast enough to run mozilla one day! Mozilla in itself is not slow. Its your reflexes which make is _seem_ slow.
My porn collection salutes your hard research.