Most of the time their more-knowledgeable son/daughter/brother/friend/neighbor puts icons to Internet Exploder and Outlook Distress, along with the photo software and Solitaire on the desktop and people never look one bit further.
To me, these stories always have the look of something that belongs on Snopes, Urban Legends, all that is missing is the popular ending to this Geek folk tale "and he changed the shortcuts to launch Firefox, etc., and no one noticed." The familiar put-downs are there, Internet Exploder, Outlook Distress and, of course, Solitaire.
Never is friend or neighbor told "Change anything on my desktop and you die."
If Google could develop a...thin client that came in at...say $50-$100, they could own the casual computer user market... an inexpensive device with a good display that can access the web, and nothing else, would be pretty compelling...If this $50 device is basically a window to Google...and the other Google services, everyone is happy
Thin clients work where the user, the setting and the task are easily defined and limited and the network connection is 99.9% reliable. I signed on to broadband for media play and not an office suite.
Don't Click on the Blue E!, which will be targeted at less-savvy users transitioning from Internet Explorer
Let's allow reality to intrude for a moment, shall we. Geek slang and symbolism has little currency beyond Slashdot, O'Reilly is unknown to most readers and snide references to the "Blue E" doesn't ring their chimes.
Well Portland is not the central hub for open source. It's any techie's basement, which is in any state. That's why it is such a threat. M$ can't just buy the entire state.
It is a lovely fantasy.
But how many programs that have brand-name recognition, like OpenOffice, are a geek's home-brew basement project?
Jefferson's ideal was a static society of small independent farmers, something on the model of the classical Roman republic.
He was a creative amateur architect and a inventor of small gadgets. But he had no understanding or sympathu with the Industrial Revolution and a profound distaste for the Hamiltonian world of trade and commerce. Like many Virginian planters, Jefferson had an insatiable taste for luxury and was utterly incapable of keeping his own financial house in order.
Jefferson's thoughts on intellectual property rights can't be entirely divorced from the reality that he was a slaveholder wholly dependent for his livelihood on the forced labor of others who could own nothing , ever, and part of a society that distrusted innovation of any sort. The cotton gin is invented by a born-and-bred New Englander, not a southen planter.
You don't need everything provided by your ISP. That's the beauty of the Internet; once you're on, you can access any server that has the features you want.
The only problem is finding out which servers are available....
But first you have to know that something is there and is worth a look.
I did not discover USENET in college, I stumbled across it while on dial-up AOL in 1996. FTP, IRC, TELNET, etc., are not part of the basic Internet experience for entire generations and classes of users.
A copyright should have nothing to do with the life span of the artist/author. It should be for a set number of years from the time of copyright (IMO 10-20 years). This way if you die right after you finish the "Great American Novel", your loved-ones can still benefit from your work
The problem with this way of thinking is that it ignores the often devious route a work may take before it gains artistic and commercial recognition. The Lord of the Rings was not an instant best-seller.
This is why they should actually save some of the money they earn rather than squandering it all. This is the manner that the rest of us are expected to engage in "estate planning".
Then you are not thinking in terms of a creative work, property, or performance that may generate a significant return only after many years or even decades. How long did it take for "The Lord of the Rings" to find its audience?
Explain to me how exporting OEM Windows systems in massive numbers hurts Microsoft.
In the real world, Windows PCs have become so powerful and so cheap that no one gives a damn about the "Microsoft Tax" and Steve Jobs has to swallow his pride and release a $500 MiniMac to remain competitive.
When AOL gained Usenet access people referred to it as "the September that never ended", referring to the fact that there was now a constant influx of clueless newbies
But without new blood Usenet ages and dies.
What happens if other ISPs decide that maintaining a news server for a handful of Geeks is no longer worth the trouble?
There's many Linux clusters hard at work calculating new drugs and new treatments against illnesses. Linux doesn't cost money, it costs effort. Linux also doesn't donate money, the community donates effort.
Do we assume then, that all these clusters run on free-as-in-beer, off-the-shelf, Linux distros, with no maintenance costs and all volunteer system administration and staffing?
In 2003 the Gates Foundation was commiting $200 million in AIDS funding to India alone.Gates Foundation hikes AIDS grant to $200 million I can't believe Slashdot has the foggiest notion of the scale on which the Gates Foundation operates.
But with life+70 years, they can pass on the copyrights. But I've seen no evidence that this rationale actually works.
Trivial examples would include Barrie's "Peter Pan," under perpetual copyright in the UK for the benefit of a children's hospital. Agatha Christie made a gift of the royalties from "The Mousetrap" to her grandson in 1952, the play, still a favorite of amatuer and professional companies worldwide, has been worth millions. It isn't simply a question of what a professional may produce in old age, but what an artist in her prime must do to insure her retirement, plan her estate.
Copyright wasn't create to give copyright owners the power to give their children and their grand-children such benefits.
Estate planning motivates artists and writers no less than anyone else. But perhaps the typical Slashdot poster, the eternal sophomore, is too young to see this.
The duration of a constitutionally "limited" copyright is a policy decision for Congress to make, based on the criteria which it thinks has merit. You cannot expect the courts to intervene.
it's paticularly bad when geeks actually reinforce the Microsoft monopoly by refusing to understand the needs of the people who are forced to used Microsoft technology.
You are caught in your own trap when you use words like forced instead of choose.
at least in Canada a number of cable/dsl packages aren't unlimited. 10 Gb down a month goes pretty fast, that'll generate alot of animosity from the unknowing public when they pay $3 to download but $30 to the ISP
Then what you are likely to see is an ISP branded premium service, something like Adelphia's $8/mo MusicNet.
The thing is, centuries ago people used to get married as young as 13
Marriages centuries ago usually represented strategic alliances between families. The contract might specify that there would be no attempt at consummation before a certain age.
The best thing that could happen now is for this to be appealed to the Supreme Court, to have them grant certiorari, and to find along the same lines as they did in 2003 in Lawrence v. Texas.
You should be asking whether the decision will survive the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court accepts only 200 cases a year. Pornography may not be the Court's highest priority right now.
I'd hate to sound like I'm accepting of this sort of nonsense, but since when is any of this actually news? It's been going on for a long time in some form or another.
Steinway succeeded in getting one of it's pianos installed aboard an early "boomer," the SSS Thomas A. Edison, in 1961, perhaps the ultimate in product placement. Cold War Sub Piano Part of New Museum Exhibit
Clark Gable was frequently photographed in a Dusenberg he probably never owned.
I would like to think a "democracy" is a nation where its people would be willing to place their lives in danger to protect their freedoms.
"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country.
He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. (usually attributed to George S. Patton) George S. Patton Quotes
France lost a generation of young men in World War One because against all evidence the élan of the troops was expected to ultimately prevail against the deadly efficiency of modern weapons.
Chief justice will atleast be serving until June, and this case decision is scheduled for July. How is that going to effect this case? Good/Bad?
Rheinquist will participate only as a tie-breaker and probably only in cases where a final decision is urgent. I can't see him spending what limited time and resources may remain to him on something like Grokster.
The Patent Law of the People's Republic of China Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China Coyright Law of the People's Republic of China Technology Contract Law of the People's Republic of China Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China
Slashdot Mirror
To me, these stories always have the look of something that belongs on Snopes, Urban Legends, all that is missing is the popular ending to this Geek folk tale "and he changed the shortcuts to launch Firefox, etc., and no one noticed." The familiar put-downs are there, Internet Exploder, Outlook Distress and, of course, Solitaire.
Never is friend or neighbor told "Change anything on my desktop and you die."
Thin clients work where the user, the setting and the task are easily defined and limited and the network connection is 99.9% reliable. I signed on to broadband for media play and not an office suite.
Let's allow reality to intrude for a moment, shall we. Geek slang and symbolism has little currency beyond Slashdot, O'Reilly is unknown to most readers and snide references to the "Blue E" doesn't ring their chimes.
It is a lovely fantasy.
But how many programs that have brand-name recognition, like OpenOffice, are a geek's home-brew basement project?
He was a creative amateur architect and a inventor of small gadgets. But he had no understanding or sympathu with the Industrial Revolution and a profound distaste for the Hamiltonian world of trade and commerce. Like many Virginian planters, Jefferson had an insatiable taste for luxury and was utterly incapable of keeping his own financial house in order.
Jefferson's thoughts on intellectual property rights can't be entirely divorced from the reality that he was a slaveholder wholly dependent for his livelihood on the forced labor of others who could own nothing , ever, and part of a society that distrusted innovation of any sort. The cotton gin is invented by a born-and-bred New Englander, not a southen planter.
A website and mailing list, monthly updates, with descriptions, lists about 400 active BBS systems, some few of which still offer a dial-up service.
The only problem is finding out which servers are available....
But first you have to know that something is there and is worth a look.
I did not discover USENET in college, I stumbled across it while on dial-up AOL in 1996. FTP, IRC, TELNET, etc., are not part of the basic Internet experience for entire generations and classes of users.
The problem with this way of thinking is that it ignores the often devious route a work may take before it gains artistic and commercial recognition. The Lord of the Rings was not an instant best-seller.
Then you are not thinking in terms of a creative work, property, or performance that may generate a significant return only after many years or even decades. How long did it take for "The Lord of the Rings" to find its audience?
In the real world, Windows PCs have become so powerful and so cheap that no one gives a damn about the "Microsoft Tax" and Steve Jobs has to swallow his pride and release a $500 MiniMac to remain competitive.
Yes, indeed. The near-perfect buzzword compliant, content-free post.
But without new blood Usenet ages and dies.
What happens if other ISPs decide that maintaining a news server for a handful of Geeks is no longer worth the trouble?
Do we assume then, that all these clusters run on free-as-in-beer, off-the-shelf, Linux distros, with no maintenance costs and all volunteer system administration and staffing?
In 2003 the Gates Foundation was commiting $200 million in AIDS funding to India alone. Gates Foundation hikes AIDS grant to $200 million I can't believe Slashdot has the foggiest notion of the scale on which the Gates Foundation operates.
Trivial examples would include Barrie's "Peter Pan," under perpetual copyright in the UK for the benefit of a children's hospital. Agatha Christie made a gift of the royalties from "The Mousetrap" to her grandson in 1952, the play, still a favorite of amatuer and professional companies worldwide, has been worth millions. It isn't simply a question of what a professional may produce in old age, but what an artist in her prime must do to insure her retirement, plan her estate.
it also means that your work remains protected unless you explicity place it in the public domain.
Estate planning motivates artists and writers no less than anyone else. But perhaps the typical Slashdot poster, the eternal sophomore, is too young to see this.
The duration of a constitutionally "limited" copyright is a policy decision for Congress to make, based on the criteria which it thinks has merit. You cannot expect the courts to intervene.
You are caught in your own trap when you use words like forced instead of choose.
Then what you are likely to see is an ISP branded premium service, something like Adelphia's $8/mo MusicNet.
Marriages centuries ago usually represented strategic alliances between families. The contract might specify that there would be no attempt at consummation before a certain age.
You should be asking whether the decision will survive the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court accepts only 200 cases a year. Pornography may not be the Court's highest priority right now.
Steinway succeeded in getting one of it's pianos installed aboard an early "boomer," the SSS Thomas A. Edison, in 1961, perhaps the ultimate in product placement. Cold War Sub Piano Part of New Museum Exhibit
Clark Gable was frequently photographed in a Dusenberg he probably never owned.
"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. (usually attributed to George S. Patton) George S. Patton Quotes
France lost a generation of young men in World War One because against all evidence the élan of the troops was expected to ultimately prevail against the deadly efficiency of modern weapons.
Rheinquist will participate only as a tie-breaker and probably only in cases where a final decision is urgent. I can't see him spending what limited time and resources may remain to him on something like Grokster.
This should be required reading before posting on IP law and China: Ministry of Science and Technology: Laws and Regulations
In Emglish translation:
The Patent Law of the People's Republic of China
Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China
Coyright Law of the People's Republic of China
Technology Contract Law of the People's Republic of China
Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China