And if Bush and the US Congress go along with the European Convention on Cybercrime's latest proposed treaty (mentioned before on slashdot here) then it will automatically become a punishable offense to use GIMP, etc in the US even if we don't pass a law like this.
This law, along with many other laws regarding computer software will never be effective for the simple reason that forcing people to put certain things in their code is just another form of government censorship.
When governing groups try to force people who are perfectly within the law to do certain things they will automatically get resistance, and rightfully so. Forcing people to put this sort of censorship into their computer programs will be utterly pointless because there will always be other companies out there or small groups that will release a version that doesn't and then the entire law is void.
The only way to stop this from working is to do what they have already been doing: changing the money to make it more difficult to counterfeit. The latest colorations and paper materials on US money will help somewhat and if other countries can try to keep up, there will be even less of a problem.
All in all, they're just going about it the wrong way and pushing around the wrong people.
Just put a clause in the Kazaa EULA that says that the person using the program or the network is not associated with or working for the Recording Industry and that any information that is gathered from the Kazaa network is to be kept confidential.
I'm not a lawyer, but it sounds feasible to me...
Mmmmm, maybe I didn't make it that clear. I do care about electronics and robotics, they are what originally got me into CS and CE, which I have since spent the most time one since it costs significantly less than finding robot parts and which is also easier to do in my spare time. I have grown to enjoy programming, etc., but current conditions weighed much more heavily in the other direction. If I find out later that CS and CE jobs are finally paying more in the US, then I can always switch majors later on.
I have been a technology-oriented student for quite a long time (well, ever since 6th grade, really, and I'm a high-school senior now). While I have worked with electronics and robotics to some extent, I have the most experience in computer science and computer engineering, and have spent the majority of my time learning in these areas. However, as it has been college-applciation time, I have had to decide which field I am more inclined toward, I have chosen electrical engineering. While I may find CS and CE more enjoyable at the moment, I doubt that I could find a good job in that area now, due both to the glut in the market during the internet explosion and because of outsourcing. I may minor in CS, but I don't have high hopes of getting a good job because of it...
Actually, if you think about it, open-source has more of a socialist / communist leaning. Microsoft is more like the Nazi empire:).
(Honestly, OS uses the idea that software shouldn't be controlled or owned by one entity, but shared by all. Microsoft uses anti-OS propaganda and descrimination against the OS groups)
I lived for eight years without electricity and then about 6 months on an off-the-grid power system. The laptops are definitely better:
1) Yes they take less power which will make a BIG difference. The numbers may not seem like it now, but when you actually get it set up, you may end up going for a few days of rain, clouds, etc. and then your battery bank can bottom out if you have too much to run and heaven knows that the computer is a necessity.
2) For some desktop power supplies you may need a true-sine inverter. Regular inverters that convert from DC to AC make a simulated sine wave out of the electricity, but its really more of a blockish wave. Inverters like the Prosine 1000W are more efficient and will run your desktop if you have the battery juice left, but they cost significantly more.
3) You're going to need that laptop for the car-trip back to civilization.....
Hello, my name is George W. Bush. I've sold the soul of the american government to Microsoft in return for their software to run on all of my computers here in the White House and all of those military bases (you know those remote ones where Solitaire really matters). I have always and will always support the recording industry and I hope that the RIAA wins all of its lawsuits. If you haven't noticed, I've been putting on those extra pounds lately. Thosefast-food places between the White House and my golf course never told me that eating would make me fat. You would have to be blind not to know that I'm a politician (how good/bad I am is debatable), but I am a politican nevertheless. Oh and my good pal Jaques is coming over soon so we can figure out which countries we're going to argue about in that next U.N. meetings so I had better leave now.
Anyway, thanks to all of you people out there who voted for me, I probably didn't really win, but hey, my name's up there so I might as well accept the honor.
- G.W.B.
P.S. What was I running for again?
I did it. I lived in a backwoods area of Maine that had no power lines run to it, so myself and my family built our own power system.
We had a bank of 12 6V batteries hooked in series and then parallel so it was equivalent to a bank of 6 12 Volters, but with more amperage.
The bank fed to a Prosine inverter that converted the DC voltage in the batteries to standard house current. We had tried other inverters, but for running devices like computers and a few other more sensitive ones we needed a true-wave inverter. The AC wave created by the majority of the inverters was blocky, but still usable for most general household devices (TV's, Radios, etc.).
The battery bank was connected to a panel that monitored and controlled the power going into and coming out of the bank.
This panel was also connected to a set of 6 Siemens (sp?) solar panels mounted on a varying-angle tower that we built to be adjustable for three different positions, one for spring/fall equinox time areas, one for the summer solstice area and one for the winter solstice time period, thus getting optimum power from the panels year round.
We also constructed a 50 foot tower that held up a windmill. I dont remember which brand it was (maybe Whisper, but I'm not sure), but it added an extra boost to the bank on those not-so-sunny days.
Overall the system worked quite well until I got tired of living in the middle of no-where and moved back into the suburbs. If I did it again, I would use 24 batteries, 8 panels, and the next size up Windmill.
Lol, this would probably be true for this department also except for the fact that I do web design work for them and other stuff. The 'kids' that actually have a valid opinion about this stuff today are usually directly involved with the 'grown ups' who are in charge of it.
Secondly, the Lindows system I would suggest more for the individual computers that the teachers would use, not necessarily for the server. We had almost convinced the administrator to build a second server running Linux, but he had little experience with it and was leary of trying it, so they just installed Win 2K on the second server.
I'm a high school student in CT, USA and have been for a long time trying to convince the technology department to move to a Linux server. Everyone in the technology department seems hesitant, but I've also talked to many of the teachers and they seem more open to it. Interestingly, it seems less of a geek thing around here, than a normal user thing. People are beginning to get seriously disgusted with Microsoft and are looking more for other options. This could be the perfect time for Lindows to enter the market for the average user.
Slashdot Mirror
And if Bush and the US Congress go along with the European Convention on Cybercrime's latest proposed treaty (mentioned before on slashdot here) then it will automatically become a punishable offense to use GIMP, etc in the US even if we don't pass a law like this.
This law, along with many other laws regarding computer software will never be effective for the simple reason that forcing people to put certain things in their code is just another form of government censorship.
When governing groups try to force people who are perfectly within the law to do certain things they will automatically get resistance, and rightfully so. Forcing people to put this sort of censorship into their computer programs will be utterly pointless because there will always be other companies out there or small groups that will release a version that doesn't and then the entire law is void.
The only way to stop this from working is to do what they have already been doing: changing the money to make it more difficult to counterfeit. The latest colorations and paper materials on US money will help somewhat and if other countries can try to keep up, there will be even less of a problem.
All in all, they're just going about it the wrong way and pushing around the wrong people.
Just put a clause in the Kazaa EULA that says that the person using the program or the network is not associated with or working for the Recording Industry and that any information that is gathered from the Kazaa network is to be kept confidential. I'm not a lawyer, but it sounds feasible to me...
Mmmmm, maybe I didn't make it that clear. I do care about electronics and robotics, they are what originally got me into CS and CE, which I have since spent the most time one since it costs significantly less than finding robot parts and which is also easier to do in my spare time. I have grown to enjoy programming, etc., but current conditions weighed much more heavily in the other direction. If I find out later that CS and CE jobs are finally paying more in the US, then I can always switch majors later on.
I have been a technology-oriented student for quite a long time (well, ever since 6th grade, really, and I'm a high-school senior now). While I have worked with electronics and robotics to some extent, I have the most experience in computer science and computer engineering, and have spent the majority of my time learning in these areas. However, as it has been college-applciation time, I have had to decide which field I am more inclined toward, I have chosen electrical engineering. While I may find CS and CE more enjoyable at the moment, I doubt that I could find a good job in that area now, due both to the glut in the market during the internet explosion and because of outsourcing. I may minor in CS, but I don't have high hopes of getting a good job because of it...
Actually, if you think about it, open-source has more of a socialist / communist leaning. Microsoft is more like the Nazi empire :).
(Honestly, OS uses the idea that software shouldn't be controlled or owned by one entity, but shared by all. Microsoft uses anti-OS propaganda and descrimination against the OS groups)
Doesn't affect me, all of my movies come in DivX format ^_^
I lived for eight years without electricity and then about 6 months on an off-the-grid power system. The laptops are definitely better: 1) Yes they take less power which will make a BIG difference. The numbers may not seem like it now, but when you actually get it set up, you may end up going for a few days of rain, clouds, etc. and then your battery bank can bottom out if you have too much to run and heaven knows that the computer is a necessity. 2) For some desktop power supplies you may need a true-sine inverter. Regular inverters that convert from DC to AC make a simulated sine wave out of the electricity, but its really more of a blockish wave. Inverters like the Prosine 1000W are more efficient and will run your desktop if you have the battery juice left, but they cost significantly more. 3) You're going to need that laptop for the car-trip back to civilization.....
Hello, my name is George W. Bush. I've sold the soul of the american government to Microsoft in return for their software to run on all of my computers here in the White House and all of those military bases (you know those remote ones where Solitaire really matters). I have always and will always support the recording industry and I hope that the RIAA wins all of its lawsuits. If you haven't noticed, I've been putting on those extra pounds lately. Thosefast-food places between the White House and my golf course never told me that eating would make me fat. You would have to be blind not to know that I'm a politician (how good/bad I am is debatable), but I am a politican nevertheless. Oh and my good pal Jaques is coming over soon so we can figure out which countries we're going to argue about in that next U.N. meetings so I had better leave now. Anyway, thanks to all of you people out there who voted for me, I probably didn't really win, but hey, my name's up there so I might as well accept the honor. - G.W.B. P.S. What was I running for again?
I did it. I lived in a backwoods area of Maine that had no power lines run to it, so myself and my family built our own power system. We had a bank of 12 6V batteries hooked in series and then parallel so it was equivalent to a bank of 6 12 Volters, but with more amperage. The bank fed to a Prosine inverter that converted the DC voltage in the batteries to standard house current. We had tried other inverters, but for running devices like computers and a few other more sensitive ones we needed a true-wave inverter. The AC wave created by the majority of the inverters was blocky, but still usable for most general household devices (TV's, Radios, etc.). The battery bank was connected to a panel that monitored and controlled the power going into and coming out of the bank. This panel was also connected to a set of 6 Siemens (sp?) solar panels mounted on a varying-angle tower that we built to be adjustable for three different positions, one for spring/fall equinox time areas, one for the summer solstice area and one for the winter solstice time period, thus getting optimum power from the panels year round. We also constructed a 50 foot tower that held up a windmill. I dont remember which brand it was (maybe Whisper, but I'm not sure), but it added an extra boost to the bank on those not-so-sunny days. Overall the system worked quite well until I got tired of living in the middle of no-where and moved back into the suburbs. If I did it again, I would use 24 batteries, 8 panels, and the next size up Windmill.
Geordi La'Forge, here I come!!
Lol, this would probably be true for this department also except for the fact that I do web design work for them and other stuff. The 'kids' that actually have a valid opinion about this stuff today are usually directly involved with the 'grown ups' who are in charge of it. Secondly, the Lindows system I would suggest more for the individual computers that the teachers would use, not necessarily for the server. We had almost convinced the administrator to build a second server running Linux, but he had little experience with it and was leary of trying it, so they just installed Win 2K on the second server.
I'm a high school student in CT, USA and have been for a long time trying to convince the technology department to move to a Linux server. Everyone in the technology department seems hesitant, but I've also talked to many of the teachers and they seem more open to it. Interestingly, it seems less of a geek thing around here, than a normal user thing. People are beginning to get seriously disgusted with Microsoft and are looking more for other options. This could be the perfect time for Lindows to enter the market for the average user.
.IQ... No, not for Iraq. Maybe like a .NEWB
Mmm, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the particle board used in many houses today is gonna last 100+ yrs.. >=//
Hmm, there must be some major govn't scheme to steal all my email. Mebe 10% of all my email is not SPAM...