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User: paleoflatus

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  1. Re:Shoulders of giants on Study: Royalty Charges Almost On Par With Component Costs For Smartphones · · Score: 2

    Well said! The age of enlightenment would be hard to imagine under the patent and digital rights regimes of the current U.S. and the nations it controls. Nevertheless, it's a bonus for the financial elite, so it won't change in a hurry.

  2. It's so damned inefficient at present. on Why Mobile Wallets Are Doomed · · Score: 1

    I get sick of joining a checkout queue with my purchase in one hand and the correct change in the other, then having to wait forever while people ahead of me shuffle stacks of credit cards, wait for a pathetically slow electronic transaction, then fumble their cards back into their wallets. Cash is best, and NFC is probably the best alternative, as the women and kids would only have to pull their phones from their ears, which is much quicker than fumbling stacks of plastic.

  3. Privacy and data retention on Australian Law Enforcement Pushes Against Encryption, Advocates Data Retention · · Score: 1

    I'm an Australian and I'd be really pissed off if the government opened, read, copied and kept a record of all my mail as it passed through the post office. I'd be just as pissed off if the elite political class did the same to my phone and internet communications. Of course, we can fight back with encryption, steganography etc., but life's tedious enough already.

  4. Cellphones aren't the main problem, anyway. on Talking On the Phone While Driving Not So Dangerous After All · · Score: 1

    Here in Queensland, Australia, the government now applies rigid speed limits, whereas there used to be a latitude of perhaps 10 kph. In the usual city 60 kph limit, you get tail-gated, honked and abused at less than 55 kph. Anyone who's tried to keep between 55 and 60 kph will know that watching the speedometer closely in traffic is more dangerous than using a cellphone and I've had several close calls since the stricter rules were imposed. Of course, the government now collects more money from fines, although they don't have to pay the higher insurance rates they cause.

  5. Wikileaks' status on Wikileaks and Anonymous Join Forces Against US Intelligence Community · · Score: 1

    Infamous??? I'd say the US intelligence services were infamous.

  6. Re:money is not the way on How Do I Start a University Transition To Open Source? · · Score: 1

    Yep, the biggest battle will be to overcome the resistance from admistrators who are enjoying various forms of quid pro quo from Microsoft. Open Source can't compete with that.

  7. Re:Biased question on A Working Economy Without DRM? · · Score: 1

    There was once a time when musicians had to play and actors had to tread the boards to earn. We've since been conditioned to accept extortion by third parties who offer only mass-produced reproduction of this performance at exorbitant prices.
    We're all quite happy to pay for added services, convenience, distribution etc., while this gives the artists publicity for their live appearances.
    What we don't like is supporting obscene corporate profits and drug habits etc. by being forced to pay millions of times for a single work, or performance. It's an analogous situation to proprietary software and other forms of patented knowledge.

  8. Video Games. on Why Are There No Highbrow Video Games? · · Score: 1

    My young grand-children play video games. As they become older, they are becoming bored with them and looking for more intellectual pursuits, including books and physical sports. They are finding live friends and enough outlets for their aggression on the sports fields, as they approach high school age. By the way, my modded XBox has never been used for games, but is an excellent media centre.

  9. Re:I wonder how long it will take before on KDE 3.5.4 Released · · Score: 1

    What's with not using Debian? I'm using Kanotix>Debian and I've been enjoying KDE 3.5.4 since shortly after it hit the servers last weekend!

  10. Galileo on Galileo Sends Its First Signals · · Score: 1

    Here is Australia, I get very tired of reports that Galileo "competes" with GPS. Surely it's a huge upgrade, complementary and a transition to an international, civilian-based system. Please don't give the U.S. a reputation for being bloody myopic.

  11. File sharing and Australia. on Australian Media 'Crooks' to Come in from the Cold · · Score: 1

    I started copying my LPs to tape on a Revox reel-to-rell recorder in 1954, for the convenience of not having to turn a platter every few minutes and the choice of making my own compilations. I later began copying on-air broadcasts, then P2P file-sharing, as I did not like being force-fed whole albums when all I wanted was one or two tracks. All of my home listening now comes from a computer.

    Minstrels used to sing for their supper - but they weren't spoilt brats with expensive drug habits. File-sharing is great advertising for live performances.