Making a threat is already illegal. Doing something that a f*ckcing moron thinks is a threat should not be. If you are too mind bogglingly stupid to look at the mooninite thing and realize that it is probably not a bomb, you not only do not deserve to be in any position of authority
You first.
The WWII booby trap was baited so obviously that it might as well have lit up with track lights and neon like in a Warner cartoon. Pistols. Ration packs. Binoculars...
"Content" is a metaphor intended to make people think of creative works as products to be wrapped up and shipped around like any other commodity, when in fact creative works are natural expressions of our humanity and civilization.
It's naive to think that artists have ever been blind to product and packaging. For most of history that has meant starvation, exile or execution. Shakespeare survived because he was as adept in politics and business as he was as a writer.
Somewhere in China, a night-shift manager in an electronics factory that supplies PCI cablecard adapters to the USA, just thought of a new business opportunity.
The Chinese OEM builds for the legit export market, not to see product rusting in containers on the L.A. docks because it has have been tagged for return by customs and is of no use to Dell, HP or Walmart.
Linux users have another option not mentioned that isn't available to Windows or Mac-OS users... they can quietly/publicly vent, and then write a patch to fix the problem.
If the Linux user base is limited to programmers than Apple and Microsoft have absolutely nothing to fear in competition for the desktop.
so the needed reform is identified
malicious civil prosecution and filing spurious, meritless, lawsuits need to become crimes with a 366 day maximum jail sentence
Malice means not only hatred, ill will, or spite as it is ordinarily understood; again, to be sure, that is malice; but it also means that condition of mind that prompts a person to intentionally inflict damage without just cause, excuse, or justification. {M]alice, like intent, is a state of mind and as such is seldom proven with direct evidence. Rather, malice is ordinarily proven by circumstantial evidence from which it may be inferred.State of North Carolina v. Robert Bruan Sexton
The plaintiff in a civil action does not have to demonstrate that he has "probable cause" to bring action, but simply a reasonable belief that he has been wronged. In a criminal action for malicious prosecution, malice - as an essential element of the offense - would have to proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Not easy.
If you want to see someone in jail you have to convince a prosecutor to that he has a realistic chance to win a case against a particular individual - not an amorphous corporate entity. Again, not easy.
Assuming you're American, would you want to be extradited to Australia for breaking an Australian law in the US even though you'd never been to Australia?
There is no compelling reason to allow the U.S. to become a safe haven for high-tech crimes that impact other jurisdictions.
And if yo udon't remember that, you certainly don't remmeber having to lease a phone - never owning it - in perpetuity becuase if you didn't lesae one you didn't get service.
chances are, your grandad will remember that his Western Electric phone could be battered about by three generations of kids and still work. that service when needed was prompt and reliable.
chances are, he still misses that phone he never owned but leased.
People that understand that the landline is pretty darn reliable
You might add to that list people who know that they will be calling 911. That they must have 24/7 access. The elderly, the disabled, the chronically ill, and others.
Those on fixed incomes for whom "Lifeline" service has a very literal meaning.
Society no longer sees restrictions on copying entertainment to be for its own benefit.
Why is this so hard to understand?
maybe because not everyone in that society has a computer, a burner and a broadband connection? maybe because not everyone in that society agrees that free entertainment is a middle class entitlement? a geek entitlement?
The quake 3 arena I bought in 1999 still runs like a champ on my current linux desktop running SuSE 10.2. Other native linux games that run nicely are doom3, quake 4, ut2004, RtCW. ET, etc.
Round up the usual suspects. If a commercial game runs on Linux, it will almost certainly be a shooter, an iD release and something to be found in the bargain bin of Windows PC gaming.
But it will also lead to such things as monopoly pricing on drugs whose manufacturing costs are insignificant
I will assume for the moment that manufacturing costs of an AIDs drug are insignificant. That does not make the development costs of the drug insignificant.
Brazil's pharmaceutical industry seems based on the production of generic drugs, with almost nothing emerging from its own research.
If the AIDS population stabilizes in the first world, who funds continued development of AIDS drugs for the third world? The multinationals who have seen their patents expropriated? Probably not.
I really hope the OLPC will work and may stimulate new development of finally useful educational platform.
Tell me why this should happen in an environment where the pressure to teach basic skills - the pressure to teach marketable skills - is even greater than in the developed world.
the number of cases that the RIAA has won in court so far (that is NOT the same as people settling) isn't very high, and their cases being thrownn out isn't exactly unheard of..
The number of federal civil cases that end in a verdict by a judge or jury is between two and four percent.
It takes a substantial commitment of time and money to get that far, even though your chances of winning are no better than fifty-fifty. But to lose, is to lose big.
Police officials still busy pursuing nerds while more harmful crimes such as "rapes" continue to rise in Sweden. Are these the right priorities?
Good god. The nerd isn't a priority. The nerd is a damned nuisance with an ego the size of the planet.
The geek who can't quite grasp the idea that life hasn't dealt him a "Get Out of Jail Free" card.
No it WASN'T. It was certainly financed through DoD but go read a book on the subject instead of talking out of your ass.
But after having said all that: it still seems fair to ask why core infrastructure isn't better protected against ordinary accidents, much less sabotage.
It was not comforting to learn that the explosion of a single tanker could bring down one of the approaches to the Golden Gate Bridge.
that somebody who has no home would still rather smoke cigarettes than use the same money (or barter the cigarette with another homeless guy) for some food or shelter?
You do know that tobacco is addictive - that it satisfies both physical and psychological needs?
HDs are big these days. Why not sell both Windows and Linux on it?
Because only a geek enjoys maintaining multiple operating systems, software libraries and skill sets. In the consumer market this sort of thing is considered self-torture.
Do you honestly that Joe is going to opt for the $800 "vista ready" computer when it looks as though the $500 "ubuntu loaded" one is right next to it on the virtual shelf?
Hell, yes.
Joe isn't a first-time buyer. He's looking to upgrade his existing OS.
If he has bought as few as ten Windows apps he has a minimum $500 investment in Windows to protect.
PS, Joe: you don't have to pony up another $200 for Office, either.
He can buy Office Home, retail boxed, with a three seat license for $150. Chances are, he'll knows other ways that make it trivially easy to get a legit copy of Office on his system for hundreds less than retail list.
The problem with Windows machines is that you don't just get Windows; you get Windows and a pile of craplets
There are enormous economies of scale in building and marketing systems with the OS that has ninety percent of the consumer market.
That ninety percent share is, after all, why companies compete for placement on the Windows desktop.
But Walmart, with its enormous purchasing power, could not significantly undercut the price of a baseline Windows system with no trial software installed.
Wouldn't it be the opposite? Someone who can't be bothered to download the half-gig.iso's, burn them, install them, and possibly configure the newly installed OS so it actually works correctly on their hardware might like the idea of having all that done for them so they get a sqeaky-clean install that works out of the box?
That "someone" will have a ten to fifteen year investment in Windows.
The odds are good he'll be able to migrate his entire Windows software library to Vista, when he is ready to make the move. The odds are equally good that everything that could be possibly be of interest to him in free and open source software will be ported to Vista or begin as a native Vista app.
In six months, we'll be seeing second or third generation Vista drivers. Vista PCs that are not warmed-over XP systems. DX 10 cards at mid line prices and the first DX10 games.
Slashdot Mirror
You first.
The WWII booby trap was baited so obviously that it might as well have lit up with track lights and neon like in a Warner cartoon. Pistols. Ration packs. Binoculars...
It's naive to think that artists have ever been blind to product and packaging. For most of history that has meant starvation, exile or execution. Shakespeare survived because he was as adept in politics and business as he was as a writer.
The Chinese OEM builds for the legit export market, not to see product rusting in containers on the L.A. docks because it has have been tagged for return by customs and is of no use to Dell, HP or Walmart.
JimBob leases his DVR because he has no desire whatever to be drawn into a geek-tech hobbyist project like Myth.
art for art's sake is fine. but it is not a model on which can build a business.
If the Linux user base is limited to programmers than Apple and Microsoft have absolutely nothing to fear in competition for the desktop.
malicious civil prosecution and filing spurious, meritless, lawsuits need to become crimes with a 366 day maximum jail sentence
Malice means not only hatred, ill will, or spite as it is ordinarily understood; again, to be sure, that is malice; but it also means that condition of mind that prompts a person to intentionally inflict damage without just cause, excuse, or justification. {M]alice, like intent, is a state of mind and as such is seldom proven with direct evidence. Rather, malice is ordinarily proven by circumstantial evidence from which it may be inferred. State of North Carolina v. Robert Bruan Sexton
The plaintiff in a civil action does not have to demonstrate that he has "probable cause" to bring action, but simply a reasonable belief that he has been wronged. In a criminal action for malicious prosecution, malice - as an essential element of the offense - would have to proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Not easy.
If you want to see someone in jail you have to convince a prosecutor to that he has a realistic chance to win a case against a particular individual - not an amorphous corporate entity. Again, not easy.
There is no compelling reason to allow the U.S. to become a safe haven for high-tech crimes that impact other jurisdictions.
chances are, your grandad will remember that his Western Electric phone could be battered about by three generations of kids and still work. that service when needed was prompt and reliable.
chances are, he still misses that phone he never owned but leased.
You might add to that list people who know that they will be calling 911. That they must have 24/7 access. The elderly, the disabled, the chronically ill, and others.
Those on fixed incomes for whom "Lifeline" service has a very literal meaning.
maybe because not everyone in that society has a computer, a burner and a broadband connection? maybe because not everyone in that society agrees that free entertainment is a middle class entitlement? a geek entitlement?
Round up the usual suspects. If a commercial game runs on Linux, it will almost certainly be a shooter, an iD release and something to be found in the bargain bin of Windows PC gaming.
maybe because in the long run money draws more talent and resources into the task than the socialist is willing to admit.
there isn't much glamor in drawing blood, cleaning cages and feeding pellets to a lab rat.
I will assume for the moment that manufacturing costs of an AIDs drug are insignificant. That does not make the development costs of the drug insignificant.
Brazil's pharmaceutical industry seems based on the production of generic drugs, with almost nothing emerging from its own research.
If the AIDS population stabilizes in the first world, who funds continued development of AIDS drugs for the third world? The multinationals who have seen their patents expropriated? Probably not.
Tell me why this should happen in an environment where the pressure to teach basic skills - the pressure to teach marketable skills - is even greater than in the developed world.
The number of federal civil cases that end in a verdict by a judge or jury is between two and four percent.
It takes a substantial commitment of time and money to get that far, even though your chances of winning are no better than fifty-fifty. But to lose, is to lose big.
Maybe. Maybe not. Server Install, Client Install & Configuration [April 18]
Good god. The nerd isn't a priority. The nerd is a damned nuisance with an ego the size of the planet. The geek who can't quite grasp the idea that life hasn't dealt him a "Get Out of Jail Free" card.
But after having said all that: it still seems fair to ask why core infrastructure isn't better protected against ordinary accidents, much less sabotage.
It was not comforting to learn that the explosion of a single tanker could bring down one of the approaches to the Golden Gate Bridge.
You do know that tobacco is addictive - that it satisfies both physical and psychological needs?
Seiko Watch. Seiko Clock. Seiko Time Systems. Seiko Precision. Seiko Optical Products. Ohara {optical glass and ceramics]...
Seiko has been in the business of time-keeping and precision manufacturing since 1924.
Because only a geek enjoys maintaining multiple operating systems, software libraries and skill sets. In the consumer market this sort of thing is considered self-torture.
Hell, yes.
Joe isn't a first-time buyer. He's looking to upgrade his existing OS.
If he has bought as few as ten Windows apps he has a minimum $500 investment in Windows to protect.
PS, Joe: you don't have to pony up another $200 for Office, either.
He can buy Office Home, retail boxed, with a three seat license for $150. Chances are, he'll knows other ways that make it trivially easy to get a legit copy of Office on his system for hundreds less than retail list.
There are enormous economies of scale in building and marketing systems with the OS that has ninety percent of the consumer market.
That ninety percent share is, after all, why companies compete for placement on the Windows desktop.
But Walmart, with its enormous purchasing power, could not significantly undercut the price of a baseline Windows system with no trial software installed.
That "someone" will have a ten to fifteen year investment in Windows.
The odds are good he'll be able to migrate his entire Windows software library to Vista, when he is ready to make the move. The odds are equally good that everything that could be possibly be of interest to him in free and open source software will be ported to Vista or begin as a native Vista app.
In six months, we'll be seeing second or third generation Vista drivers. Vista PCs that are not warmed-over XP systems. DX 10 cards at mid line prices and the first DX10 games.