I don't know about a waste of energy but it certainly seems like a complete waste of time. What is the benefit of getting in your car outside of your apartment and spending a couple of minutes descending in the lift to the road and getting the lift to the underground garage and getting in your car ?
Just how bone idle and lazy would you have to be to pay so much money to save yourself a minutes walk to your car in the car park. Don't the designers realise we're in the middle of an obesity epidemic right now !
I saw Radiohead supporting a band called the Sultans Of Ping at the Barrel Organ in Birmingham sometime around 1989, they were rubbish. Most people didn't even bother to get up and listen to them but just sat on the floor and chatted instead. Creep was probably their best song but it sounded nothing like the song it would turn into. However it was obvious that they had some kind of serious backing because they had people going around asking you to subscibe to their mailing list and giving out free flourescent yellow "r" shaped stickers and had a far more professional team backing them up than the headlining Sultans Of Ping had.
6 or 7 years later I saw Radiohead headlining at Glastonbury and they were totally and utterly amazing, the Sultans Of Ping had vanished into a pit of oblivion and split up. The question is would Radiohead have been able to evolve from what they were to what they became without the support and investment from their record company who must obviously have spotted some potential in the band which wasn't obvious to most people of the people listening to them in the early days ?
Yes, thats why it's so hard to get rockets into space. A common misconception is that gravity is the limiting factor but in fact it's getting enough speed in a sufficiently sharply pointed rocket to break the airs surface tension which is the major challenge.
Some people may well be more suited for driving quickly than others and I agree that some people with all the training in the world would still be dangerous but I don't believe that anyone has the sort of natural ability that would let them compete against any sort of professional racing driver or highly trained police pursuit specialists.
Both Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher are highly talented drivers but they're at the top of their profession not because of their natural talent but thanks to years and years of training and practice. Had Lewis Hamilton spent the last 15 years working in a chip shop he would not even be able to qualify for a Grand Prix let alone win any, the fact that he is is down to the fact he's spent the last 15 years practising driving, day after day and year after year.
There's a chance this maniac is actually an extremely talented driver ( although the fact he doesn't do any real professional racing tends to suggest he's not good enough to compete at that level ) but theres far more of a chance and he isn't and if he hasn't bothered to do any professional training then he is going to be clueless as to how dangerously bad he is.
The fact that he is doing this on public roads without bothering to take any safety precautions at all on behalf of the thousands of other road users he is sharing the road with indicate to me the bloke is a selfish moron. He's spent an awful lot of money on a fast car and gadgets to prevent him getting caught but seemingly invested nothing in safeguarding the lives of the people he is threatening every time he gets behind the wheel.
Some of his colleagues in the Gumball rally recently hit an elderly couple and killed both of them. Rather than stopping to help they tried to drive off and flee the country, pure arrogant selfishness. The rumour is that is was this guys Polizei team car which they got a lift in for the escape which tends to suggest he thinks this behaviour is perfectly acceptable.
You what? What sort of training are you talking about?
Any sort of training at all that would be a start but the most useful would be the courses that police pursuit drivers have to undertake which teach you how to drive safely at speed in heavy traffic. Failing that any sort of rally practice would be useful. The fact that he has apparently not bothered with any of that and just bought the biggest, fastest car he can and assumed that he has the skills required to drive it correctly. Thats just irresponsible and moronic, especially when people dump him or refuse to drive with him because he is driving dangerously.
I don't think this guy does know what he's doing. He's had no professional training as a driver, girlfriends and co-drivers have left him because they felt he was endangering their lives and he's driving a fast car very dangerously on public roads.
The article is full of incidents that are just outright dangerous stupidity, using the hard shoulder as an overtaking lane, undertaking 18 wheelers and so and so on. The bloke comes across as being a complete wanker, he's inherited a load of money from his folks so he never has to work and decides to be a great novelist. That doesn't work so he decides to become an irresponsible maniac driver without even having any sort of proper instruction and simply uses his inherited wealth to pay off any fines he gets along the way. He's not some kind of hero he's an overpriviledged muppet and if he carries on like this he will one day kill someone.
I remember when I was driving from Sydney to Queensland most of the speed cameras seemed to be half way down hills and pretty much hidden behind trees and whatever as often as not too.
Yes, I'm sure. Something which can be memorised easily is memorable something which cannot be memorised easily is not memorable. Feel free to make up your own words when you talk to yourself but when talking to others it helps to use correct English ( if you're talking in English ).
No it doesn't but then Microsoft would attack IBM with their patents and the whole thing would turn into the expensive legal version of Armageddon which I'm sure both companies would try to avoid. So far as IBM is concerned at the moment this is a potential threat to their Linux business not a definite threat, the troll company could change their mind and drop the case, Red Hat could win and the patent be invalidated, Red Hat might lose but the troll company may decide not to pursue IBM, anything might happen. I'd be surprised if IBM or anyone else took any major overt action until they were squarely in the barrels themselves.
The reason they're not doing this themselves because if they were to even think about trying they would be dropped down a bottomless pit of IBM et al counter patents.
Since these Acacia people don't actually do anything other than patent troll defensive patent portfolios are useless against it.
Novell didn't pay Microsoft anywhere near as much as Microsoft paid Novell. This would have no doubt happened anyway so why stop Microsoft throwing money at you for it ?
On the other hand if the patent office can charge enough to file patents such that it makes a proft then this is a very nice income stream to the EUs un-auditable coffers.
Yes, exactly. This particular company seems to be the very model of a patent troll company which doesn't do anything that defensive patent portfolios could be used against.
This is exactly what Mr Ballmer said would happen and is the best weapon Microsoft can use in pushing their "Linux infringes patents" attack. Obviously if they were to bring any cases themselves they would be swamped under a wave of counterclaims from Linux friendly companies such as IBM and Novell so this way they have a proxy which cannot be stopped in such fashion and which on the face of it has nothing to do with Microsoft should there be any negative repercussions from the action. I'd expect to see a lot more of this sort thing from now on.
Even if Red Hat go to court, win and have the patent thrown out ( which we hope they will ) it's still going to cost them a lot of money and quite likely drag on for a good long time sapping money and resources which Red Hat would otherwise be using to expand its business. This obviously is to Microsofts benefit and gives them a hook to hang their "Linux is tainted by illegal patents" hat on.
In the worst case scenario Red Hat go to court, lose and the patent is validated costing Red Hat lots of money for damages and an on-going outlay if they're allowed to licence the patent. Even worse than that since Red Hat no doubt use a very similar version of whatever component of the Linux system that everyone else does it's going to be a lot easier for this company to get money from them too. Even worse than that is the situation for freely distributed Linux, obviously there's no one to pay licence fees to use the patent so it's possible that restrictions would somehow be placed on such free distributions ( not sure of the legal situation with one ). Clearly this would be a huge win for Microsoft.
If this patent is thrown out then you can bet there will be hundreds more coming out of the woodwork each one carrying the risks outlined above if they're not thrown out and each one costing Linux companies money to defend against.
As PJ says the real solution is for the US to harmonise it's patent rules with the rest of the world and cut support for all software patents because if what we're seeing now continues the US is going to lose out to other countries where such patent laws are not in effect and Linux can flourish.
I'm not sure how much use that would be, I'd be very surprised to see Microsoft come out and expose themselves in a one on one battle with Red Hat.
From what Ballmer was saying a few days ago it's more likely on of those patent troll companies will pop up and go for Red Hat it's self. That way defensive patents will be useless since the troll company doesn't actually do anything other than sue people and Microsoft will not get themselves directly involved, although I expect they will be there in the background directing their troll allies from the shadows.
"She's 13" in the same sense you would use when chastising a salesman for selling your daughter a giant pink pony pulling a cart of sugary treats when he says "Well, it's what she said she wanted".
Watch batteries ? I seriously doubt they'd be able to power any sort of mechanical dragonfly for much more than a second or two let alone one capable of taking photographs or disseminating soothing chemicals amongst the crowd or whatever these things are supposed to be doing.
As I see it these protestors are simply paranoid, there's 1001 easier and better ways to take photos of them or listen in to their conversations and none of them run the risk of your spying machine being caught, photographed or crashing into the hands of the protestors.
We get a lot of "Gee, is this Straat - Ford, why does that sign say Berm-ing-HAAM" around here, when everyone knows it's pronounced Struff'ud, so we have to say "No my good man, you have arrived in Burmingum you must needs follow the signs for Lozells and there seek further advice from the good citizens you will find there."
Dr Nibbly ? Ha ha you fuckwit muppet how can you possibly subscribe to anything from a guy whos name sounds like dribbly or wibbly. Dr Wibbly Nibbly, it's pretty obvious without even needing to read anything he's written that he's wrong and that you must be an idiot for taking it seriously !
The Worcester in the midlands is also pronounced Wuster, the only people who ask directions to War-ces-tah are Americans and Londoners, usually on route to Edin-burg. I think in the general most places, in the English Midlands, at least spelt -cester are pronounced in a similar way e.g. Alcester - Allster, Bicester - Bister, Gloucester - Gloster, Leicester - Lester, Towcester - Toaster apart from the inevitable exceptions - Cirencester although apparently this is still sometimes called sissitter.
Indeed, if I'm feeling an optomistic mood my accounts software should increase the credit related figures on the screen whereas if I'm nervous it should ensure that nothing which should normally add up does and if I'm 'anticipating a quiet day of doing not much' it should launch various viruses throughout the network, begin to erase it's backups and crash. Pretty much like it does already actually.
Never mind the computer knowing what I think, I'd like a device that let me know what the f#ck it is thinking, or better still the people responsible for the f#cking stupid f#cking program I'm trying to use.
( HUMAN CMDRGRAVY HAS BEEN SEDATED, HE WILL BE UNAVAILABLE FOR FURTHER COMMENT FOR SOME TIME )
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I don't know about a waste of energy but it certainly seems like a complete waste of time. What is the benefit of getting in your car outside of your apartment and spending a couple of minutes descending in the lift to the road and getting the lift to the underground garage and getting in your car ?
Just how bone idle and lazy would you have to be to pay so much money to save yourself a minutes walk to your car in the car park. Don't the designers realise we're in the middle of an obesity epidemic right now !
I saw Radiohead supporting a band called the Sultans Of Ping at the Barrel Organ in Birmingham sometime around 1989, they were rubbish. Most people didn't even bother to get up and listen to them but just sat on the floor and chatted instead. Creep was probably their best song but it sounded nothing like the song it would turn into. However it was obvious that they had some kind of serious backing because they had people going around asking you to subscibe to their mailing list and giving out free flourescent yellow "r" shaped stickers and had a far more professional team backing them up than the headlining Sultans Of Ping had.
6 or 7 years later I saw Radiohead headlining at Glastonbury and they were totally and utterly amazing, the Sultans Of Ping had vanished into a pit of oblivion and split up. The question is would Radiohead have been able to evolve from what they were to what they became without the support and investment from their record company who must obviously have spotted some potential in the band which wasn't obvious to most people of the people listening to them in the early days ?
Thankyou, I was amazed this wasn't immediately spotted for the nonsense it was intended to be !
Yes, thats why it's so hard to get rockets into space. A common misconception is that gravity is the limiting factor but in fact it's getting enough speed in a sufficiently sharply pointed rocket to break the airs surface tension which is the major challenge.
Some people may well be more suited for driving quickly than others and I agree that some people with all the training in the world would still be dangerous but I don't believe that anyone has the sort of natural ability that would let them compete against any sort of professional racing driver or highly trained police pursuit specialists.
Both Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher are highly talented drivers but they're at the top of their profession not because of their natural talent but thanks to years and years of training and practice. Had Lewis Hamilton spent the last 15 years working in a chip shop he would not even be able to qualify for a Grand Prix let alone win any, the fact that he is is down to the fact he's spent the last 15 years practising driving, day after day and year after year.
There's a chance this maniac is actually an extremely talented driver ( although the fact he doesn't do any real professional racing tends to suggest he's not good enough to compete at that level ) but theres far more of a chance and he isn't and if he hasn't bothered to do any professional training then he is going to be clueless as to how dangerously bad he is.
The fact that he is doing this on public roads without bothering to take any safety precautions at all on behalf of the thousands of other road users he is sharing the road with indicate to me the bloke is a selfish moron. He's spent an awful lot of money on a fast car and gadgets to prevent him getting caught but seemingly invested nothing in safeguarding the lives of the people he is threatening every time he gets behind the wheel.
Some of his colleagues in the Gumball rally recently hit an elderly couple and killed both of them. Rather than stopping to help they tried to drive off and flee the country, pure arrogant selfishness. The rumour is that is was this guys Polizei team car which they got a lift in for the escape which tends to suggest he thinks this behaviour is perfectly acceptable.
Any sort of training at all that would be a start but the most useful would be the courses that police pursuit drivers have to undertake which teach you how to drive safely at speed in heavy traffic. Failing that any sort of rally practice would be useful. The fact that he has apparently not bothered with any of that and just bought the biggest, fastest car he can and assumed that he has the skills required to drive it correctly. Thats just irresponsible and moronic, especially when people dump him or refuse to drive with him because he is driving dangerously.
I don't think this guy does know what he's doing. He's had no professional training as a driver, girlfriends and co-drivers have left him because they felt he was endangering their lives and he's driving a fast car very dangerously on public roads.
The article is full of incidents that are just outright dangerous stupidity, using the hard shoulder as an overtaking lane, undertaking 18 wheelers and so and so on. The bloke comes across as being a complete wanker, he's inherited a load of money from his folks so he never has to work and decides to be a great novelist. That doesn't work so he decides to become an irresponsible maniac driver without even having any sort of proper instruction and simply uses his inherited wealth to pay off any fines he gets along the way. He's not some kind of hero he's an overpriviledged muppet and if he carries on like this he will one day kill someone.
I remember when I was driving from Sydney to Queensland most of the speed cameras seemed to be half way down hills and pretty much hidden behind trees and whatever as often as not too.
Yes, I'm sure. Something which can be memorised easily is memorable something which cannot be memorised easily is not memorable. Feel free to make up your own words when you talk to yourself but when talking to others it helps to use correct English ( if you're talking in English ).
Yes.
No, that is not a word.
No it doesn't but then Microsoft would attack IBM with their patents and the whole thing would turn into the expensive legal version of Armageddon which I'm sure both companies would try to avoid. So far as IBM is concerned at the moment this is a potential threat to their Linux business not a definite threat, the troll company could change their mind and drop the case, Red Hat could win and the patent be invalidated, Red Hat might lose but the troll company may decide not to pursue IBM, anything might happen. I'd be surprised if IBM or anyone else took any major overt action until they were squarely in the barrels themselves.
The reason they're not doing this themselves because if they were to even think about trying they would be dropped down a bottomless pit of IBM et al counter patents.
Since these Acacia people don't actually do anything other than patent troll defensive patent portfolios are useless against it.
Novell didn't pay Microsoft anywhere near as much as Microsoft paid Novell. This would have no doubt happened anyway so why stop Microsoft throwing money at you for it ?
On the other hand if the patent office can charge enough to file patents such that it makes a proft then this is a very nice income stream to the EUs un-auditable coffers.
Yes, exactly. This particular company seems to be the very model of a patent troll company which doesn't do anything that defensive patent portfolios could be used against.
This is exactly what Mr Ballmer said would happen and is the best weapon Microsoft can use in pushing their "Linux infringes patents" attack. Obviously if they were to bring any cases themselves they would be swamped under a wave of counterclaims from Linux friendly companies such as IBM and Novell so this way they have a proxy which cannot be stopped in such fashion and which on the face of it has nothing to do with Microsoft should there be any negative repercussions from the action. I'd expect to see a lot more of this sort thing from now on.
Even if Red Hat go to court, win and have the patent thrown out ( which we hope they will ) it's still going to cost them a lot of money and quite likely drag on for a good long time sapping money and resources which Red Hat would otherwise be using to expand its business. This obviously is to Microsofts benefit and gives them a hook to hang their "Linux is tainted by illegal patents" hat on.
In the worst case scenario Red Hat go to court, lose and the patent is validated costing Red Hat lots of money for damages and an on-going outlay if they're allowed to licence the patent. Even worse than that since Red Hat no doubt use a very similar version of whatever component of the Linux system that everyone else does it's going to be a lot easier for this company to get money from them too. Even worse than that is the situation for freely distributed Linux, obviously there's no one to pay licence fees to use the patent so it's possible that restrictions would somehow be placed on such free distributions ( not sure of the legal situation with one ). Clearly this would be a huge win for Microsoft.
If this patent is thrown out then you can bet there will be hundreds more coming out of the woodwork each one carrying the risks outlined above if they're not thrown out and each one costing Linux companies money to defend against.
As PJ says the real solution is for the US to harmonise it's patent rules with the rest of the world and cut support for all software patents because if what we're seeing now continues the US is going to lose out to other countries where such patent laws are not in effect and Linux can flourish.
I'm not sure how much use that would be, I'd be very surprised to see Microsoft come out and expose themselves in a one on one battle with Red Hat.
From what Ballmer was saying a few days ago it's more likely on of those patent troll companies will pop up and go for Red Hat it's self. That way defensive patents will be useless since the troll company doesn't actually do anything other than sue people and Microsoft will not get themselves directly involved, although I expect they will be there in the background directing their troll allies from the shadows.
"She's 13" in the same sense you would use when chastising a salesman for selling your daughter a giant pink pony pulling a cart of sugary treats when he says "Well, it's what she said she wanted".
A mysterious, yet somehow incompatible, format you don't bother mentioning, mysterious. Very mysterious.
Watch batteries ? I seriously doubt they'd be able to power any sort of mechanical dragonfly for much more than a second or two let alone one capable of taking photographs or disseminating soothing chemicals amongst the crowd or whatever these things are supposed to be doing.
As I see it these protestors are simply paranoid, there's 1001 easier and better ways to take photos of them or listen in to their conversations and none of them run the risk of your spying machine being caught, photographed or crashing into the hands of the protestors.
We get a lot of "Gee, is this Straat - Ford, why does that sign say Berm-ing-HAAM" around here, when everyone knows it's pronounced Struff'ud, so we have to say "No my good man, you have arrived in Burmingum you must needs follow the signs for Lozells and there seek further advice from the good citizens you will find there."
Dr Nibbly ? Ha ha you fuckwit muppet how can you possibly subscribe to anything from a guy whos name sounds like dribbly or wibbly. Dr Wibbly Nibbly, it's pretty obvious without even needing to read anything he's written that he's wrong and that you must be an idiot for taking it seriously !
fibbly nibbly wibbly. Ha ha.
The Worcester in the midlands is also pronounced Wuster, the only people who ask directions to War-ces-tah are Americans and Londoners, usually on route to Edin-burg. I think in the general most places, in the English Midlands, at least spelt -cester are pronounced in a similar way e.g. Alcester - Allster, Bicester - Bister, Gloucester - Gloster, Leicester - Lester, Towcester - Toaster apart from the inevitable exceptions - Cirencester although apparently this is still sometimes called sissitter.
Indeed, if I'm feeling an optomistic mood my accounts software should increase the credit related figures on the screen whereas if I'm nervous it should ensure that nothing which should normally add up does and if I'm 'anticipating a quiet day of doing not much' it should launch various viruses throughout the network, begin to erase it's backups and crash. Pretty much like it does already actually.
This is incorrect, Chuck Norris feels the same level of pain as we do only he knows that pain is only a feeling and not an excuse for giving up.
Never mind the computer knowing what I think, I'd like a device that let me know what the f#ck it is thinking, or better still the people responsible for the f#cking stupid f#cking program I'm trying to use.
( HUMAN CMDRGRAVY HAS BEEN SEDATED, HE WILL BE UNAVAILABLE FOR FURTHER COMMENT FOR SOME TIME )