I actually like gnome because it's simple and looks neater than kde in spite of the fact I really missed some of the features of kde when I made that switch full time. But I can't stand looking at kde all day and I think of it like this: it's easier to add the stuff I want to gnome than it is to make kde look good. The 2.6 version, now that it's starting to move toward the "open" methods of handling things like mimetypes, is nearing the point I miss none of those kde features.
What I find odd is how many people talk about all the apps written for kde. Konqueror is the absolute worse web browser I've ever used (yes, even worse than NS3 on 1996 vintage hardware - hit a webpage with a 2000 line form field and see how many days it takes to render), the download manager for kde is a dog that hasn't been touched in years (important if you're on a dialup or need to move tasks between machines), there's no irfan-like porn (er, image) viewer, the newsreader absolutely sucks for binaries - about the only things that have any real refinement besides kate and the slick eye candy shell are the dialer and the file browser. Between d4x, pan, Evolution (yes, I prefer Evolution, thanks) and Galeon, gnome has a dynamite "web" interface. Throw in gedit and gqview and you got a pretty nice desktop (so long as you don't need an office app). About the only thing I find lacking in gnome is that damned file browser. Gnome with a file browser like konq would rock.
Oh yeah... the irony. I find gnome running koffice apps is still faster and easier to use than gnome using the OOo apps that the gnome folks are trying to "integrate." I swear I don't get why OOo gets so much press... god that thing sucks.
I cannot believe yours is the only one I could find here that mentions these points. It seems like none of the others who responded even care about things like "freedom" and having an os "we" control instead of some corporation.
Windows: lots of hardware supported, operating system tightly controlled, licensing issues.
Mac: little hardware supported, operating system (the part that makes it "osx" and not just another bsd) tightly controlled, licensing issues.
Linux: lots of hardware supported, few licensing issues (none for end user), operating system does whatever you're willing to make it do.
Duh. Why the fuck would I move from a corporate OS to a free one, then move BACK to a corporate OS?
"If you were free to become a slave, would you choose that instead of working for a paycheck?"
Did you actually read the fucking bill? It sure didn't say "it must actually BE a movie theatre" under the section labeled "definitions."
I'm amazed you would spend all that time writing something so easily disproven and so utterly wrong.
You don't, perhaps, work for the whitehouse?
Wait.. 4077? MASH? I get it! Haw!
Seriously... there's also a nice section in this one that has the potential to pretty much limit recording of ANY public performance to the domain of "those who approve recording" and... tada! The State (but of course).
(a) Offense- Whoever, without the authorization of the copyright owner, knowingly uses or attempts to use an audiovisual recording device in a motion picture theater to transmit or make a copy of a motion picture or other audiovisual work protected under title 17, or any part thereof, in a motion picture theater shall--
`(1) be imprisoned for not more than 3 years, fined under this title, or both; or
`(2) if the offense is a second or subsequent offense, be imprisoned for no more than 6 years, fined under this title, or both.
`(c) Authorized Activities- This section does not prevent any lawfully authorized investigative, protective, or intelligence activity by an officer, agent, or employee of the United States, a State, or a political subdivision of a State, or by a person acting pursuant to a contract with the United States, a State, or a political subdivision of a State.
Essentially, ANY presentation given by ANY entity (because "copyright is automatic") in the "theater" of a public meeting place that could arguably be called a "motion picture theater" would be protected. That would encompass a great many civic auditoriums, school auditoriums, gymnasiums, and town halls - and it means no political activists allowed! You cannot record this (open company meeting, presentation, play, debate or political party meeting) without our consent or we will send you to jail.
Open up an electric blanket controller and you're likely to find a PIC. These things come in an 8 pin package, have A/D, D/A and zero crossing functions (just stick a 10M resistor on the 120VAC line and stick it to one of the CMOS inputs) and they cost, in the sorts of quantities a Norelco would purchase them at, less than five bits (that's about 63 cents to you yanks).
Even if the 32 bit chips could be sold for 50 cents and packed into 8 pin TSOPS they still would face an uphill battle because the NRE has already been paid on the PIC driven parts.
The notion of cheap 32 bit chips usurping 8 bit parts has been thrown around more than a decade. In that decade, use of parts like the AVR and the PIC has risen, not fallen. From an engineering POV, trying to displace these simple to use harvard machines with "real" microprocessors like the ARM is like trying to replace jellybeans with chocolate bars.
There's hundreds of regulations surrounding this, and they're all online. The FCC regulations, part by part, are available to anyone who can use google. Note especially that even other broadcasters are forbidden from interfering upon one another, and spacing to prevent this sort of problem goes up into seventh and ninth images in many cases.
Every commercial broadcaster spends a fortune preparing for a license. One of the first of these steps is deciding where to put the tower, then preparing a detailed map (one that takes into account geology, terrain mapping, buildings - everything) of their expected primary and secondary coverage areas. If your signal at 50MHz is overloading receiver front ends in the neighborhood to the point the primary coverage area for my FM station at 100MHz is being affected, it's you who will take the steps needed to correct the issue. Again, this is not "optional" or "a courtesy" - it's mandated in order for you to retain your license and/or avoid a nice fine.
All it takes is a tiny percentage of the folks in your neighborhood to complain about the problem (1% is just fine - basically that means just one of the neighbors on your block), and a visit by a qualified radio engineer to verify the cause. My partner and I spent many an evening driving around neighborhoods with a $10,000 spectrum analyzer crammed between us looking for just such infractions. You're welcome not to believe it - but just hope you never find out for yourself. The FCC isn't known for being lenient with fines.
Why does Stern have to have any redeeming value? His ratings and long term success legitimize his existence.
I'm tempoted to just ignore you as the politics in this thread make it obvious no opinions critical of "the martyr' are going to survive moderation, but I'll answer just this one anyway.
Look up the FCC guidelines. Stations are required by the FCC to act in a way that "serves the interests of the community."
Period
It's very rare for a station to be denied renewal, but it does happen. and for the most part it's rare because so few bother to actually write the FCC with legitimate affidavits regarding the operation of their local stations being "not in the public good." But networks go further beyond that - they don't live in just one community - they live everywhere an affiliate exists. This changes the scope of enforcement.
"Rich enough to cough up money for programming not in the public interest?" You mean the way Electric Blue and Spice aren't "free?" How about HBO or Cinemax? Showtime?
Stern's no martyr. He's just doing exactly what you said: following the money. He sucks, he knows he sucks, he knows his days are limited unless he can continue to draw controversy. Time passes, controversy fades along with howard's ratings. He's moving to satellite because he knows it's a fat paycheck whether he can pull in the ratings or not - after all, the whole point of satellite radio is to cater to "niche audiences" that would otherwise be unprofitable. He'll draw in a few thousand more subscribers, get aboost from the publicity and hype surrounding the move, then fade away into the oblivion of a thousand channels of garbage. Howard knows he's getting old, he can't keep up making the same three "jokes" forever, so he's retiring to a desk job - away from the fire, far behind the trenches.
The FCC regulations have always had the stipulation "in the public good" and "redeeming traits" and all sorts of fuzzy shit like that. This is nothing new, and if you think it's tyranny and stern is being "censored" I'll invite you to step back just a few fucking decades to shows like "I Love Lucy" and "Gunsmoke" - when you couldn't even show a man and a woman in bed together (much less fucking, as they do now) or even show a white person and black person kiss.
Stern has zero redeeming value. Period. You would be very hard pressed to find anyone who could argue shit like making fun of midgets and discussing breast implants with the intellect of a ten year old has "socially redeming value" - and I'll include Larry fucking Flynt in that group.
These "shock jocks" (or whatever the fuck they like to call themselves) are complaining about "not knowing where the line is" simply because they have chosen to push it. It's not like we never had the fucking lines - they've been there all along. What it comes down to is them losing sight of that line... when they crossed it long ago.
I think it's absurd the clamor that came about because of Janet Jackson, and I think having arbritrary rules against certain words only serves to empower those words - it's a stupid benchmark of obscenity. But holding Howard Stern up as some sort of martyr to free speech is equally god-damned insane.
Actually, I rememeber listening to him back when he was still having to make an effort to "get away" with this kinda stuff. And I've seen the movie. While the movie is fun, it's still a movie - a romantic paen to its main character.
Stern sucks. Detroit's seen all these guys come and go and, so far as I recall, the only one that didn't completely suck was Steve Dahl. Steve liked to cause trouble and he managed to be funny without sounding like one of those retards I couldn't stand even back in Jr. High. Even after he left Detroit he was one of the first to do the syndication thing, beaming in from the LUP in Chicago. He and Buzz Kilman have it all over anything Stern has done (and done, and done, and done again) in the two decades since.
You step up and take the Amatuer Radio Exam and when you pass you are a LICENSED operator and any transmissions you make from Part 97 gear DEFINETLY trump any intereference to your Part 15 device.
Actually, I "stepped up" for a first class license many years ago. And, while I've not used it in a long time my name IS on a few station logs and, as I recall, that "part 15" device may take a back seat to your "part 97" device but if YOUR "part 97 device" is blanketing a neighborhood and interfering with reception within my broadcast station's fully licensed coverage area, it's gonna be you who steps up to fix the problem - this is not an "option" or a "courtesy" - it's the law. If that means installing traps for everyone in the neighborhood, so be it. If it means limiting your hours of operation or abstaining operation on certain bands... guess who loses? It's not the guy who spent all the money getting a station on the air.
Yours needs to be modded up. The other replies on this split hairs and speak authoritatively when it's apparent the posters are just guessing, but you actually made a point I cannot redress. I've been involved with radio and tv most of my life, but I cannot recall which came first. I'm pretty sure the FCC "said so" first, but I don't have my radio-electronics library anymore and I'm an hour from the campus microfilms.
Interesting point I'll remember to look into this weekend...
SiS 7xx chipset: video works fine, hauppauge tuner does NOT work properly with ANY of the included TV apps. TVtime (the best, IMO) is so unstable as to be useless - frequent lockups, dropped frames, etc. Seems this release must have a very old version, because most of the issues on the support page along these lines were supposed to have been cleared up long ago. KDTV works sorta, but it lacks many features the newer version has. Forget about Xaw - it's just a black screen, as is zapping (gnome TV).
Nautilus works ok as Gnome 2.4 goes. Occasional lockups and generally flaky behavior prevented me from even keeping with the setup long enough to see if (for example) CD burning works. DMA is not enabled by default on my DVD drive, so even when I manage to get the (very poorly supported) multimedia apps to work the video is very choppy. On the upside, YAST makes it very easy to enable this setting and it is remembered (much better than mandrake 10).
When I went to an MN31N motherboard (Nvidia with MCP-T chipset) I could not even get Mandrake 10 to install. I even tried the "safe" methods and it still would lock up. Suse installed great here and generally seemed much more stable than with the SiS chipset and I was actually excited because I had been wanting to give Suse a better shot. It installed the "good" drivers OOTB and I had great 3D performance. Unfortunately, video overlays did not work properly at all (it looks like an inability to properly deal with the YUY colorspace) in Gnome. I know this is a Gnome only issue, as things work like gangbusters in KDE. Unfortunately, no matter how nice I can dress KDE up (and I used to use it all the time) kde still looks like kde and after a while of looking at all those scrunched up icons I begin to feel claustrophobic (not to mention it is SO EASY to do things in Gnome - like dragging files to the "burn:///" folder and pressing "write contents to CD") I just really find kde way overdone after a little while of using it.
Anyway, Mandrake 10.1 installed on my system (with the nvidia chipset) just fine, but the "community" doesn't install the "high end" drivers (and thus far I've been unable to get the video drivers from Nvidia's website to compile, much less install). I'm hoping the full version of mdk 10.1 will address my needs completely.. I've generally just given up on Suse.
I really don't use 3D that much, my whole reason (believe it or not) for making the move to an nvidia chipset is because mandrake doesn't do GL 3D with my SiS motherboard and I wanted to run a windows emulator so I could play America McGee's Alice. I wanted to like Suse because it has dynamite binary support (Gnome 2.8, Ximian, Codeweavers etc can all be had in premade RPMs) but I just don't find it to have the polish for the home user. I can install Mandrake and be up and running with full multimedia support in just a few minutes - Suse requires an order of magnitude more support in the form of packages that need to be installed and even then it's just not as cohesive (thumbnails don't render reliably in Nautilus, media apps crash unexpectedly, etc). Suse has SCADS more business software OOTB than Mandrake - nice CAD package, vector graphics, etc - but it's moot on my home desktop if it takes an hour (on top of the 90 minute install time) monkeying around with RPMs just to get the thing where one is able to enjoy a fucking DVD. Suse might have what business needs, but IME it sure doesn't have what most home users need. I'm not saying "it sucks" I'm just saying it really doesn't meet my needs.
More than that, 'tho, I'm wondering why Novell bought these projects, because they sure don't seem to be using the desktop stuff. What about mono support? It's barely mentioned. Ximian? Only mentioned so far as the corporate email crap. What about all the other cool stuff that was part of these projects? Since they were assimilated we just don't hear about these "features" at all.
OK, let's look at a scenario. Your TV has a badly designed front-end, and is interfered with by my transmissions on 146.52 MHz. You complain to me. I check my equipment, and determine that I am not generating any spurious emissions outside of the 2 meter amateur band. Your TV is at fault here, in that it is not correctly rejecting my signal.
Mmm.. that's quite a stretch of the rules. If you are a professionally licensed broadcaster and I complain that your signal is blanketing my reception, and I am in close vicinity to you, you damn well better do something about it. Keep in mind this is a rule regulating licensed broadcast operators - you really think your "part 97" device is going to be exempt from such regulations?
The FCC does have the authority to regulate all transmitter and receiver hardware. That has always been within their purview.
But do they have any authority over what happens to signals after they have ceased to be freely radiating RF?
Doesn't matter at all. because the FCC DOES have the right to say "you shall make all receiving devices compatible with this (broadcast flag) device..."
This ain't new, and I'm surprised the EFF thinks it has even a slim chance with such a play. Apparently no one at the EFF has read their history books:
The problem was that UHF stations would not be successful unless people had UHF tuners, and people would not voluntarily pay for UHF tuners unless there were UHF broadcasters. Of the 165 UHF stations that went on the air between 1952 and 1959, 55% went off the air. Of the UHF stations on the air, 75% were losing money. UHF's problems were the following:(1) technical inequality of UHF stations as compared with VHF stations; (2) intermixture of UHF and VHF stations in the same market and the millions of VHF only receivers; (3) the lack of confidence in the capabilities of and the need for UHF television. Suggestions of de-intermixture (making some cities VHF only and other cities UHF only) were not adopted, because most existing sets did not have UHF capability. Ultimately the FCC required all TV sets to have UHF tuners. However over four decades later, UHF is still considered inferior to VHF, despite cable television, and ratings on VHF channels are generally higher than on UHF channels.
The allocation between VHF and UHF in the 1950s, and the lack of UHF tuners is entirely analogous to the dilemma facing digital television of high definition television fifty years later.
Even fifty years ago the FCC had the power to (and did) regulate receiving devices. They mandated all sets sold with something larger than (I believe) a 13" screen MUST have both VHF an UHF tuners... and it stood, and it worked... just as this latest move will.
No one seems dare mention this. Since the big fanfare over Novell scooping up Ximian, how many news releases have there been? Even with this next anounced release, how much talk is there of Ximian? The Gnome desktop in 9.1 was pretty much unusable on my system (even basic video overlay support did not work properly) and that came well after the initial fanfare. Now here it is many months later, and still no talk of the wonderful Ximian stuff save for the corporate email extenders. Is mono even part of this latest version fo Suse? What was the point of it all?
Suse shows no signs of moving toward a Gnome desktop. About the best gnome users can hope for at this point is more support for open desktop - which might, in itself, be a very good thing.
Suse might have it in the corporate world, but for my own personal use (and most of my friends) I've still found nothing better than Mandrake. After using 10.1 for a few weeks, I'm now more convinced of this than ever.
One of those shows you mention - Survivor - has plenty of these spots. Are they gratuitous? Often - but they also are VERY effective (as anyone who saw the castaways savoring tiny slivers of Snickers bars after being without sugar for more than a month can well attest).
Considering that most shows about entertainment are simply ADVERTISEMENTS for movies and music, why is it so unimaginable that they should support such programming? It's inevitable, even if the hotown suits won't yet concede this fact. What needs to be done is simply for someone to make the effort to produce enough "free" content to build an audience.
Since we're talking about geeky stuff atm, it doesn't seem to me so unimaginable at all. I regularly get announcements in my mailbox from (for example) National semiconductor, who have now started producing programs featuring Bob Pease, a well known engineer and curmudgeon - a "personality." What about making some video features linux advocates could share with others? Features like "how to install mandrake on your pc" and "how to produce video" and "how to program in python." There are companies making a living producing this content for sale, so there's obviously an audience. it would be trivially easy to tie these type features in with product placements, which means it should be fairly easy to attract sponsorship dollars once a few shows have proven their merit via torrential "ratings" - which should also be fairly easy to produce with the proper oss infrastructure, given at least one company presently gets paid big bucks by mainstream hollywood to provide exactly this service.
I hope next time you'll think twice before submitting a site driven by a pointless flash app to/. Would it really have been so fucking hard to offer a box that says "what state are you in?"
You mean like how republicans are for smaller government and less meddling and dems are for bigger government and more meddling? How republicans are strong on security? Like the way shrub took us from a budget surplus into a deep-ass debt? The way he lied to the nation about the reason for draggin us into a war that has made the world a much more violent place? The way clinton kept the fed cranking dollars until it made the japanese bleed money, thereby reducing our foreign debt? The way we enjoyed more prosperity under democratic presidents for the last two decades than under any meddling republicans? The way reagan made it an almost holy crusade to drive "enforcement" into people's bedrooms? The way the present administration uses religion to tie the hands of science and commerce?
Those party lines?
Looks to me more like a giant ball of rubber bands.
That's my point; no place with IP laws will be writing open source. This is similar to why there are no U.S. based open source encryption projects. This hurts open source, because there are less people able to contribute to it.
Your "point" (for the last time) provably has no edge. The only chance you even had of making one - that regional IP laws harm open source - has now apparently been abandoned even by you. What you just said is not that "open source" is harmed (it provably is not) but that US commercial interests are harmed.
DUH, that's what I fucking said the last six posts now. The OSS projects go right along, all that is impaired is the opportunity (in the US, germany and a few other backward nations) to profit from these projects on an individual basis.
There is nothing at all to prevent me or you or anyone else from contributing to open source projects - encrypted or otherwise. I myself have contributed to encyption projects (and even written a newbie "howto encrypt your linux system to protect your privacy") and I've seen no MIB. I've also submitted quite a lot of code to an open source project that is widely employed in those "ez 123" dvd rippers, and I've seen no hollywood process servers. Decss doesn't need to be reinvented 1000 times over so there's little need to "contribute" there, but gpg and other projects still continue to evolve... and will, even without (shudder) US funding.
I really can't believe you're tryuing to make such a provably toothless argument. Even projects like asfrecorder linger long after their useful life has ended - not because they were "closed down" or "unprofitable" but simply because they no longer need to exist - they're obsolete.
Anyone who uses mandrake and has directed their computer to zarb.org can attest to the stupidity of your argument. Decss, gif tools, strong encryption - all that "unprofitable" and/or "illegal" stuff is available from servers located all over the world. Even (your example) bnetd is easily obtained from the very first link found under a google search. I guess the UK doesn't have "sane IP laws" - oh well... or maybe you just have an insane benchmark for what constitues "sane IP law."
Mandrake removes software that violates IP laws so that they don't get taken to court.
Uh huh. And it has provably harmed them, huh? Just like it has harmed Microsoft (who also doesn't include decss in their os). Of course, if you install mdk10 it takes about one minute online to be playing (and ripping) dvds - as opposed to the MS way, where you end up downloading several MB of (not free) software to do the same job. (or, ironically, download the same OSS software that is included with mdk10 and most other linux distros but will never be included in windows).
So you tell me, genius: who is harmed more by this? Looks pretty obvious to me the open source method comes out ahead in every way. Looks like there's something to all that "free with a big F" stuff, huh?
In a world where even child pornographers - an industry that is almost universally illegal - cannot be completely silenced (much less put out of business), your thesis is laughably absurd. It's pointless, as this entire discussion has become... ciao.
Mkay, so you opened the package... uh, did you actually look at any of the contents?
Since the Linux kernel does not support a binary driver interface, we provide for rebuilding these files on the target machine (or distribution) and then linking with the binary version of the NV kernel driver.
And yes, there are two packages: a display package and a sound/networking package.
Now, think about the other things involved that are patented, like MPEG. What if you had to download an illegal library for that to?
You mean like Suse? You have to install an assload of packages to get even basic multimedia support working properly in that distro - and even then it takes lots more tweaking to get it halfway as refined as (for example) mandrake.
So fucking what? There's other distros that include it all and don't care - because they're hosted and maintained in places that have sane IP laws. This is why domestic IP laws don't mean a fucking thing (here it comes again) UNLESS YOU ARE IN IT FOR PROFIT. Is it really your argument all OSS projects are "doomed" because they are not profitable? That regional "illegality" can shut down a project? You said this, but I still cannot believe anyone who knows his ass from an rpm would posit such a stupid thesis.
If you are an open source project, and violate someone's intellectual property, your project is pretty much finished.
Just like decss, huh? Hell, just like mandrake - sure seems to have fucked them in the ass. I know no one I introduce to mandrake ever wants to use it - they just mutter something about "getting sued by the MPAA" and walk away.
Yeah, that's it. No Mandrake users around this small American town... nosiree.
I think that's quite wrong. The nvidia driver package comes with object modules and enough source to link it into your kernel IF you have the kernel source installed on your machine. At least, that's the way it worked yesterday when I built the network and sound modules for mdk10.1 community on my shuttle mn31n.
Are the drivers for older ATi cards oss? I put together a machine from spare parts and it has an old Rage128 card that works like gangbusters in openGL. If this isn't open source then I would say the best truly open 3d performance will be had from an SiS based setup. I have an SiS7xx based motherboard that has served me well for about two years and it uses all open source parts. The driver doesn't install 3d support ootb in either suse or mdk, but they're available from the website of the fellow who maintains the driver packages for linux.
And for the record: the Sis based board worked damn near flawlessly from the moment of install. The MN31N doesn't even run mdk10 ootb (it crashes randomly and usually can't even complete the installer) but it kinda sorta works OK with suse91. - if you can tolerate all the other crap that's broken (like the entire gnome desktop) in Suse. Basically, I got this mbd because I got a good price and I wanted to try out the MCP-T sound support (which so far completely sucks, but that's another story) and because it has built in dualhead support. I managed to get things working ok with mdk10.1 community, but I don't believe I will ever buy another board that requires proprietary binary drivers in order to access all those wonderful "features." In so many ways, it just ain't worth the trouble.
Mkay, but I already mentioned "purchase" to which you pretty much said "I wasn't talking about purchase." So which is it? Were you talking about a purchase (in which case you are indeed doing business - ie you have entered the corporate world EXACTLY as I pointed out in the first rebuttal) or it's NOT a purchase, in which case it ain't nothing but a link.
So which is it? Do you even know what YOU were thinking?
I can't order mandrake that can play DVDs out of the box either - but it takes about sixty seconds to make it able to do so. This is the exact fucking point I made TWICE now... You REALLY don't pay attention, do you?
If it's not a store then a "one click option for download" is a fucking URL. No, I'm not twelve but these "points" you seem to be attempting sure have me convinced you are.
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I actually like gnome because it's simple and looks neater than kde in spite of the fact I really missed some of the features of kde when I made that switch full time. But I can't stand looking at kde all day and I think of it like this: it's easier to add the stuff I want to gnome than it is to make kde look good. The 2.6 version, now that it's starting to move toward the "open" methods of handling things like mimetypes, is nearing the point I miss none of those kde features.
What I find odd is how many people talk about all the apps written for kde. Konqueror is the absolute worse web browser I've ever used (yes, even worse than NS3 on 1996 vintage hardware - hit a webpage with a 2000 line form field and see how many days it takes to render), the download manager for kde is a dog that hasn't been touched in years (important if you're on a dialup or need to move tasks between machines), there's no irfan-like porn (er, image) viewer, the newsreader absolutely sucks for binaries - about the only things that have any real refinement besides kate and the slick eye candy shell are the dialer and the file browser. Between d4x, pan, Evolution (yes, I prefer Evolution, thanks) and Galeon, gnome has a dynamite "web" interface. Throw in gedit and gqview and you got a pretty nice desktop (so long as you don't need an office app). About the only thing I find lacking in gnome is that damned file browser. Gnome with a file browser like konq would rock.
Oh yeah... the irony. I find gnome running koffice apps is still faster and easier to use than gnome using the OOo apps that the gnome folks are trying to "integrate." I swear I don't get why OOo gets so much press... god that thing sucks.
I cannot believe yours is the only one I could find here that mentions these points. It seems like none of the others who responded even care about things like "freedom" and having an os "we" control instead of some corporation.
Windows: lots of hardware supported, operating system tightly controlled, licensing issues.
Mac: little hardware supported, operating system (the part that makes it "osx" and not just another bsd) tightly controlled, licensing issues.
Linux: lots of hardware supported, few licensing issues (none for end user), operating system does whatever you're willing to make it do.
Duh. Why the fuck would I move from a corporate OS to a free one, then move BACK to a corporate OS?
"If you were free to become a slave, would you choose that instead of working for a paycheck?"
Sadly, many would say "sure!"
Did you actually read the fucking bill? It sure didn't say "it must actually BE a movie theatre" under the section labeled "definitions." I'm amazed you would spend all that time writing something so easily disproven and so utterly wrong. You don't, perhaps, work for the whitehouse?
to drive electric blankets.
And toasters, and LEDs, and temp displays, and battery chargers, and...
(a) Offense- Whoever, without the authorization of the copyright owner, knowingly uses or attempts to use an audiovisual recording device in a motion picture theater to transmit or make a copy of a motion picture or other audiovisual work protected under title 17, or any part thereof, in a motion picture theater shall--
`(1) be imprisoned for not more than 3 years, fined under this title, or both; or
`(2) if the offense is a second or subsequent offense, be imprisoned for no more than 6 years, fined under this title, or both.
`(c) Authorized Activities- This section does not prevent any lawfully authorized investigative, protective, or intelligence activity by an officer, agent, or employee of the United States, a State, or a political subdivision of a State, or by a person acting pursuant to a contract with the United States, a State, or a political subdivision of a State.
Essentially, ANY presentation given by ANY entity (because "copyright is automatic") in the "theater" of a public meeting place that could arguably be called a "motion picture theater" would be protected. That would encompass a great many civic auditoriums, school auditoriums, gymnasiums, and town halls - and it means no political activists allowed! You cannot record this (open company meeting, presentation, play, debate or political party meeting) without our consent or we will send you to jail.
Have you met Mr. Orwell?
Open up an electric blanket controller and you're likely to find a PIC. These things come in an 8 pin package, have A/D, D/A and zero crossing functions (just stick a 10M resistor on the 120VAC line and stick it to one of the CMOS inputs) and they cost, in the sorts of quantities a Norelco would purchase them at, less than five bits (that's about 63 cents to you yanks).
Even if the 32 bit chips could be sold for 50 cents and packed into 8 pin TSOPS they still would face an uphill battle because the NRE has already been paid on the PIC driven parts.
The notion of cheap 32 bit chips usurping 8 bit parts has been thrown around more than a decade. In that decade, use of parts like the AVR and the PIC has risen, not fallen. From an engineering POV, trying to displace these simple to use harvard machines with "real" microprocessors like the ARM is like trying to replace jellybeans with chocolate bars.
Every commercial broadcaster spends a fortune preparing for a license. One of the first of these steps is deciding where to put the tower, then preparing a detailed map (one that takes into account geology, terrain mapping, buildings - everything) of their expected primary and secondary coverage areas. If your signal at 50MHz is overloading receiver front ends in the neighborhood to the point the primary coverage area for my FM station at 100MHz is being affected, it's you who will take the steps needed to correct the issue. Again, this is not "optional" or "a courtesy" - it's mandated in order for you to retain your license and/or avoid a nice fine.
All it takes is a tiny percentage of the folks in your neighborhood to complain about the problem (1% is just fine - basically that means just one of the neighbors on your block), and a visit by a qualified radio engineer to verify the cause. My partner and I spent many an evening driving around neighborhoods with a $10,000 spectrum analyzer crammed between us looking for just such infractions. You're welcome not to believe it - but just hope you never find out for yourself. The FCC isn't known for being lenient with fines.
I'm tempoted to just ignore you as the politics in this thread make it obvious no opinions critical of "the martyr' are going to survive moderation, but I'll answer just this one anyway.
Look up the FCC guidelines. Stations are required by the FCC to act in a way that "serves the interests of the community."
Period
It's very rare for a station to be denied renewal, but it does happen. and for the most part it's rare because so few bother to actually write the FCC with legitimate affidavits regarding the operation of their local stations being "not in the public good." But networks go further beyond that - they don't live in just one community - they live everywhere an affiliate exists. This changes the scope of enforcement.
"Rich enough to cough up money for programming not in the public interest?" You mean the way Electric Blue and Spice aren't "free?" How about HBO or Cinemax? Showtime?
Stern's no martyr. He's just doing exactly what you said: following the money. He sucks, he knows he sucks, he knows his days are limited unless he can continue to draw controversy. Time passes, controversy fades along with howard's ratings. He's moving to satellite because he knows it's a fat paycheck whether he can pull in the ratings or not - after all, the whole point of satellite radio is to cater to "niche audiences" that would otherwise be unprofitable. He'll draw in a few thousand more subscribers, get aboost from the publicity and hype surrounding the move, then fade away into the oblivion of a thousand channels of garbage. Howard knows he's getting old, he can't keep up making the same three "jokes" forever, so he's retiring to a desk job - away from the fire, far behind the trenches.
Some martyr.
Stern has zero redeeming value. Period. You would be very hard pressed to find anyone who could argue shit like making fun of midgets and discussing breast implants with the intellect of a ten year old has "socially redeming value" - and I'll include Larry fucking Flynt in that group.
These "shock jocks" (or whatever the fuck they like to call themselves) are complaining about "not knowing where the line is" simply because they have chosen to push it. It's not like we never had the fucking lines - they've been there all along. What it comes down to is them losing sight of that line... when they crossed it long ago.
I think it's absurd the clamor that came about because of Janet Jackson, and I think having arbritrary rules against certain words only serves to empower those words - it's a stupid benchmark of obscenity. But holding Howard Stern up as some sort of martyr to free speech is equally god-damned insane.
Stern sucks. Detroit's seen all these guys come and go and, so far as I recall, the only one that didn't completely suck was Steve Dahl. Steve liked to cause trouble and he managed to be funny without sounding like one of those retards I couldn't stand even back in Jr. High. Even after he left Detroit he was one of the first to do the syndication thing, beaming in from the LUP in Chicago. He and Buzz Kilman have it all over anything Stern has done (and done, and done, and done again) in the two decades since.
Actually, I "stepped up" for a first class license many years ago. And, while I've not used it in a long time my name IS on a few station logs and, as I recall, that "part 15" device may take a back seat to your "part 97" device but if YOUR "part 97 device" is blanketing a neighborhood and interfering with reception within my broadcast station's fully licensed coverage area, it's gonna be you who steps up to fix the problem - this is not an "option" or a "courtesy" - it's the law. If that means installing traps for everyone in the neighborhood, so be it. If it means limiting your hours of operation or abstaining operation on certain bands... guess who loses? It's not the guy who spent all the money getting a station on the air.
Interesting point I'll remember to look into this weekend...
SiS 7xx chipset: video works fine, hauppauge tuner does NOT work properly with ANY of the included TV apps. TVtime (the best, IMO) is so unstable as to be useless - frequent lockups, dropped frames, etc. Seems this release must have a very old version, because most of the issues on the support page along these lines were supposed to have been cleared up long ago. KDTV works sorta, but it lacks many features the newer version has. Forget about Xaw - it's just a black screen, as is zapping (gnome TV).
Nautilus works ok as Gnome 2.4 goes. Occasional lockups and generally flaky behavior prevented me from even keeping with the setup long enough to see if (for example) CD burning works. DMA is not enabled by default on my DVD drive, so even when I manage to get the (very poorly supported) multimedia apps to work the video is very choppy. On the upside, YAST makes it very easy to enable this setting and it is remembered (much better than mandrake 10).
When I went to an MN31N motherboard (Nvidia with MCP-T chipset) I could not even get Mandrake 10 to install. I even tried the "safe" methods and it still would lock up. Suse installed great here and generally seemed much more stable than with the SiS chipset and I was actually excited because I had been wanting to give Suse a better shot. It installed the "good" drivers OOTB and I had great 3D performance. Unfortunately, video overlays did not work properly at all (it looks like an inability to properly deal with the YUY colorspace) in Gnome. I know this is a Gnome only issue, as things work like gangbusters in KDE. Unfortunately, no matter how nice I can dress KDE up (and I used to use it all the time) kde still looks like kde and after a while of looking at all those scrunched up icons I begin to feel claustrophobic (not to mention it is SO EASY to do things in Gnome - like dragging files to the "burn:///" folder and pressing "write contents to CD") I just really find kde way overdone after a little while of using it.
Anyway, Mandrake 10.1 installed on my system (with the nvidia chipset) just fine, but the "community" doesn't install the "high end" drivers (and thus far I've been unable to get the video drivers from Nvidia's website to compile, much less install). I'm hoping the full version of mdk 10.1 will address my needs completely.. I've generally just given up on Suse.
I really don't use 3D that much, my whole reason (believe it or not) for making the move to an nvidia chipset is because mandrake doesn't do GL 3D with my SiS motherboard and I wanted to run a windows emulator so I could play America McGee's Alice. I wanted to like Suse because it has dynamite binary support (Gnome 2.8, Ximian, Codeweavers etc can all be had in premade RPMs) but I just don't find it to have the polish for the home user. I can install Mandrake and be up and running with full multimedia support in just a few minutes - Suse requires an order of magnitude more support in the form of packages that need to be installed and even then it's just not as cohesive (thumbnails don't render reliably in Nautilus, media apps crash unexpectedly, etc). Suse has SCADS more business software OOTB than Mandrake - nice CAD package, vector graphics, etc - but it's moot on my home desktop if it takes an hour (on top of the 90 minute install time) monkeying around with RPMs just to get the thing where one is able to enjoy a fucking DVD. Suse might have what business needs, but IME it sure doesn't have what most home users need. I'm not saying "it sucks" I'm just saying it really doesn't meet my needs.
More than that, 'tho, I'm wondering why Novell bought these projects, because they sure don't seem to be using the desktop stuff. What about mono support? It's barely mentioned. Ximian? Only mentioned so far as the corporate email crap. What about all the other cool stuff that was part of these projects? Since they were assimilated we just don't hear about these "features" at all.
Mmm.. that's quite a stretch of the rules. If you are a professionally licensed broadcaster and I complain that your signal is blanketing my reception, and I am in close vicinity to you, you damn well better do something about it. Keep in mind this is a rule regulating licensed broadcast operators - you really think your "part 97" device is going to be exempt from such regulations?
But do they have any authority over what happens to signals after they have ceased to be freely radiating RF?
Doesn't matter at all. because the FCC DOES have the right to say "you shall make all receiving devices compatible with this (broadcast flag) device..."
This ain't new, and I'm surprised the EFF thinks it has even a slim chance with such a play. Apparently no one at the EFF has read their history books:
The problem was that UHF stations would not be successful unless people had UHF tuners, and people would not voluntarily pay for UHF tuners unless there were UHF broadcasters. Of the 165 UHF stations that went on the air between 1952 and 1959, 55% went off the air. Of the UHF stations on the air, 75% were losing money. UHF's problems were the following:(1) technical inequality of UHF stations as compared with VHF stations; (2) intermixture of UHF and VHF stations in the same market and the millions of VHF only receivers; (3) the lack of confidence in the capabilities of and the need for UHF television. Suggestions of de-intermixture (making some cities VHF only and other cities UHF only) were not adopted, because most existing sets did not have UHF capability. Ultimately the FCC required all TV sets to have UHF tuners. However over four decades later, UHF is still considered inferior to VHF, despite cable television, and ratings on VHF channels are generally higher than on UHF channels.
The allocation between VHF and UHF in the 1950s, and the lack of UHF tuners is entirely analogous to the dilemma facing digital television of high definition television fifty years later.
Even fifty years ago the FCC had the power to (and did) regulate receiving devices. They mandated all sets sold with something larger than (I believe) a 13" screen MUST have both VHF an UHF tuners... and it stood, and it worked... just as this latest move will.
Suse shows no signs of moving toward a Gnome desktop. About the best gnome users can hope for at this point is more support for open desktop - which might, in itself, be a very good thing.
Suse might have it in the corporate world, but for my own personal use (and most of my friends) I've still found nothing better than Mandrake. After using 10.1 for a few weeks, I'm now more convinced of this than ever.
Considering that most shows about entertainment are simply ADVERTISEMENTS for movies and music, why is it so unimaginable that they should support such programming? It's inevitable, even if the hotown suits won't yet concede this fact. What needs to be done is simply for someone to make the effort to produce enough "free" content to build an audience.
Since we're talking about geeky stuff atm, it doesn't seem to me so unimaginable at all. I regularly get announcements in my mailbox from (for example) National semiconductor, who have now started producing programs featuring Bob Pease, a well known engineer and curmudgeon - a "personality." What about making some video features linux advocates could share with others? Features like "how to install mandrake on your pc" and "how to produce video" and "how to program in python." There are companies making a living producing this content for sale, so there's obviously an audience. it would be trivially easy to tie these type features in with product placements, which means it should be fairly easy to attract sponsorship dollars once a few shows have proven their merit via torrential "ratings" - which should also be fairly easy to produce with the proper oss infrastructure, given at least one company presently gets paid big bucks by mainstream hollywood to provide exactly this service.
I hope next time you'll think twice before submitting a site driven by a pointless flash app to /. Would it really have been so fucking hard to offer a box that says "what state are you in?"
You mean like how republicans are for smaller government and less meddling and dems are for bigger government and more meddling? How republicans are strong on security? Like the way shrub took us from a budget surplus into a deep-ass debt? The way he lied to the nation about the reason for draggin us into a war that has made the world a much more violent place? The way clinton kept the fed cranking dollars until it made the japanese bleed money, thereby reducing our foreign debt? The way we enjoyed more prosperity under democratic presidents for the last two decades than under any meddling republicans? The way reagan made it an almost holy crusade to drive "enforcement" into people's bedrooms? The way the present administration uses religion to tie the hands of science and commerce?
Those party lines?
Looks to me more like a giant ball of rubber bands.
Your "point" (for the last time) provably has no edge. The only chance you even had of making one - that regional IP laws harm open source - has now apparently been abandoned even by you. What you just said is not that "open source" is harmed (it provably is not) but that US commercial interests are harmed.
DUH, that's what I fucking said the last six posts now. The OSS projects go right along, all that is impaired is the opportunity (in the US, germany and a few other backward nations) to profit from these projects on an individual basis.
There is nothing at all to prevent me or you or anyone else from contributing to open source projects - encrypted or otherwise. I myself have contributed to encyption projects (and even written a newbie "howto encrypt your linux system to protect your privacy") and I've seen no MIB. I've also submitted quite a lot of code to an open source project that is widely employed in those "ez 123" dvd rippers, and I've seen no hollywood process servers. Decss doesn't need to be reinvented 1000 times over so there's little need to "contribute" there, but gpg and other projects still continue to evolve... and will, even without (shudder) US funding.
I really can't believe you're tryuing to make such a provably toothless argument. Even projects like asfrecorder linger long after their useful life has ended - not because they were "closed down" or "unprofitable" but simply because they no longer need to exist - they're obsolete.
Anyone who uses mandrake and has directed their computer to zarb.org can attest to the stupidity of your argument. Decss, gif tools, strong encryption - all that "unprofitable" and/or "illegal" stuff is available from servers located all over the world. Even (your example) bnetd is easily obtained from the very first link found under a google search. I guess the UK doesn't have "sane IP laws" - oh well... or maybe you just have an insane benchmark for what constitues "sane IP law."
Mandrake removes software that violates IP laws so that they don't get taken to court.
Uh huh. And it has provably harmed them, huh? Just like it has harmed Microsoft (who also doesn't include decss in their os). Of course, if you install mdk10 it takes about one minute online to be playing (and ripping) dvds - as opposed to the MS way, where you end up downloading several MB of (not free) software to do the same job. (or, ironically, download the same OSS software that is included with mdk10 and most other linux distros but will never be included in windows).
So you tell me, genius: who is harmed more by this? Looks pretty obvious to me the open source method comes out ahead in every way. Looks like there's something to all that "free with a big F" stuff, huh?
In a world where even child pornographers - an industry that is almost universally illegal - cannot be completely silenced (much less put out of business), your thesis is laughably absurd. It's pointless, as this entire discussion has become... ciao.
Since the Linux kernel does not support a binary driver interface, we provide for rebuilding these files on the target machine (or distribution) and then linking with the binary version of the NV kernel driver.
And yes, there are two packages: a display package and a sound/networking package.
Both contain proprietary, closed source modules.
You mean like Suse? You have to install an assload of packages to get even basic multimedia support working properly in that distro - and even then it takes lots more tweaking to get it halfway as refined as (for example) mandrake.
So fucking what? There's other distros that include it all and don't care - because they're hosted and maintained in places that have sane IP laws. This is why domestic IP laws don't mean a fucking thing (here it comes again) UNLESS YOU ARE IN IT FOR PROFIT. Is it really your argument all OSS projects are "doomed" because they are not profitable? That regional "illegality" can shut down a project? You said this, but I still cannot believe anyone who knows his ass from an rpm would posit such a stupid thesis.
If you are an open source project, and violate someone's intellectual property, your project is pretty much finished.
Just like decss, huh? Hell, just like mandrake - sure seems to have fucked them in the ass. I know no one I introduce to mandrake ever wants to use it - they just mutter something about "getting sued by the MPAA" and walk away.
Yeah, that's it. No Mandrake users around this small American town... nosiree.
Are the drivers for older ATi cards oss? I put together a machine from spare parts and it has an old Rage128 card that works like gangbusters in openGL. If this isn't open source then I would say the best truly open 3d performance will be had from an SiS based setup. I have an SiS7xx based motherboard that has served me well for about two years and it uses all open source parts. The driver doesn't install 3d support ootb in either suse or mdk, but they're available from the website of the fellow who maintains the driver packages for linux.
And for the record: the Sis based board worked damn near flawlessly from the moment of install. The MN31N doesn't even run mdk10 ootb (it crashes randomly and usually can't even complete the installer) but it kinda sorta works OK with suse91. - if you can tolerate all the other crap that's broken (like the entire gnome desktop) in Suse. Basically, I got this mbd because I got a good price and I wanted to try out the MCP-T sound support (which so far completely sucks, but that's another story) and because it has built in dualhead support. I managed to get things working ok with mdk10.1 community, but I don't believe I will ever buy another board that requires proprietary binary drivers in order to access all those wonderful "features." In so many ways, it just ain't worth the trouble.
So which is it? Do you even know what YOU were thinking?
I can't order mandrake that can play DVDs out of the box either - but it takes about sixty seconds to make it able to do so. This is the exact fucking point I made TWICE now... You REALLY don't pay attention, do you?
If it's not a store then a "one click option for download" is a fucking URL. No, I'm not twelve but these "points" you seem to be attempting sure have me convinced you are.