I believe the giant may soon be awakened as it was partially awakened during the Rodney King trial (and especially after it). All it takes is one incident to spark the event. When Osama Bin Laudin (spelling?) stated that they did what they did to awaken the people of America - this is what he was talking about.
And no - this does not mean I condone what was done. And no - this does not mean that I want an uprising. And no - it doesn't mean anything other than just want I've said. All other statements are owned by their respective posters, please don't try to put words into my mouth I haven't said.
I like to play around with statistics and my whacko numbers are just as good as the next kook out there. The only difference is that I seem to hit things right on the head a bit more than some (and a bit less than others). Don't call me a Silvia Brown person because I'm not. But in the 1970s I did predict the dotcom bubble burst (because every 100 years the US has gone through a similar problem). Look back at the turn of the century from 1899 to 1900. What happened? Wild stock market rise followed by the biggest depression ever recorded. Not to mention two world wars. What happened when the US went from 1799 to 1800? Wild stock market (land speculation) rise followed by burst bubble and the civil war. What's happening from 1999 to 2000? Wild stock market rise (computers) followed by a burst bubble and a small war (so far). Doesn't take a psychic to predict what's going to happen next. Either another civil war or another world war. After all, the wars don't get smaller each time - they just get bigger. It could even mean the end of the US as we have known it. (And don't even get me started on the hoopla surrounding the coming of Christ every 100 years. People even went so far as to kill themselves before the turn of the century because they knew they had done something evil and didn't want to suffer the tortures of living on earth during the end times. Happens every 100 years.) Want to know what's coming? Another depression. Maybe not on the order of the Great Depression, but then there are a lot more regulations in place now than then. But it will happen (and is already beginning to happen - just look at all of the layoffs, government closings of bases, and how many more people do you see standing on the corners asking for money? In the 1970s I saw maybe one or two people. Now there are two or three people on a corner along the freeway - and no - not every freaking corner - just a lot more corners than I remember seeing in the 1970s.).
I would say that that depends upon how things are set up for you. For instance, in some of the older games people used to use the numeric keypad to move around on the screen. You get the eight cardinal points plus a centering key (#5). If the shift key were used to mean "Page Function" then the cursor could jump from the center of the screen to any of the eight points around the screen. If the control key were used to mean "Jump X Pixels" then you could set the number of pixels equal to 1/4 of the screen's X & Y resolution and have an easy method to jump in the eight cardinal directions a certain number of times. Other keys could be assigned to mean other things as well, but just using the above how many times would you have to hit a key in order to get to some place on the screen?
Let's say you have a 1280x1024 screen. This means that half of that (or 640x512) will center your mouse cursor. I would set the Control-key function to 10 pixels for the XY jump. So to reach the halfway point between the 0x0 location and the 640x512 location (or 320x256) would take the following:
A. 1 time of hitting the 5 key. (Puts you at 640x512)
B. (256/10) = 25 times of hitting the C-1 key. (Puts you at 390x250)
C. 6 times of hitting the 8 key. (Puts you at 390x256)
D. 7 times of hitting the 2 key. (Puts you at 320x256)
By assigning other keys to represent 50 pixel jumps, and 100 pixel jumps (such as Alt key usage or Shift+Ctrl key combos) you can reduce the above by quite a bit. By mapping the numeric keypad keys to the keyboard and having a special mode for cursor movement you could also jump around from page to page very quickly.
As the article pointed out - both emacs and vi already have ways to move around in a file quickly and easily and as the blind person pointed out - there are already programs out there to do this. So although the mouse is great for artistic things or for other jobs where there is a lot of movement from one point on the screen to another - the keyboard is faster for many other things which are now assigned to the mouse. But the only reason it is faster is because you have to stop, move your hand over to the mouse, and then do whatever it is you are going to do with the mouse, and then move your hands back to the keyboard. Thus, as long as you can keep your hands just on the keyboard - it should be faster than if you have to move back and forth between using a mouse and using the keyboard. The same holds true for those things (like games) which just use the mouse. In those games the mouse should be faster than the ones where you have to do some typing and some mouse usage. Because, again, you don't have to move your hands back and forth between the two.
First, someone did OS X under Linux and Apple told them to stop. So Linux could have had the same capabilities that looked just like what Apple was doing - but Linux doesn't. Not because it couldn't - but because the development was stopped.
Let me relate what other cooler heads have been saying for years and that is "Each OS and each computer and each programming language and each editor and each <insert whatever you like> has its good and bad things about it." Everyone's milesage varies according to what they know and how they use it. Thus, flamewars over any of these different areas doesn't make sense.
For instance - here is my experience with Mac OS X -> PAINFUL! Sorry, had to say that. Mac OS X is ok but I am used to using Linux so I bought Yellow Dog Linux, removed Mac OS X and installed Linux. I have found that YDLinux seems to run (for me) about twice as fast as Mac OS X used to on my system. Go figure! (At least I haven't figured it out yet but maybe it has to do with the monolithic OS that Linux uses versus the Mach OS's diversified OS as per the article.) Further, with the latest version of Linux I have not had any of the VI'ing that you have stated (ok - some VI'ing of the HTTPD.CONF file to put in the <Directory> stuff for Apache but everything else came up fine without me even having to click my way through mouse menus.)
So now I have Mac OS 9.2 (Classic) for those programs I still like to use (like Canvas 3.5.6 and some older games which still work under OS 9.2 [which really amazes me that they do run]) and I use the Linux side for development work on my own things.
Now, we could go back and forth over the good and bad things for days on end but I believe there is one thing you must admit Linux has over OS X and that is the price of it. $90.00 for people who know nothing about Linux, $30.00 for those who do (such as myself) versus $94.00 (single license) and $149.00 (family pack). Further, YDLinux can have as many accounts as you want at the $90.00 and $30.00 fee, contains hundreds of programs (which Apple also includes now whereas they didn't to begin with) and you can make your desktop look a lot like the Mac OS X desktop.
As someone who bought an Apple ][+,//e,//gs, Lisa Mac, 128k Mac, 512k Mac, Mac IIfx, and now owns both a G4 Powerbook and a PowerPC -> I know a bit about Apples and Macs. (But not all - just some - no one really knows ALL there is to know about anything.) So when I say I used to wonder why Apple didn't do Unix and now wonder why Apple doesn't just embrace Linux and be done with it; it isn't out of ignorance. It is out of "why go to all of the hassle?" I know - it's a control freak thing. If they don't control the OS then they can't control where it is going to go next. Right? Wrong. No one in the Linux community would care one way or the other if Apple used Linux as the base but made their own window manager. Just like Enlightenment, FVWM(2), ICE, KDE, Gnome, and all of the others have theirs; Apple could make its own window manager. There is already an old Mac emulator for Linux (ie: Pre OS X) and Apple could have hired the person or persons who are working on these things to beef the emulators up so it would cover all of the various previous systems (and not just OS 9.x). The savings in time and money would have allowed them to also back a revival of the old Apple line so the emulators for the//e through the Lisa Mac could have lived on. (They do now but Apple probably wishes they would disappear.)
Turning to the article (for some final thoughts) - my main thought is this:
Why didn't they install Linux onto the G5 and try comparing Linux to Linux? Since Linux for the Macintosh doesn't suffer from the problems Mach seems to suffer from wouldn't that make the comparison more logical? I think so and will suggest it to those who did the testing.
...have a Scottish accent and you have to hold the mouse up to your mouth and speak into it at the same time.;-)
Re:this is just a patch to a kludge
on
Cubicle Privacy
·
· Score: 1
Attention corporate masters! What employees want are OFFICES with DOORS THAT CLOSE and WINDOWS THAT OPEN. Yes, on a nice spring/fall day I wouldn't mind being able to open the window.
What???? And let you skinny down the tree that is outside of your office while your computer makes typing noises? I don't think so!;-)
My noise reducer is my megaphone. When I shout "STFU!" everyone listens.
A bit of trivia you may not know:
Offices do not have windows that open for two reasons:
1. Sealed windows makes it easier to temperature control rooms. 2. People tend to jump out of windows they can open. Especially in fires and when depressed. Given the current state of affairs - I think the second is probably used more than the first.
Just a short "Me Too" to add my voice to the other poster who responded to your post.
But I would like to draw your attention to the many court cases where the courts in the US look to the European courts to see how they have handled things. They do this usually because something came up in Europe first. Several of the other countries around the world which claim to be democracies (or are democracies) sometimes also look at these rulings to see if the rulings in their countries have merit. If they do, then the judges in the US do use some or all of that other court's rulings. (The old - don't re-invent the wheel thing.) When they do this though, they also include information in their ruling citing the other court's ruling and why they are going with what that court did/said.
To be fair, sometimes the US courts use a ruling from another country which is controversial to everyone living in the US. In fact, I have had many times when I have become extremely angry over a court ruling because it was based upon a WIPO mandate which contradicted the very basis of some of the laws in the US. (And that is because WIPO is out for big business and not anything else. I would not care if they started calling themselves Peace Loving God on Earth. Their only function is to try to wringe an extra penny out of everyone. They advocate double dipping on the selling of anything (ie: You pay every time you use that hammer you bought), ignore human rights as they pertain to fair use, and are causing so many problems it is not funny.) WIPO, as far as I am concerned, is George Orwell's Big Brother from the book 1984 and the sooner they are gotten rid of the better.
Still, that particular rant aside, the US courts do use and acknowledge what the European courts do and say. Just like the European courts watch to see how we do things in our country. (See the recent Microsoft versus the European Courts and MS has wound up having to take IE out of Windows.) Not that they always use what we do in the US (The European courts decided MS was a bit too powerful and thus IE has to be removed.) - but they do watch to see what is going on.
I have needed legal advice and have gone through two court cases (one in big civil court and one in small claims civil court). I retained a lawyer for $300.00, took the people to court, and wound up owing my lawyer $14,000.00 since the big claim guy was a sole proprietorship and had no money. Therefore, I am PAINFULLY aware of just what could occur. Which is why I suggest sending the letter.
But the sending of a letter is only the beginning. There is a lot of work you have to do such as finding out whether or not the company even is a corporation or sole proprietorship. If it is a corporation, then it is likely that they will have insurance (since $500,000.00 insurance can be had for less than $500.00 a year in some places).
One of the great things though is that you don't have to actually sue the company. Instead - go see the FBI. GASP! THE FBI????! Yeppers. The company is selling your software without your permission across state lines. That makes it a federal offense.
Or you can contact the local police where the company resides. You can do this in two ways: 1)Use the long distance operator (1-800-555-1212), 2)Look them up via MapQuest.
To use the long distance operator you will have to know the city, state, and zip. (So you will probably wind up using MapQuest anyway.) Call up the operator and ask for the District Attorney's office (or sheriff's office) for that area. Lodge a complaint against them or find out how to lodge a complaint. File the necessary paperwork. Have fun.:-)
Use small claims court. Most localities allow for up to $5,000.00 in small claims court. If the company has a 1-800 number (or 1-877) you can file against the company in your area and have the case heard where you are located. (BUT IT DOES HAVE TO HAVE A NATION WIDE PHONE NUMBER! Otherwise you have to go there.) Anyway, you should be able to file against the company and if they don't show up - you win. You can then place a lien against the company and no one will give them money until that lien is taken care of.:-) Cost of small claims court? Usually somewhere around $100.00 and about an hour of your time. How many times can you take them to court over this? Well! The NEW copyright laws seem to favor multiple zaps to a company. (Or to put that another way - for each occurance or infraction.)
Again, I would consult with a lawyer - but if you also do some research of your own you can probably handle things in small claims court and save yourself a lot of money.
Now, for the "What about China" et al? Simple. Contact your local Congressman/Senator and present them with a letter. Explain how your GPL'd code is being stolen by this company in country X and ask if they can contact the representative from that country. Be nice and polite to the Senator/Congressman and they will do what they can. No promises but every now and then miracles can happen. Just remember that this will put you squarely on the side of the MPAA, RIAA, and any other company who has had to do this to some small time person who either sold their products out right or who stole their code and used it in another program.
In fact, that is the question you are going to have to deal with. Because when you fight for your code you are doing the same thing those people we all love to hate are doing.:-/
If they are smart enough to be running BSD, then they are smart enough to look at the scripts and realize that:
1. The scripts are just sending stat information and not personal information. 2. That the person would already know their e-mail address. 3. That the person already knows their room number 4. So no additional information is being sent except that maybe their system has become infected and needs attention. Which is a good thing. 5. That they are getting free help so that they don't have to spend the time fixing the problems. 6. That maybe they will make a new friend whom they can turn to later in life when maybe their company's computers are failing.
Further:
1. The person would probably know how to program and would be able to read the scripts and see that they do not do anything. 2. Would understand about CRONTAB jobs or at least would understand the concept of them and that they could stop them any time they wanted to do so with one simple command. 3. Would understand that the job would run in the background and could be set to a very low priority so it wouldn't affect whatever else they are doing. 4. Would not even be worried about an e-mail which just sent a report about how many viruses there were on their system because they'd know that would just mean the person would schedule with them a time to get together to remove said viruses.
It's a win-win situation for both parties. So there isn't any reason why someone wouldn't want this to be done. Especially if the person is a Linux/BSD/Unix person. Because they are not giving up control of their system to anyone. In fact, under a Unix system, they could set up an account just for the person so the person only has limited access to their system. After all, it doesn't require system privileges just to scan a file for VACs.
Ok, well, first off - if the person actually has been asked to do this by the powers that be (whether that is the university, the people who run the dorm, or they were just elected by the dorm residents themselves) - then they have references. The phone numbers and/or e-mails of these people can be used to lend weight to this person's request to talk.
If the residents refused to talk to him/her, then there would be a basis for this person to turn in a list of people who are refusing to even attempt to discuss the problem and then the university can pull the plug on those people - which I believe would get their attention. Again, proper notification with all of the proper seals etc... could be posted on the offending people's doors so they can't say they were not warned.
A forum would be nice, but I meant blog when I said it. A blog is nothing more than a forum but mainly one-sided. Since the person is going to be posting what new viruses to look out for (if that is what they want to do), monthly "which floors are having the most trouble", and so on - it mainly is a blog. It can still be used to coordinate games - but it is mainly a blog.
Ok, so now that everyone is listening to him/her because their network connection was removed until they at least talked to the person - let's discuss the rest of your post:
The reason I said that the person would have to bring a flyer and that they would have to talk to the others in the dormitory was because of people who think the way you do. Those who are smart enough to rise above the No Fucking Way attitude will also be smart enough to look at the simple scripts and realise that they:
1. Collect no information about their system.
2. That they've already had to give the guy their e-mail address so - Woah! - yeah you sure are giving away a lot of information there buddy!
3. That the guy already knows their room number so - look out! He might actually put two and two together and know too much about what you are doing!
Those whom you feel are too stupid to know how to use scripts and who would be paranoid, pull guns out, and begin shooting at the guy; can be sedated using plain old communication. In other words - he should talk to them and walk them through what is needed to be done. Again, intelligence can prevail if it is just given a chance. You would be amazed at just how many people appreciate it when someone who knows something about computers shows them how to make their computer much better.
Now, to be fair, I know life at college is freaking weird. But it always has been so and every generation thinks it is the radical new thing, better than the last, weirder, more "out there", bleeding edge, trailing scum, bee-bop, hip-hop, robotic, exotic, neurotic, and so forth. Been there -> done that. In the ten years I worked at a University while attending it I never found that many people who said "Get lost" to me when I offered them my help. A few - yes. Mainly those who were smart enough to know how to work a computer by themselves and only needed a little help and I offered too much help. But the vast majority needed help and appreciated my giving it. Some of those people are now owners of corporations. We stay in touch.
No matter what you may say or how you may feel about this - most people do appreciate being helped out in bad situations. Having your computer infested with viruses beause you don't know how to deal with them and having someone who is willing to put in the time and effort to help you. Well, you have to be a particularly mean spirited person to not want the help and those people were few and far between.
I believe that the tools I've given in my original post, and even those in this post, are enough for this person to be able to get everyone's attention in the dorm. Used correctly, they can be a great benefit. Used incorrectly, they can cause great harm. But that is the chance you have to take in this kind of a situation. If the guy can't handle
Actually, now that the GPL has been shown to be valid in court, it should be getting easier to have a lawyer represent you in court. Donations are then not needed because all you have to do is to make sure your lawyer gets paid when the money is collected from the people who have stolen/misappropriated/converted your GPL'd code into their applications.
This is NOT to say that you can just go down to your local street corner and have lawyers rush towards you with open arms, gushing with enthusiasm about wanting to represent you in court. But any lawyer who deals with copyrights, patents, and such should have a very good grasp on how to go about dealing with people who misappropriate computer code. In many cases, all it really takes is for a lawyer to write a halfway decent letter to the offender for them to back off. Thus, for less than $300.00 you can probably find a lawyer willing to write the letter to the company.
This is also not to say that the person to whom the GPL'd code belonged could not write a letter by just getting one of those Business Lawyer CDs and using the template letter to send a cease and desist letter.
But I would use a lawyer. Mainly because it gives more force to what you are saying and/or doing.
(And yes, IANAL! Not all of the time mind you - sometimes I'm just a normal person - but right now IANAL!);-)
1. "It can't be done" crowd. 2. "Be tough about it" crowd. 3. "Go behind their backs" crowd.
and others....
How about this:
1. Get everyone's e-mail address so you can send all of them e-mail at the same time. How do you do that? Ask them to e-mail you - that's how. Of course, disinfect anything they send you because they probably will have a virus or two.
1a. How do you get all of them to send you the e-mail? Go buy some of those blank business card sheets (Avery I believe makes these), print up your message, get someone to help you break them apart, and then just tape them to each person's door. In this way you: 1)Don't have to talk to them, 2)Don't try to force them to do what they don't want to do, and 3)Can do it on your own time (like on a floor-by-floor basis). Cost: Probably about $10.00.
1b. Your message? It should be something like:
Dormitory SysAdmin needs your help! We need your e-mail address as we are trying to remove viruses and want to be able to keep you informed. Thanks! myemailaddress@thedorms.edu
1c. Put notices on doors leading into the dorm and/or bulletin boards also asking for e-mail addresses. If you can, have someone hand the things out to people as they come in and out of the dorms.
2. Set up a blog where everyone can meet and talk about problems. Use the e-mail addresses to send your notice out about the blog and how to access it.
3. Set up appointments with people to meet with them to show them how to protect their system from viruses, ads, cookies, and other problems.
Ok, let's say you've gotten some responses and want to start to go to other people's rooms to help them out. You want to:
4. Use the scheduler built in to every operating system currently in use (ie: Mac OS X, Windows98se and up, Linux, BSD, Solaris, etc...). For those OSs which are older (although I can't see anyone currently in college using an Apple ][+ or even Mac OS 9.x or earlier) download and bring with you some sort of a scheduler. (Even the Apple//gs had a CRONTAB program!). Set their machine up so it automatically, every day, trys to download the latest and greatest updates for the OS, SpyBot, AdAware (or whatever you use), your virus protection program, etc.... The MOST IMPORTANT THING THOUGH - is to always explain what it is you are doing to the person's computer. Don't just dump a bunch of things onto their system. Bring a flyer that explains what it is you are doing and why. Set their system up so they can win and so they don't have to rely on you to be there to make everything function correctly. All of the virus/cookie/ad checking software out there can be set up to function on its own. Some of them (like most virus checkers) have their own scheduling software built in.
4a. NOW! Here is the important thing! Set the virus/ad/cookie (or VAC for short) to AUTOMATICALLY e-mail you with the results. This too can be done via the scheduler. Give the automatically generated e-mail a special header (like [VIRUS|AD|COOKIE] REPORT FOR ROOM X). There are e-mailer programs for all operating systems which run from the command line. So just make a little batch program/shell script to create your report and e-mail it to you. Again, write it all down in the flyer you are going to give them so they don't freak when their system suddenly starts doing things (like checking for viruses or sending e-mail).
4b. Most virus software's report will read "VIRUS FOUND" and then tell you where and when the virus was found. Write yourself a short Perl/PHP/C/ script which will read these e-mails and sort out which one have viruses and which ones don't have them. Since you made the title have the room number on it - you automatically know who is having problems. So you can e-mail them back and set up a time to go over to fix any problems they might be having. Further, you can produce statistics on where the greatest problems are and post these fi
This reminds me of one of my aunts who had a cockatiel. The thing learned how to call the dog's name in the exact same voice as my aunt. It would then wait for my aunt to go into another room, walk up to the screen door, and begin tormenting the dog by calling its name as if it were time for my aunt to feed it.
After the dog was frothing at the mouth, barking hysterically, and slamming into the back screen door, the bird would calmly walk away and hide under the nearest table while my aunt (upon hearing all of the racket) would confront the dog with a puzzled "What's the matter with you?"
It took her about a month to catch the bird in the act. The bird was that sneaky.
I think that this will be revived when nanotechnology becomes a bit more stable as well as nanobots. The reason is that it would be easier (IMHO) to program a mechanical machine to bootstrap an electronic based machine due to the fact that there is a greater mechanical knowledge available than there is an electronic one. To put that another way, when you get into your car and turn the key a computer is not necessary to make the electrical connection which starts the car. (And yes, I understand that there is a computer which NOW controls many of the functions of your car as it operates - but that is a recent [timewise] thing. It used to be all mechanical.) Therefore, if nanobot technology continues at its current pace it will be easier to take a large [and known] item and reduce it down than it would be to try to program something to emulate the mechanical device.
As a for-instance, I remind Slashdot readers about the nano-turbine technology which is beginning to show up around the world. This is [basically] a baby-boot situation where a mechanical boot occurs. That is to say - you have to "boot" the turbine but the turbine could boot itself if it had a battery who's on/off switches were determined by the power line's need. If the voltage for the line dropped below a certain level, the turbine could turn itself on and bring the voltage back up to the given level. (Imagine a line of these nano-turbines strung along an electrical line. A simple on/off current detection device constantly monitors the line. At first, all of the turbines would come on, then those which are farther down the line would determine there was too much current flowing and shut themselves down. This would continue until only the necessary turbines were running. If one of them failed, the extra turbines would then repeat the test cycle until enough turbines would [again] be running and maintaining the proper power level.)
This is [basically] a baby-bootstrap but it is mechanical in nature rather than electronic.:-/
This is correct. I was allowing Hollywood's misuse of history to influence me. Although Mozart may have played some kind of a ditty for a king on the king's birthday - it probably would not have sounded anything like the "Happy Birthday to you" song.
Actually, according to this article both the lyrics as well as the melody are copyrighted and have been since 1938. Since the lawsuit filed by the Hill's sister used the melody (ie: music notes) to show that the re-copyrighted song was the same as the Hill's sister's songs. This would (I would have to assume) mean that the person who recently copyrighted the "Happy Birthday To You" song is going to be sued.:-)
In "Farenheit 451" Ray Bradbury talked about people staring in TV shows way beyond when John Brunner ever wrote about it. According to Amazon.com's scans of the copyright dates:
In fact, given the dates, I'd say John read 451 when in school and the idea probably percolated for a while and then popped out later on. This happens all the time to people (song writers, story writers, etc...). It is also IMHO why Congress original set the 14 year coverage of copyrights with a single 14 year extension (if asked for). So that ideas could be discovered, used, and then rolled back into the seething mass of consciousness only to be spit back out later on in another, maybe slightly different, form. Copyrights which remove this plowing of ideas back into the general masses basically destroys everyone's ability to make new ideas or items. Because the one person who owns the original copyright can, presently, charge whatever they want for their copyright thus limiting the availability of ideas.
Do you think that non-original ideas (like the making of ice cream) can not be copyrighted and halt everyone's ability to do something? Think about the case of the "Happy Birthday" song played by Mozart centuries ago. You don't hear it in restaurants much anymore (oh, they have "Happy Birthday" songs but they are not THE "Happy Birthday" song). The reason? Some guy copyrighted it and the Copyright Office was stupid enough to give him the copyright. Even though the Copyright Office's own rules state that anything that pre-existed before the copyright laws went into effect could not be copyrighted!
"... but I think we should expect more from grammar check."
Should be: but I think we should expect more from a/the grammar checking program.
since grammar check is not a noun but a state of being. (As in the grammar is being checked by the program.)
I know marketing people like to coin phrases - but do they all have to be grammatical monstrosities? Which begs the question of whether or not a marketing person should even try to correct someone else's bad grammar? After all, isn't that a bit like calling the kettle black?
Truly, I'm no grammatical wizard. And, after a few head beatings from the general public on boards like Slashdot, I have come to realize that a vast majority of people really don't give a flying f......er.....they don't care that much about correctly doing their punctuation marks, their spelling, diction, word usage, or even if anyone else can even read what they write two seconds after those bits hit the page!
So, as my parents always said (as well as probably millions of other parents have told their children) - who cares. So long as you get your message across - who cares? (Secretly though - I do. And I have started a secret club called the Secret Word Amalgamens who are going to infiltrate this culture of abusive word users and inject them with our new serum called the Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious serum. And it will be Um diddle diddle, um diddle ay to everyone soon!)
It is unfortunate. But like others here have stated, the thing to do is to NOT do anything rash or is a knee-jerk reaction. Instead, write the dean of the college with a CC to the head of the computing department. Cite the court cases where the judge has found in favor of those using BitTorrent.
In the letter I would also cite that when cassette tape recorders first came out the music and movie industries screamed and yelled about these items being illegal for the common person to use. Their reasoning was that people would make millions of copies of songs and soundtracks. People did - but no where near as often as the music and movie industries tried to make it out to be. When VCRs first came out the music and movie industry again went to court and fought tooth and nail to prevent people from being able to use that technology. Then laser discs came and they again filed suit. Then CDs came out and they filed suit again. The United States of America was one of the LAST countries to have DVDs because of the music and movie industries lawsuits and lobbying of Congress. In all cases the technology could be used for illegal as well as legal copying of information. Whether songs, movies, or even games. In every single case the courts and Congress together have made it extremely clear that just because there is the opportunity to use a technology for illegal purposes it doesn't mean that everyone is going to use it for that purpose. (After all - cars are used to help bankrobbers, kidnappers, and others yet everyone still drives cars.) Further, after all of the hysteria, screaming, finger pointing, jeering, hyperbole, accusations, misleading and often outright lies propagated by these industries it has always been found that their fears were nothing more than ignorance of how the technology works. As well as how these industries should use them to increase their incomes. (For my part, I believe they really are just dragging their heels on implementing the new technologies because they don't want to spend the X number of dollars to install the new technology and use it. After all - they've got things pretty well locked up as is.)
So that is what I would do. Write the dean of the college as well as the head of the computing center and lay things out for them. That you feel you are being punished unjustly for a crime you have not committed. Expain to them what the Azureus BitTorrent client does, how it helps to keep the bandwidth usage low (thus saving the university money), and I would imply that it would make everyone who is already using Azureus think less highly of your university (which they probably would). I would also ask those who use Azureus to send an e-mail to you with examples of what they are using the application for and I would include those into the letter to the dean and manager of the computing center.
Slashdot Mirror
As Lewis Sinclair once said (I believe)
"Woe to those who wake the sleeping giant."
I believe the giant may soon be awakened as it was partially awakened during the Rodney King trial (and especially after it). All it takes is one incident to spark the event. When Osama Bin Laudin (spelling?) stated that they did what they did to awaken the people of America - this is what he was talking about.
And no - this does not mean I condone what was done. And no - this does not mean that I want an uprising. And no - it doesn't mean anything other than just want I've said. All other statements are owned by their respective posters, please don't try to put words into my mouth I haven't said.
I like to play around with statistics and my whacko numbers are just as good as the next kook out there. The only difference is that I seem to hit things right on the head a bit more than some (and a bit less than others). Don't call me a Silvia Brown person because I'm not. But in the 1970s I did predict the dotcom bubble burst (because every 100 years the US has gone through a similar problem). Look back at the turn of the century from 1899 to 1900. What happened? Wild stock market rise followed by the biggest depression ever recorded. Not to mention two world wars. What happened when the US went from 1799 to 1800? Wild stock market (land speculation) rise followed by burst bubble and the civil war. What's happening from 1999 to 2000? Wild stock market rise (computers) followed by a burst bubble and a small war (so far). Doesn't take a psychic to predict what's going to happen next. Either another civil war or another world war. After all, the wars don't get smaller each time - they just get bigger. It could even mean the end of the US as we have known it. (And don't even get me started on the hoopla surrounding the coming of Christ every 100 years. People even went so far as to kill themselves before the turn of the century because they knew they had done something evil and didn't want to suffer the tortures of living on earth during the end times. Happens every 100 years.) Want to know what's coming? Another depression. Maybe not on the order of the Great Depression, but then there are a lot more regulations in place now than then. But it will happen (and is already beginning to happen - just look at all of the layoffs, government closings of bases, and how many more people do you see standing on the corners asking for money? In the 1970s I saw maybe one or two people. Now there are two or three people on a corner along the freeway - and no - not every freaking corner - just a lot more corners than I remember seeing in the 1970s.).
I would say that that depends upon how things are set up for you. For instance, in some of the older games people used to use the numeric keypad to move around on the screen. You get the eight cardinal points plus a centering key (#5). If the shift key were used to mean "Page Function" then the cursor could jump from the center of the screen to any of the eight points around the screen. If the control key were used to mean "Jump X Pixels" then you could set the number of pixels equal to 1/4 of the screen's X & Y resolution and have an easy method to jump in the eight cardinal directions a certain number of times. Other keys could be assigned to mean other things as well, but just using the above how many times would you have to hit a key in order to get to some place on the screen?
Let's say you have a 1280x1024 screen. This means that half of that (or 640x512) will center your mouse cursor. I would set the Control-key function to 10 pixels for the XY jump. So to reach the halfway point between the 0x0 location and the 640x512 location (or 320x256) would take the following:
A. 1 time of hitting the 5 key. (Puts you at 640x512)
B. (256/10) = 25 times of hitting the C-1 key. (Puts you at 390x250)
C. 6 times of hitting the 8 key. (Puts you at 390x256)
D. 7 times of hitting the 2 key. (Puts you at 320x256)
By assigning other keys to represent 50 pixel jumps, and 100 pixel jumps (such as Alt key usage or Shift+Ctrl key combos) you can reduce the above by quite a bit. By mapping the numeric keypad keys to the keyboard and having a special mode for cursor movement you could also jump around from page to page very quickly.
As the article pointed out - both emacs and vi already have ways to move around in a file quickly and easily and as the blind person pointed out - there are already programs out there to do this. So although the mouse is great for artistic things or for other jobs where there is a lot of movement from one point on the screen to another - the keyboard is faster for many other things which are now assigned to the mouse. But the only reason it is faster is because you have to stop, move your hand over to the mouse, and then do whatever it is you are going to do with the mouse, and then move your hands back to the keyboard. Thus, as long as you can keep your hands just on the keyboard - it should be faster than if you have to move back and forth between using a mouse and using the keyboard. The same holds true for those things (like games) which just use the mouse. In those games the mouse should be faster than the ones where you have to do some typing and some mouse usage. Because, again, you don't have to move your hands back and forth between the two.
PS: Shouldn't that be "mice" and not "mouses"?
Yes. I read that but did not see where they said they were going to do PPC Linux versus IBM Linux. Thanks for pointing that out. :-)
Or maybe to help out in the many EFF cases?
Hmmmmmm.....well - here is my $0.02 worth:
//e, //gs, Lisa Mac, 128k Mac, 512k Mac, Mac IIfx, and now owns both a G4 Powerbook and a PowerPC -> I know a bit about Apples and Macs. (But not all - just some - no one really knows ALL there is to know about anything.) So when I say I used to wonder why Apple didn't do Unix and now wonder why Apple doesn't just embrace Linux and be done with it; it isn't out of ignorance. It is out of "why go to all of the hassle?" I know - it's a control freak thing. If they don't control the OS then they can't control where it is going to go next. Right? Wrong. No one in the Linux community would care one way or the other if Apple used Linux as the base but made their own window manager. Just like Enlightenment, FVWM(2), ICE, KDE, Gnome, and all of the others have theirs; Apple could make its own window manager. There is already an old Mac emulator for Linux (ie: Pre OS X) and Apple could have hired the person or persons who are working on these things to beef the emulators up so it would cover all of the various previous systems (and not just OS 9.x). The savings in time and money would have allowed them to also back a revival of the old Apple line so the emulators for the //e through the Lisa Mac could have lived on. (They do now but Apple probably wishes they would disappear.)
First, someone did OS X under Linux and Apple told them to stop. So Linux could have had the same capabilities that looked just like what Apple was doing - but Linux doesn't. Not because it couldn't - but because the development was stopped.
Let me relate what other cooler heads have been saying for years and that is "Each OS and each computer and each programming language and each editor and each <insert whatever you like> has its good and bad things about it." Everyone's milesage varies according to what they know and how they use it. Thus, flamewars over any of these different areas doesn't make sense.
For instance - here is my experience with Mac OS X -> PAINFUL! Sorry, had to say that. Mac OS X is ok but I am used to using Linux so I bought Yellow Dog Linux, removed Mac OS X and installed Linux. I have found that YDLinux seems to run (for me) about twice as fast as Mac OS X used to on my system. Go figure! (At least I haven't figured it out yet but maybe it has to do with the monolithic OS that Linux uses versus the Mach OS's diversified OS as per the article.) Further, with the latest version of Linux I have not had any of the VI'ing that you have stated (ok - some VI'ing of the HTTPD.CONF file to put in the <Directory> stuff for Apache but everything else came up fine without me even having to click my way through mouse menus.)
So now I have Mac OS 9.2 (Classic) for those programs I still like to use (like Canvas 3.5.6 and some older games which still work under OS 9.2 [which really amazes me that they do run]) and I use the Linux side for development work on my own things.
Now, we could go back and forth over the good and bad things for days on end but I believe there is one thing you must admit Linux has over OS X and that is the price of it. $90.00 for people who know nothing about Linux, $30.00 for those who do (such as myself) versus $94.00 (single license) and $149.00 (family pack). Further, YDLinux can have as many accounts as you want at the $90.00 and $30.00 fee, contains hundreds of programs (which Apple also includes now whereas they didn't to begin with) and you can make your desktop look a lot like the Mac OS X desktop.
As someone who bought an Apple ][+,
Turning to the article (for some final thoughts) - my main thought is this:
Why didn't they install Linux onto the G5 and try comparing Linux to Linux? Since Linux for the Macintosh doesn't suffer from the problems Mach seems to suffer from wouldn't that make the comparison more logical? I think so and will suggest it to those who did the testing.
Later.
...have a Scottish accent and you have to hold the mouse up to your mouth and speak into it at the same time. ;-)
Attention corporate masters! What employees want are OFFICES with DOORS THAT CLOSE and WINDOWS THAT OPEN. Yes, on a nice spring/fall day I wouldn't mind being able to open the window.
;-)
What???? And let you skinny down the tree that is outside of your office while your computer makes typing noises? I don't think so!
My noise reducer is my megaphone. When I shout "STFU!" everyone listens.
A bit of trivia you may not know:
Offices do not have windows that open for two reasons:
1. Sealed windows makes it easier to temperature control rooms.
2. People tend to jump out of windows they can open. Especially in fires and when depressed. Given the current state of affairs - I think the second is probably used more than the first.
Hey! It uses sentences, you set up what the screen should look like in advance, and it can now even handle graphics. What more could you want?
[For the joke impaired - this is a joke!]
Just a short "Me Too" to add my voice to the other poster who responded to your post.
But I would like to draw your attention to the many court cases where the courts in the US look to the European courts to see how they have handled things. They do this usually because something came up in Europe first. Several of the other countries around the world which claim to be democracies (or are democracies) sometimes also look at these rulings to see if the rulings in their countries have merit. If they do, then the judges in the US do use some or all of that other court's rulings. (The old - don't re-invent the wheel thing.) When they do this though, they also include information in their ruling citing the other court's ruling and why they are going with what that court did/said.
To be fair, sometimes the US courts use a ruling from another country which is controversial to everyone living in the US. In fact, I have had many times when I have become extremely angry over a court ruling because it was based upon a WIPO mandate which contradicted the very basis of some of the laws in the US. (And that is because WIPO is out for big business and not anything else. I would not care if they started calling themselves Peace Loving God on Earth. Their only function is to try to wringe an extra penny out of everyone. They advocate double dipping on the selling of anything (ie: You pay every time you use that hammer you bought), ignore human rights as they pertain to fair use, and are causing so many problems it is not funny.) WIPO, as far as I am concerned, is George Orwell's Big Brother from the book 1984 and the sooner they are gotten rid of the better.
Still, that particular rant aside, the US courts do use and acknowledge what the European courts do and say. Just like the European courts watch to see how we do things in our country. (See the recent Microsoft versus the European Courts and MS has wound up having to take IE out of Windows.) Not that they always use what we do in the US (The European courts decided MS was a bit too powerful and thus IE has to be removed.) - but they do watch to see what is going on.
I have needed legal advice and have gone through two court cases (one in big civil court and one in small claims civil court). I retained a lawyer for $300.00, took the people to court, and wound up owing my lawyer $14,000.00 since the big claim guy was a sole proprietorship and had no money. Therefore, I am PAINFULLY aware of just what could occur. Which is why I suggest sending the letter.
:-)
:-) Cost of small claims court? Usually somewhere around $100.00 and about an hour of your time. How many times can you take them to court over this? Well! The NEW copyright laws seem to favor multiple zaps to a company. (Or to put that another way - for each occurance or infraction.)
:-/
But the sending of a letter is only the beginning. There is a lot of work you have to do such as finding out whether or not the company even is a corporation or sole proprietorship. If it is a corporation, then it is likely that they will have insurance (since $500,000.00 insurance can be had for less than $500.00 a year in some places).
One of the great things though is that you don't have to actually sue the company. Instead - go see the FBI. GASP! THE FBI????! Yeppers. The company is selling your software without your permission across state lines. That makes it a federal offense.
Or you can contact the local police where the company resides. You can do this in two ways: 1)Use the long distance operator (1-800-555-1212), 2)Look them up via MapQuest.
To use the long distance operator you will have to know the city, state, and zip. (So you will probably wind up using MapQuest anyway.) Call up the operator and ask for the District Attorney's office (or sheriff's office) for that area. Lodge a complaint against them or find out how to lodge a complaint. File the necessary paperwork. Have fun.
Use small claims court. Most localities allow for up to $5,000.00 in small claims court. If the company has a 1-800 number (or 1-877) you can file against the company in your area and have the case heard where you are located. (BUT IT DOES HAVE TO HAVE A NATION WIDE PHONE NUMBER! Otherwise you have to go there.) Anyway, you should be able to file against the company and if they don't show up - you win. You can then place a lien against the company and no one will give them money until that lien is taken care of.
Again, I would consult with a lawyer - but if you also do some research of your own you can probably handle things in small claims court and save yourself a lot of money.
Now, for the "What about China" et al? Simple. Contact your local Congressman/Senator and present them with a letter. Explain how your GPL'd code is being stolen by this company in country X and ask if they can contact the representative from that country. Be nice and polite to the Senator/Congressman and they will do what they can. No promises but every now and then miracles can happen. Just remember that this will put you squarely on the side of the MPAA, RIAA, and any other company who has had to do this to some small time person who either sold their products out right or who stole their code and used it in another program.
In fact, that is the question you are going to have to deal with. Because when you fight for your code you are doing the same thing those people we all love to hate are doing.
If they are smart enough to be running BSD, then they are smart enough to look at the scripts and realize that:
1. The scripts are just sending stat information and not personal information.
2. That the person would already know their e-mail address.
3. That the person already knows their room number
4. So no additional information is being sent except that maybe their system has become infected and needs attention. Which is a good thing.
5. That they are getting free help so that they don't have to spend the time fixing the problems.
6. That maybe they will make a new friend whom they can turn to later in life when maybe their company's computers are failing.
Further:
1. The person would probably know how to program and would be able to read the scripts and see that they do not do anything.
2. Would understand about CRONTAB jobs or at least would understand the concept of them and that they could stop them any time they wanted to do so with one simple command.
3. Would understand that the job would run in the background and could be set to a very low priority so it wouldn't affect whatever else they are doing.
4. Would not even be worried about an e-mail which just sent a report about how many viruses there were on their system because they'd know that would just mean the person would schedule with them a time to get together to remove said viruses.
It's a win-win situation for both parties. So there isn't any reason why someone wouldn't want this to be done. Especially if the person is a Linux/BSD/Unix person. Because they are not giving up control of their system to anyone. In fact, under a Unix system, they could set up an account just for the person so the person only has limited access to their system. After all, it doesn't require system privileges just to scan a file for VACs.
Ok, well, first off - if the person actually has been asked to do this by the powers that be (whether that is the university, the people who run the dorm, or they were just elected by the dorm residents themselves) - then they have references. The phone numbers and/or e-mails of these people can be used to lend weight to this person's request to talk.
If the residents refused to talk to him/her, then there would be a basis for this person to turn in a list of people who are refusing to even attempt to discuss the problem and then the university can pull the plug on those people - which I believe would get their attention. Again, proper notification with all of the proper seals etc... could be posted on the offending people's doors so they can't say they were not warned.
A forum would be nice, but I meant blog when I said it. A blog is nothing more than a forum but mainly one-sided. Since the person is going to be posting what new viruses to look out for (if that is what they want to do), monthly "which floors are having the most trouble", and so on - it mainly is a blog. It can still be used to coordinate games - but it is mainly a blog.
Ok, so now that everyone is listening to him/her because their network connection was removed until they at least talked to the person - let's discuss the rest of your post:
The reason I said that the person would have to bring a flyer and that they would have to talk to the others in the dormitory was because of people who think the way you do. Those who are smart enough to rise above the No Fucking Way attitude will also be smart enough to look at the simple scripts and realise that they:
1. Collect no information about their system.
2. That they've already had to give the guy their e-mail address so - Woah! - yeah you sure are giving away a lot of information there buddy!
3. That the guy already knows their room number so - look out! He might actually put two and two together and know too much about what you are doing!
Those whom you feel are too stupid to know how to use scripts and who would be paranoid, pull guns out, and begin shooting at the guy; can be sedated using plain old communication. In other words - he should talk to them and walk them through what is needed to be done. Again, intelligence can prevail if it is just given a chance. You would be amazed at just how many people appreciate it when someone who knows something about computers shows them how to make their computer much better.
Now, to be fair, I know life at college is freaking weird. But it always has been so and every generation thinks it is the radical new thing, better than the last, weirder, more "out there", bleeding edge, trailing scum, bee-bop, hip-hop, robotic, exotic, neurotic, and so forth. Been there -> done that. In the ten years I worked at a University while attending it I never found that many people who said "Get lost" to me when I offered them my help. A few - yes. Mainly those who were smart enough to know how to work a computer by themselves and only needed a little help and I offered too much help. But the vast majority needed help and appreciated my giving it. Some of those people are now owners of corporations. We stay in touch.
No matter what you may say or how you may feel about this - most people do appreciate being helped out in bad situations. Having your computer infested with viruses beause you don't know how to deal with them and having someone who is willing to put in the time and effort to help you. Well, you have to be a particularly mean spirited person to not want the help and those people were few and far between.
I believe that the tools I've given in my original post, and even those in this post, are enough for this person to be able to get everyone's attention in the dorm. Used correctly, they can be a great benefit. Used incorrectly, they can cause great harm. But that is the chance you have to take in this kind of a situation. If the guy can't handle
Actually, now that the GPL has been shown to be valid in court, it should be getting easier to have a lawyer represent you in court. Donations are then not needed because all you have to do is to make sure your lawyer gets paid when the money is collected from the people who have stolen/misappropriated/converted your GPL'd code into their applications.
;-)
This is NOT to say that you can just go down to your local street corner and have lawyers rush towards you with open arms, gushing with enthusiasm about wanting to represent you in court. But any lawyer who deals with copyrights, patents, and such should have a very good grasp on how to go about dealing with people who misappropriate computer code. In many cases, all it really takes is for a lawyer to write a halfway decent letter to the offender for them to back off. Thus, for less than $300.00 you can probably find a lawyer willing to write the letter to the company.
This is also not to say that the person to whom the GPL'd code belonged could not write a letter by just getting one of those Business Lawyer CDs and using the template letter to send a cease and desist letter.
But I would use a lawyer. Mainly because it gives more force to what you are saying and/or doing.
(And yes, IANAL! Not all of the time mind you - sometimes I'm just a normal person - but right now IANAL!)
We've heard from the:
//gs had a CRONTAB program!). Set their machine up so it automatically, every day, trys to download the latest and greatest updates for the OS, SpyBot, AdAware (or whatever you use), your virus protection program, etc.... The MOST IMPORTANT THING THOUGH - is to always explain what it is you are doing to the person's computer. Don't just dump a bunch of things onto their system. Bring a flyer that explains what it is you are doing and why. Set their system up so they can win and so they don't have to rely on you to be there to make everything function correctly. All of the virus/cookie/ad checking software out there can be set up to function on its own. Some of them (like most virus checkers) have their own scheduling software built in.
1. "It can't be done" crowd.
2. "Be tough about it" crowd.
3. "Go behind their backs" crowd.
and others....
How about this:
1. Get everyone's e-mail address so you can send all of them e-mail at the same time. How do you do that? Ask them to e-mail you - that's how. Of course, disinfect anything they send you because they probably will have a virus or two.
1a. How do you get all of them to send you the e-mail? Go buy some of those blank business card sheets (Avery I believe makes these), print up your message, get someone to help you break them apart, and then just tape them to each person's door. In this way you: 1)Don't have to talk to them, 2)Don't try to force them to do what they don't want to do, and 3)Can do it on your own time (like on a floor-by-floor basis). Cost: Probably about $10.00.
1b. Your message? It should be something like:
Dormitory SysAdmin needs your help!
We need your e-mail address as we
are trying to remove viruses and want
to be able to keep you informed. Thanks!
myemailaddress@thedorms.edu
1c. Put notices on doors leading into the dorm and/or bulletin boards also asking for e-mail addresses. If you can, have someone hand the things out to people as they come in and out of the dorms.
2. Set up a blog where everyone can meet and talk about problems. Use the e-mail addresses to send your notice out about the blog and how to access it.
3. Set up appointments with people to meet with them to show them how to protect their system from viruses, ads, cookies, and other problems.
Ok, let's say you've gotten some responses and want to start to go to other people's rooms to help them out. You want to:
4. Use the scheduler built in to every operating system currently in use (ie: Mac OS X, Windows98se and up, Linux, BSD, Solaris, etc...). For those OSs which are older (although I can't see anyone currently in college using an Apple ][+ or even Mac OS 9.x or earlier) download and bring with you some sort of a scheduler. (Even the Apple
4a. NOW! Here is the important thing! Set the virus/ad/cookie (or VAC for short) to AUTOMATICALLY e-mail you with the results. This too can be done via the scheduler. Give the automatically generated e-mail a special header (like [VIRUS|AD|COOKIE] REPORT FOR ROOM X). There are e-mailer programs for all operating systems which run from the command line. So just make a little batch program/shell script to create your report and e-mail it to you. Again, write it all down in the flyer you are going to give them so they don't freak when their system suddenly starts doing things (like checking for viruses or sending e-mail).
4b. Most virus software's report will read "VIRUS FOUND" and then tell you where and when the virus was found. Write yourself a short Perl/PHP/C/ script which will read these e-mails and sort out which one have viruses and which ones don't have them. Since you made the title have the room number on it - you automatically know who is having problems. So you can e-mail them back and set up a time to go over to fix any problems they might be having. Further, you can produce statistics on where the greatest problems are and post these fi
This reminds me of one of my aunts who had a cockatiel. The thing learned how to call the dog's name in the exact same voice as my aunt. It would then wait for my aunt to go into another room, walk up to the screen door, and begin tormenting the dog by calling its name as if it were time for my aunt to feed it.
After the dog was frothing at the mouth, barking hysterically, and slamming into the back screen door, the bird would calmly walk away and hide under the nearest table while my aunt (upon hearing all of the racket) would confront the dog with a puzzled "What's the matter with you?"
It took her about a month to catch the bird in the act. The bird was that sneaky.
This sounds like StarWars!
Obi-Wan: I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
(From: Quotes from The Stars Of Star Wars - Interviews From The Cast:
It is a bit convoluted. :-/ Not doing so well expressing myself today. Maybe I should have just said "Mechanical yes, electronic no". :-?
:-)
What I get for staying up playing NWN until 4:00am in the morning and then getting up at 7:00am I guess.
Ahem.... :-)
:-/
I think that this will be revived when nanotechnology becomes a bit more stable as well as nanobots. The reason is that it would be easier (IMHO) to program a mechanical machine to bootstrap an electronic based machine due to the fact that there is a greater mechanical knowledge available than there is an electronic one. To put that another way, when you get into your car and turn the key a computer is not necessary to make the electrical connection which starts the car. (And yes, I understand that there is a computer which NOW controls many of the functions of your car as it operates - but that is a recent [timewise] thing. It used to be all mechanical.) Therefore, if nanobot technology continues at its current pace it will be easier to take a large [and known] item and reduce it down than it would be to try to program something to emulate the mechanical device.
As a for-instance, I remind Slashdot readers about the nano-turbine technology which is beginning to show up around the world. This is [basically] a baby-boot situation where a mechanical boot occurs. That is to say - you have to "boot" the turbine but the turbine could boot itself if it had a battery who's on/off switches were determined by the power line's need. If the voltage for the line dropped below a certain level, the turbine could turn itself on and bring the voltage back up to the given level. (Imagine a line of these nano-turbines strung along an electrical line. A simple on/off current detection device constantly monitors the line. At first, all of the turbines would come on, then those which are farther down the line would determine there was too much current flowing and shut themselves down. This would continue until only the necessary turbines were running. If one of them failed, the extra turbines would then repeat the test cycle until enough turbines would [again] be running and maintaining the proper power level.)
This is [basically] a baby-bootstrap but it is mechanical in nature rather than electronic.
This is correct. I was allowing Hollywood's misuse of history to influence me. Although Mozart may have played some kind of a ditty for a king on the king's birthday - it probably would not have sounded anything like the "Happy Birthday to you" song.
Actually, according to this article both the lyrics as well as the melody are copyrighted and have been since 1938. Since the lawsuit filed by the Hill's sister used the melody (ie: music notes) to show that the re-copyrighted song was the same as the Hill's sister's songs. This would (I would have to assume) mean that the person who recently copyrighted the "Happy Birthday To You" song is going to be sued. :-)
In "Farenheit 451" Ray Bradbury talked about people staring in TV shows way beyond when John Brunner ever wrote about it. According to Amazon.com's scans of the copyright dates:
:-)
Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451
and
John Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar
Sorry, Bradbury did it first.
In fact, given the dates, I'd say John read 451 when in school and the idea probably percolated for a while and then popped out later on. This happens all the time to people (song writers, story writers, etc...). It is also IMHO why Congress original set the 14 year coverage of copyrights with a single 14 year extension (if asked for). So that ideas could be discovered, used, and then rolled back into the seething mass of consciousness only to be spit back out later on in another, maybe slightly different, form. Copyrights which remove this plowing of ideas back into the general masses basically destroys everyone's ability to make new ideas or items. Because the one person who owns the original copyright can, presently, charge whatever they want for their copyright thus limiting the availability of ideas.
Do you think that non-original ideas (like the making of ice cream) can not be copyrighted and halt everyone's ability to do something? Think about the case of the "Happy Birthday" song played by Mozart centuries ago. You don't hear it in restaurants much anymore (oh, they have "Happy Birthday" songs but they are not THE "Happy Birthday" song). The reason? Some guy copyrighted it and the Copyright Office was stupid enough to give him the copyright. Even though the Copyright Office's own rules state that anything that pre-existed before the copyright laws went into effect could not be copyrighted!
So go figure.
Gah - ya know, I guess it really is true what they say about Slashdot people. They just can't take a joke.
:-P
I think from now on I will preface all of my joke posts with the following:
>>>>>>>>>>THIS IS A JOKE<<<<<<<<<<
Maybe then people will take a joke the way it is being given.
I guess the ";-)" is just to subtle for Slashdot readers.
"... but I think we should expect more from grammar check."
Should be: but I think we should expect more from a/the grammar checking program.
since grammar check is not a noun but a state of being. (As in the grammar is being checked by the program
I know marketing people like to coin phrases - but do they all have to be grammatical monstrosities? Which begs the question of whether or not a marketing person should even try to correct someone else's bad grammar? After all, isn't that a bit like calling the kettle black?
Truly, I'm no grammatical wizard. And, after a few head beatings from the general public on boards like Slashdot, I have come to realize that a vast majority of people really don't give a flying f......er.....they don't care that much about correctly doing their punctuation marks, their spelling, diction, word usage, or even if anyone else can even read what they write two seconds after those bits hit the page!
So, as my parents always said (as well as probably millions of other parents have told their children) - who cares. So long as you get your message across - who cares? (Secretly though - I do. And I have started a secret club called the Secret Word Amalgamens who are going to infiltrate this culture of abusive word users and inject them with our new serum called the Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious serum. And it will be Um diddle diddle, um diddle ay to everyone soon!)
It is unfortunate. But like others here have stated, the thing to do is to NOT do anything rash or is a knee-jerk reaction. Instead, write the dean of the college with a CC to the head of the computing department. Cite the court cases where the judge has found in favor of those using BitTorrent.
:-)
In the letter I would also cite that when cassette tape recorders first came out the music and movie industries screamed and yelled about these items being illegal for the common person to use. Their reasoning was that people would make millions of copies of songs and soundtracks. People did - but no where near as often as the music and movie industries tried to make it out to be. When VCRs first came out the music and movie industry again went to court and fought tooth and nail to prevent people from being able to use that technology. Then laser discs came and they again filed suit. Then CDs came out and they filed suit again. The United States of America was one of the LAST countries to have DVDs because of the music and movie industries lawsuits and lobbying of Congress. In all cases the technology could be used for illegal as well as legal copying of information. Whether songs, movies, or even games. In every single case the courts and Congress together have made it extremely clear that just because there is the opportunity to use a technology for illegal purposes it doesn't mean that everyone is going to use it for that purpose. (After all - cars are used to help bankrobbers, kidnappers, and others yet everyone still drives cars.) Further, after all of the hysteria, screaming, finger pointing, jeering, hyperbole, accusations, misleading and often outright lies propagated by these industries it has always been found that their fears were nothing more than ignorance of how the technology works. As well as how these industries should use them to increase their incomes. (For my part, I believe they really are just dragging their heels on implementing the new technologies because they don't want to spend the X number of dollars to install the new technology and use it. After all - they've got things pretty well locked up as is.)
So that is what I would do. Write the dean of the college as well as the head of the computing center and lay things out for them. That you feel you are being punished unjustly for a crime you have not committed. Expain to them what the Azureus BitTorrent client does, how it helps to keep the bandwidth usage low (thus saving the university money), and I would imply that it would make everyone who is already using Azureus think less highly of your university (which they probably would). I would also ask those who use Azureus to send an e-mail to you with examples of what they are using the application for and I would include those into the letter to the dean and manager of the computing center.
Hope things work out for you!
You know that doctors hand out laxatives for Obfuscated people. ;-)