Yep, but not anymore. When I removed NAV from one of my customer's computers, it saved over 3 minutes in bootup time. Unfortunately, he had already bought the product before asking me first.
Recently, I saw a deal for Norton, where after rebate you could get the product for free. I just kept on walking.
It follows that RIAA does not consider the piracy of copyrighted material wrong
Said the RIAA Big Daddy in his stained boxers and wife-beater undershirt, and gruff 10-pack-a-day cigarette voice, "Do as I say, not as I do. (And get off my damn lawn!)"
People unhappy about a company or a product have much more of a voice
I recall that a certain popular tax preparation software (TurboTax, that's it!) got into hot water when, in the effort to curb piracy, they started mucking with the customer's boot sector, or some such. (Couple years back.) They ended up retracting their software naughtiness, and doing a profound mea culpa.
Anyhow, will these companies ever learn that the bad press from borking their customers' computers, will cost them much more than piracy ever will? Sure, they see piracy as a problem to be met with DRM, but they're losing all perspective. Their DRM hammer is leaving holes in the wall.
Good will is a commodity which is built up slowly over many years, and can be lost overnight.
modern technology has forced them out into the open
If it weren't for sites like this and others, and independent researchers who expose these shennanigans, their unethical behavior would go largely unremarked.
Even as it is, only the few in the world who actually keep up with stuff like this, know anything about it. Sure, CNN has a story on their website, buried deep, but there has been no mention on their headline news channel. (But we can always find out how long that blonde chick has been missing.)
These people are allowing their journalistic principles (as if they had any) be corrupted by the business interests of their corporate masters. Sure, this is nothing new. But I should would love to see this story spread wide enough so that 95% of the people in the US know about it.
Yes, it would be really great if the FBI would give the Sony exec's a real "pucker-factor" moment. The kind you get when you've just been pulled over by a state trooper for doing 95mph in a school zone. Or just barely missed getting greased by a log truck doing 80.
If some zit-faced teen did this to thousands of computers, you know he'd get it up the wazoo by the Feds. But it's obvious there are different rules when a media giant does it. No "10 years in jail and no computer use for 7" for them.
I think it would be hilarious if they lost all privileges to produce and sell CD's for 5 years. That'd get their attention.
I've tried mentioning this story to some of my non-geek friends, and their eyes just glaze over. I even try phrasing it like, "Sony put something on these CD's that just takes over your computer."
They can't get it. The phone rings. The baby cries. Something interesting comes on TV. It's like their brain can't stay focused on the statement that a giant media conglomerate is trying to fuck with their computer, trying to fuck with them.
I hate to say it, but these companies will eventually win, because the vast majority of people are so fucking clueless about this stuff, and firmly try to stay clueless. Fucking sheeple.
So far, I haven't seen any mention on the mainstream news about this. Maybe because it's too technical, but I think it's because CNN is a company of Time-Warner, and Time-Warner and Sony are fellow MPAA (and/or RIAA?) members.
They (CNN) are great about covering the fluff. Count on them to down-play the stuff that hurts their business sleaze.
Maybe the gas stations have a valid reason for this. I'm just saying don't use the "for your convenience" bullshit line. Instead say something like, "There is a $50 limit on at-pump purchases. Sorry for the inconvenience."
The limit is the inconvenience. Whether I pay multiple times at the pump, or walk in to pay, it is STILL an inconvenience. Don't go irritating me even further with "For your convenience..."
That hated 3-word phrase is just the bull-headed attempt by companies to change reality by stating it enough their way.
I'm immediately suspicious of anything that begins, "For your convenience"... It rarely is.
A local gas station had a sign above the pump saying that it had a $48 credit card purchase limit, and that "for your convenience" you may pay inside. I confronted the manager over this "convenience", and she said it was a convenience because otherwise I would have to stop the pump, and start another purchase.
She completely ignored the fact that it was the purchase cap which made it necessary to come into the store "for your convenience" in the first place!
"For your convenience" is corporate double-talk for "for your great inconvenience." "For your convenience, Vinny will break your knees if you don't pay up on time."
Next thing you know, some county somewhere is going to charge Amtrak for driving through without paying.
I don't know for sure, but I'd bet that Amtrak has to pay property taxes on the land they use for their tracks. Or pay for the use of someone else's tracks, who's already paid for said property tax. TANSTAAFL.
Does that call into question your "theory" that life can just happen?
What theory? Nowhere did I say life could just "happen." You ASSUME that I espouse that theory because of my statement that the hypothetical discovery of other and pre-existent intelligent life would shake our religions to the core. It is just simple truth that anything coming close to directly contradicting Man's central place in the Universe (and thus his status as the favorite creation of God) would not be welcomed by many religions. Evolution, anyone?
If other older intelligent races are found, then that just means (assuming some variation of Creationism) that God created them before us. Existence of other intelligent races does not in and of itself prove anything, except that we are not alone, and that we do not have a God-given exclusive deed to the Universe.
The God I believe in would not make this mighty Universe (home to more than 10 thousand billion billion stars) only to create one intelligent race. The discovery of other intelligences would serve to exalt His majesty, not diminish it.
If there is an all powerful deity, surely it's within the power of such deity to create more than one earth.
It's also within his power to create purple giraffes with opposable thumbs. Many people however just don't like to believe that the Earth is NOT the center of their God's universe. Earth would then be demoted to the status of YAP (yet another planet).
The existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe calls into question our own place in it. If we are just one of billions of intelligent races, what does that mean for our own importance? Especially if some of these races are millions of years old, and were building starships before our solar system was even formed.
Long ago, Earth was the center of the universe, with everything orbiting it. Then the Sun was the center, and we orbited it. Now, we recognize that the Earth (and Sol) is not anything like the center of anything. The next big epiphany that awaits us (maybe) is that we are not alone in the universe, and that we have to reconcile our planet's religions and stories of origin with this fact. That or go crazy. ("No, there is no alien from Alpha Centauri calling me on the radio! God's just testing my faith!! HA. HAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!")
Evolution? That's NOTHING compared to ET landing on the White House lawn.
There's probably legal defense insurance you can buy, for situations like this. I would want some written guarantees, that the company would pay for the legal costs of defending a case like this, and would not "roll over" and recommend settling.
Somebody could even offer legal defense insurance specifically targeted to these kind of cases. It might be a real hit with file sharers. (Of course it would never happen. Who wants those kind of odds?)
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, and so is misinterpreting them. (Excuse me, while I kiss this guy.)
Inside your hard drive, no one can hear you scream. (Um, how'd you get inside your hard drive?)
Yep, but not anymore. When I removed NAV from one of my customer's computers, it saved over 3 minutes in bootup time. Unfortunately, he had already bought the product before asking me first.
Recently, I saw a deal for Norton, where after rebate you could get the product for free. I just kept on walking.
Hmmm. #CCFF33, methinks. Kinda yellow, kinda green. Yellowish-green. ;)
Two people, call them Yellow and Blue, debate about the color of some object. Yellow claims it's yellowish-green, and Blue claims it's bluish-green.
Almost always, the truth lies somewhere in-between.
Um, that might defeat their DRM, I guess, but wouldn't it also throw the CD off balance? Waka-Waka-Waka-Waka.
Reading the CD at that point might be difficult.
Said the RIAA Big Daddy in his stained boxers and wife-beater undershirt, and gruff 10-pack-a-day cigarette voice, "Do as I say, not as I do. (And get off my damn lawn!)"
I recall that a certain popular tax preparation software (TurboTax, that's it!) got into hot water when, in the effort to curb piracy, they started mucking with the customer's boot sector, or some such. (Couple years back.) They ended up retracting their software naughtiness, and doing a profound mea culpa.
Anyhow, will these companies ever learn that the bad press from borking their customers' computers, will cost them much more than piracy ever will? Sure, they see piracy as a problem to be met with DRM, but they're losing all perspective. Their DRM hammer is leaving holes in the wall.
Good will is a commodity which is built up slowly over many years, and can be lost overnight.
If it weren't for sites like this and others, and independent researchers who expose these shennanigans, their unethical behavior would go largely unremarked.
Even as it is, only the few in the world who actually keep up with stuff like this, know anything about it. Sure, CNN has a story on their website, buried deep, but there has been no mention on their headline news channel. (But we can always find out how long that blonde chick has been missing.)
These people are allowing their journalistic principles (as if they had any) be corrupted by the business interests of their corporate masters. Sure, this is nothing new. But I should would love to see this story spread wide enough so that 95% of the people in the US know about it.
Yes, it would be really great if the FBI would give the Sony exec's a real "pucker-factor" moment. The kind you get when you've just been pulled over by a state trooper for doing 95mph in a school zone. Or just barely missed getting greased by a log truck doing 80.
If some zit-faced teen did this to thousands of computers, you know he'd get it up the wazoo by the Feds. But it's obvious there are different rules when a media giant does it. No "10 years in jail and no computer use for 7" for them.
I think it would be hilarious if they lost all privileges to produce and sell CD's for 5 years. That'd get their attention.
I've tried mentioning this story to some of my non-geek friends, and their eyes just glaze over. I even try phrasing it like, "Sony put something on these CD's that just takes over your computer." They can't get it. The phone rings. The baby cries. Something interesting comes on TV. It's like their brain can't stay focused on the statement that a giant media conglomerate is trying to fuck with their computer, trying to fuck with them. I hate to say it, but these companies will eventually win, because the vast majority of people are so fucking clueless about this stuff, and firmly try to stay clueless. Fucking sheeple.
So far, I haven't seen any mention on the mainstream news about this. Maybe because it's too technical, but I think it's because CNN is a company of Time-Warner, and Time-Warner and Sony are fellow MPAA (and/or RIAA?) members. They (CNN) are great about covering the fluff. Count on them to down-play the stuff that hurts their business sleaze.
The limit is the inconvenience. Whether I pay multiple times at the pump, or walk in to pay, it is STILL an inconvenience. Don't go irritating me even further with "For your convenience..."
That hated 3-word phrase is just the bull-headed attempt by companies to change reality by stating it enough their way.
A local gas station had a sign above the pump saying that it had a $48 credit card purchase limit, and that "for your convenience" you may pay inside. I confronted the manager over this "convenience", and she said it was a convenience because otherwise I would have to stop the pump, and start another purchase.
She completely ignored the fact that it was the purchase cap which made it necessary to come into the store "for your convenience" in the first place!
"For your convenience" is corporate double-talk for "for your great inconvenience." "For your convenience, Vinny will break your knees if you don't pay up on time."
Like I heard somebody say once: "Play with alligators long enough, you WILL get bit."
...no trouble, I'm just here to do the CFO shuffle.
Such as the plot for the typical romance:
Boy meets girl
Boy falls in love with girl
Boy loses girl
Boy gets girl back
Boy and girl live happily ever after
Or how about patenting the implicit plot rule of all horror movies: the monster is (almost) never dead at the first attempt.
Of course, these plot lines are so old they might be considered public domain by now.
Aw, jeez, people. It's just one goddamned thing after another.
I don't know for sure, but I'd bet that Amtrak has to pay property taxes on the land they use for their tracks. Or pay for the use of someone else's tracks, who's already paid for said property tax. TANSTAAFL.
What theory? Nowhere did I say life could just "happen." You ASSUME that I espouse that theory because of my statement that the hypothetical discovery of other and pre-existent intelligent life would shake our religions to the core. It is just simple truth that anything coming close to directly contradicting Man's central place in the Universe (and thus his status as the favorite creation of God) would not be welcomed by many religions. Evolution, anyone?
If other older intelligent races are found, then that just means (assuming some variation of Creationism) that God created them before us. Existence of other intelligent races does not in and of itself prove anything, except that we are not alone, and that we do not have a God-given exclusive deed to the Universe.
The God I believe in would not make this mighty Universe (home to more than 10 thousand billion billion stars) only to create one intelligent race. The discovery of other intelligences would serve to exalt His majesty, not diminish it.
It's also within his power to create purple giraffes with opposable thumbs. Many people however just don't like to believe that the Earth is NOT the center of their God's universe. Earth would then be demoted to the status of YAP (yet another planet).
The existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe calls into question our own place in it. If we are just one of billions of intelligent races, what does that mean for our own importance? Especially if some of these races are millions of years old, and were building starships before our solar system was even formed.
Long ago, Earth was the center of the universe, with everything orbiting it. Then the Sun was the center, and we orbited it. Now, we recognize that the Earth (and Sol) is not anything like the center of anything. The next big epiphany that awaits us (maybe) is that we are not alone in the universe, and that we have to reconcile our planet's religions and stories of origin with this fact. That or go crazy. ("No, there is no alien from Alpha Centauri calling me on the radio! God's just testing my faith!! HA. HAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!")
Evolution? That's NOTHING compared to ET landing on the White House lawn.
You mean evidence of intelligent life? Cuz volcanoes can cause the same thing.
Hey, if you're going to write a virus, at least be clever and entertaining. Your data may be gone, but now you have a funny anecdote!
Dorm room hippie: Sure man, $25.
I always thought dime bags were called that because they cost $10. (And nickel bags were $5.) Eh, inflation.
Somebody could even offer legal defense insurance specifically targeted to these kind of cases. It might be a real hit with file sharers. (Of course it would never happen. Who wants those kind of odds?)