It's interesting in regard to this debate that The Walt Disney Company, arch supporter of eternal copyrights, built their early business off of lapsed, foreign, and potentially unenforcable copyrights. Where would many companies be today if they had scrupulously respected everybody else's intellectual property rights?
Re:No New Ideas Under The (Multiple) Suns-Sig Line
on
Altered Carbon
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· Score: 1
I like your sig line too.
Conquering Earth for our robot masters.
Since I write (somewhat erotic at times) fiction about our future with self-thinking robots.:^)
does anyone actually believe that the fossil fuels industry will lie down and let this happen without a fight?
Does anyone actually believe that the fossil fuels industry doesn't realize that crude oil is a finite resource, and aren't looking ahead to make the best determination (i.e. guess) as to what will be the next big energy thing?
It is going to take rich companies to commercialize this successfully. I just hope they start now while they still have money in the bank.
Following in the footsteps of well-known (but not as well-known as he thinks he is) director Spike Lee suing over Spike TV, well-known television evangelist Pat Robertson has filed suit against Intel Corporation regarding the use of the acronym PAT.
Robertson is quoted as saying: In order to squeeze this much additional performance out of the mature PC platform and then call it PAT, people might believe that I have prayed for divine intervention on the part of Intel Corporation. This is not the case. Despite the holy wars raging in the PC industry, I have yet to take sides, as might be implied by the usage of the name PAT. I hope for a speedy contribution -- er, resolution -- to solve this problem.
The more I read about SCO's suit and their actions prior to same, the more it looks like nothing more than a scam to accomplish one of the following:
1: Current owners and management get bought out by IBM at an inflated price...PROFIT!
2: Stock price zooms, insiders sell out...PROFIT!
It looks as illegal as hell, and I hope there are some people going to jail over this after all is said and done.
And let it be done quickly. The only winner at the moment is Microsoft, who competes with Linux on the desktop and in the server space.
Re:No New Ideas Under The (Multiple) Suns-Sig Line
on
Altered Carbon
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· Score: 1
your tagline is hysterical. Wonder how many got it.
You're the first person to admit to me that you get it. It is completely original one (i.e. not stolen), based on some recent theories that I'm sure you're equally aware of. I'm looking to get it on a t-shirt next.
No New Ideas Under The (Multiple) Suns
on
Altered Carbon
·
· Score: 1
wealthy and powerful can have themselves "backed up" like yesterday's spreadsheets.
Seems John Varley wrote a number of stories on that theme a few decades ago.
And as for switching bodies, the classic story Bodyguard from Galaxy magazine comes to mind, as well as Jack Chalker's "Four Lords of the Diamond" quadlogy.
If you like those themes, more stories for you to look for.
A 2ghz P4 is probably going to be about twice as fast as a 1ghz p4
Not!
A 2GHz runs twice as fast relative to its main memory, mass storage subsystem (hard drive), and peripherals (display adapters, network cards, etc.). In short it has to wait twice as long for any operation outside of its on-chip caches. As a result you do not get a linear performance increase with clock speed. Instead you quickly run into the Law of Diminishing Returns.
And that's an (pardon the pun) apples-to-apples comparison. An AMD Athlon at 2/3's of a P4 clock rate performs as much real work, so clockrate is not the determining factor in performance -- much as Intel marketing would like you to believe otherwise. Instead performance involves a much more complicated computation taking into account clockrate, average instructions per clock cycle, branch misprediction penalities, plus latencies in the system. This is why even the various benchmarks give different relative performance values when run on identical systems.
But as a user, all you should care about is: How fast does it run my application?
Why only 8-gig of RAM? 64-bit CPUs supports terabytes...8 gig isn't that much any more.
What the heck to you mean 8 gig isn't much? For a desktop machine?? How many machines on the desktop even have 2 gig in them yet -- none are going above 4GB -- and your saying 8GB isn't that much??? Just what universe are you in????
I hope the uninformed writers won't discourage potential buyers. I offer the following example from a Business Week post in the last hour as an example. I'm sure/.'ers will quickly find more to offer.
For several years, Apple has lagged in the megahertz race. Motorola's G4 processors have only slowly improved in performance, while Intel and Advanced Micro Devices crank out ever-faster chips at a much swifter clip. Megahertz isn't everything when it comes to performance, but increasing the clock speed generally does boost chip and computer performance.
Yeah the writer eventually says megahertz isn't everything, but fails to grasp that megahertz isn't anything. The only scale that matters is how much work the system can do. Megahertz doesn't even have to enter into the discussion.
Btw, for the record, I'm a PC owner/user who probably won't switch, but still thinks these new Macs, along with the AMD Opteron chips, are the best news to come along in a good long while for all of us!
Or are they using super-high-quality fans and that explains the relatively high prices?
9 fans is only 9X as many as early systems had for years -- or an infinite number more fans than the late, and often unlamented, Cube. Is this progress, or does it just let me go out and tell people my system has more fans than yours?
Why do I care? I want a reliable system, which more complexity always works against.
However, this time I decided to build a new computer completely from scratch.
Your idea of building completely from scratch is to buy a pre-made motherboard and bolt on a few other pre-assembled components. Your concept of from scratch has certainly varied from what I would consider that concept to entail.
What they should have done 5 years ago is make a new music CD format with 24-bit 96khz sampling rate and 5.1 Dolby sound.
Which wouldn't have been playable on any of the current players.
Which would have required record stores to stock twice as many discs, meaning probably half as many selections, since they would have the old and new formats.
Which would have increased mastering, manufacturing, and inventory costs.
Which a lot of people wouldn't have wanted to update to because frankly most of us don't want to spend an additional $500-$1000+ for a difference we can't hear.
Which wouldn't have succeeded well at all for years at best.
Which might not have played an any computer players, ending that market.
And which wouldn't be immune from digital ripping, compression, and filesharing anyway.
The question no one seems asking is: If there's money to be made in running a P2P network (which it appears there is, given the number of sharing systems and people in it for more than their health), and P2P is how at least 40M Americans (plus countless others around the world) get at least some of their music and movies some of the time, then why aren't the record companies putting out their own, successful (since it wouldn't be under legal attack) Peer-to-Peer system?
1 of the 5 subscribers was from Earthlink? And that they handed the name over with no fuss?
I don't think it was with no fuss. Instead they waited until the very last day while Verizon was unable to get the court order stayed, and then complied since all the RIAA would have to do is point to the Verizon order in any court. That, to me, is a bit more than with no fuss.
Windows media player fired up my browser, and directed me to a website
I've got one word for you: Firewall
Especially one like Zone Alarm that has output blocking. Just don't be foolish enough to grant these programs automatic access every time.
What I really wonder is if the WMA you downloaded was copyrighted? Did it display a copyright notice? If not, then you haven't even broken any laws since you haven't illegally downloaded any copyrighted material. You instead got caught in their shotgun approach that declares every file shared as illegal. So have a nice day.
Maybe you can sue Microsoft for revealing your personal details (your IP address and files on your hard drive) without your permission. That would make for an interesting class action suit.
They also started with warning letters instead of a bagillion dollar lawsuit.
Oh, I expect the lawsuits to follow. Single digits of C&D letters to people not even on your ISP are hardly threatening enough. Instead:
1. Send C&D letters to a few people
2. Sue same for $x10^9
3. HUGE PRESS RELEASES!
4. Quietly offer to settle for $x10^4
5. Claim victory while minimizing settlement details.
6. Hope nobody actually goes to court saying "Prove that those are illegal files, and that the were on my machine. I think it was the neighborhood kid who broke in through my 802.11b router.
7. Entire country scared. Filesharing ends. None of the 4x10^10 filesharers organize their votes to remake Congress to again represent the people.
8. CD sales go through the roof.
9. Profit!!
Just my $/50
Good Book -- Led me to read other's of his
on
The Cassini Division
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· Score: 2, Insightful
I really like The Cassini Division. It got me to read more of Ken MacLeod's books, which I have also enjoyed almost as much.
My take on him is that he writes a lot of words and progresses slowly with great detail. It reminds me a lot of David Brin's novel-length writings in this regard.
Conclusion: He is worth bringing to the attention of/. readers who haven't already heard of him, and The Cassini Division is definitely one of his best so far.
Slashdot Mirror
Or maybe the publishers will move their incorporation to what-is-that-island where KaZaa has incorporated?
It's interesting in regard to this debate that The Walt Disney Company, arch supporter of eternal copyrights, built their early business off of lapsed, foreign, and potentially unenforcable copyrights. Where would many companies be today if they had scrupulously respected everybody else's intellectual property rights?
Conquering Earth for our robot masters.
Since I write (somewhat erotic at times) fiction about our future with self-thinking robots. :^)
Does anyone actually believe that the fossil fuels industry doesn't realize that crude oil is a finite resource, and aren't looking ahead to make the best determination (i.e. guess) as to what will be the next big energy thing?
It is going to take rich companies to commercialize this successfully. I just hope they start now while they still have money in the bank.
Robertson is quoted as saying: In order to squeeze this much additional performance out of the mature PC platform and then call it PAT, people might believe that I have prayed for divine intervention on the part of Intel Corporation. This is not the case. Despite the holy wars raging in the PC industry, I have yet to take sides, as might be implied by the usage of the name PAT. I hope for a speedy contribution -- er, resolution -- to solve this problem.
Other Pats are yet to be heard from.
1: Current owners and management get bought out by IBM at an inflated price...PROFIT!
2: Stock price zooms, insiders sell out...PROFIT!
It looks as illegal as hell, and I hope there are some people going to jail over this after all is said and done.
And let it be done quickly. The only winner at the moment is Microsoft, who competes with Linux on the desktop and in the server space.
You're the first person to admit to me that you get it. It is completely original one (i.e. not stolen), based on some recent theories that I'm sure you're equally aware of. I'm looking to get it on a t-shirt next.
Seems John Varley wrote a number of stories on that theme a few decades ago.
And as for switching bodies, the classic story Bodyguard from Galaxy magazine comes to mind, as well as Jack Chalker's "Four Lords of the Diamond" quadlogy.
If you like those themes, more stories for you to look for.
Please mod as redundant, since this has appeared in older posts.
It's a definite insightful - funny once (ref: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Robert Heinlein).
The people who will be affected are the ones who claim that PCs have always been, and always will be both faster and cheaper than Macs.
The reasonable among us just what both platforms to be as fast and cheap as possible.
Not!
A 2GHz runs twice as fast relative to its main memory, mass storage subsystem (hard drive), and peripherals (display adapters, network cards, etc.). In short it has to wait twice as long for any operation outside of its on-chip caches. As a result you do not get a linear performance increase with clock speed. Instead you quickly run into the Law of Diminishing Returns.
And that's an (pardon the pun) apples-to-apples comparison. An AMD Athlon at 2/3's of a P4 clock rate performs as much real work, so clockrate is not the determining factor in performance -- much as Intel marketing would like you to believe otherwise. Instead performance involves a much more complicated computation taking into account clockrate, average instructions per clock cycle, branch misprediction penalities, plus latencies in the system. This is why even the various benchmarks give different relative performance values when run on identical systems.
But as a user, all you should care about is: How fast does it run my application?
What the heck to you mean 8 gig isn't much? For a desktop machine?? How many machines on the desktop even have 2 gig in them yet -- none are going above 4GB -- and your saying 8GB isn't that much??? Just what universe are you in????
Then wouldn't you expect the Power Mac to be a few hundred cheaper than the comparably performing PC -- not the few hundred $$$s more?
For several years, Apple has lagged in the megahertz race. Motorola's G4 processors have only slowly improved in performance, while Intel and Advanced Micro Devices crank out ever-faster chips at a much swifter clip. Megahertz isn't everything when it comes to performance, but increasing the clock speed generally does boost chip and computer performance.
Yeah the writer eventually says megahertz isn't everything, but fails to grasp that megahertz isn't anything. The only scale that matters is how much work the system can do. Megahertz doesn't even have to enter into the discussion.
Btw, for the record, I'm a PC owner/user who probably won't switch, but still thinks these new Macs, along with the AMD Opteron chips, are the best news to come along in a good long while for all of us!
Or are they using super-high-quality fans and that explains the relatively high prices?
9 fans is only 9X as many as early systems had for years -- or an infinite number more fans than the late, and often unlamented, Cube. Is this progress, or does it just let me go out and tell people my system has more fans than yours?
Why do I care? I want a reliable system, which more complexity always works against.
Yet another argument in favor of having DVD ripping and user controlled playback controls discussed in a current /. article.
It's my DVD. I paid for it. And I'll d@mn well play it back any way I want to!
I believe it would be more accurate to say We stopped another person from freely sharing information that will never be of Profit to anyone!
Your idea of building completely from scratch is to buy a pre-made motherboard and bolt on a few other pre-assembled components. Your concept of from scratch has certainly varied from what I would consider that concept to entail.
Which wouldn't have been playable on any of the current players.
Which would have required record stores to stock twice as many discs, meaning probably half as many selections, since they would have the old and new formats.
Which would have increased mastering, manufacturing, and inventory costs.
Which a lot of people wouldn't have wanted to update to because frankly most of us don't want to spend an additional $500-$1000+ for a difference we can't hear.
Which wouldn't have succeeded well at all for years at best.
Which might not have played an any computer players, ending that market.
And which wouldn't be immune from digital ripping, compression, and filesharing anyway.
You call that a plan?
How dumb are they?
I don't think it was with no fuss. Instead they waited until the very last day while Verizon was unable to get the court order stayed, and then complied since all the RIAA would have to do is point to the Verizon order in any court. That, to me, is a bit more than with no fuss.
I've got one word for you: Firewall
Especially one like Zone Alarm that has output blocking. Just don't be foolish enough to grant these programs automatic access every time.
What I really wonder is if the WMA you downloaded was copyrighted? Did it display a copyright notice? If not, then you haven't even broken any laws since you haven't illegally downloaded any copyrighted material. You instead got caught in their shotgun approach that declares every file shared as illegal. So have a nice day.
Maybe you can sue Microsoft for revealing your personal details (your IP address and files on your hard drive) without your permission. That would make for an interesting class action suit.
Oh, I expect the lawsuits to follow. Single digits of C&D letters to people not even on your ISP are hardly threatening enough. Instead:
1. Send C&D letters to a few people
2. Sue same for $x10^9
3. HUGE PRESS RELEASES!
4. Quietly offer to settle for $x10^4
5. Claim victory while minimizing settlement details.
6. Hope nobody actually goes to court saying "Prove that those are illegal files, and that the were on my machine. I think it was the neighborhood kid who broke in through my 802.11b router.
7. Entire country scared. Filesharing ends. None of the 4x10^10 filesharers organize their votes to remake Congress to again represent the people.
8. CD sales go through the roof.
9. Profit!!
Just my $/50
My take on him is that he writes a lot of words and progresses slowly with great detail. It reminds me a lot of David Brin's novel-length writings in this regard.
Conclusion: He is worth bringing to the attention of /. readers who haven't already heard of him, and The Cassini Division is definitely one of his best so far.
SCO adds the entire branch of physics to their lawsuit maintaining that all discoveries made with Linux software belong to them.
Their suit against God for creating a world where Linux IP was infringed is on hold while they attempt to hire Dilbert as their process server.