I think Suse is still very good because of Yast. Same for Mandrake, excellent tools.
RedHat/Fedora does not reach for the desktop market. Ubuntu does, it has good default configurations, very polished.
What is needed is more consolidation. Distributions are still to backend diverse. System configuration etc. should be made easier. I would like to see a kind of Yast everywhere approach.
The European Union currently conduct a consultation on rfid. I really would like to know what the role of governments should be. Governments are lobbied like hell on rfid. Some civil rights groups call them spychips. And lobbyists approach governments. And the question is why? Shouldn't markets decide?
Other intresting consultation links can be found here and here. It is important to get more people involved in these political procedures and legislature who actually know what they are talking about. And I would like to spam politicians with the request for 'better interoperability'. Here the regulator has to take measures. I found it very nice that the EU already considered it. "Interoperability, standardization, governance, and Intellectual Property Rights (1 June)"
So maybe it makes sense to report cases like these to the authorities to avoid madness. I guess they do not read Slashdot.
"States from Connecticut to California have tried to step in with enough funding to keep the labs going and slow the exodus of U.S. talent to countries like Singapore, Britain and Taiwan."
Are there so many American researchers? Usually US research means 80% foreigners. Nobody knows whether stem cell research will lead to results. Nations like Singapore and Taiwan are industry whores. They do it because business wants it and does not care about ethics.
It is important to have a critical view of new technology. Be it RFID, DRM or stem cells. Nations from asia are often technoradical. Mao cooked steel in villages... Some of them had success. Many asian politicians are engineers.
I am technoliberal. We have to care about civil liberties and push technology forward. Technology a means to a more prosperous life in an open society. It could well be the other way around. Western values have to be defended against these nations. Trade sanctions are an option.
The intresting aspect is that rocket attacks are a kind of symbolic warfare, psycho-war. Of course people are dying but those attacks on Israel fulfill no real military purpose. And Israel responds with classical warfare which then solidarises Lebanese citizens with the attackers... and so on.
Oh well.
It seems like the problem is asymmetric warfare and we are clueless what to do and how to win it. The fact is that an army is useless when your nation gets attacked by those combattants. Is it possible to win against partisans and guerrilla warfare? Don't think so.
"In 2004, Microsoft registered Segoe and Segoe Italic as original font designs with the European Union trademark and design office. Linotype protested, and in February 2006, the EU withdrew Microsoft's registration. In its submission to the EU, Microsoft tried to claim that Linotype had failed to prove that it had been selling Frutiger and Frutiger Next prior to 2004. The EU rejected these claims. It should be noted that the EU looks at type specimens at 16 point size, in which many of the subtle differences of similar fonts are not noticeable."
Not at the "EU" but at the community trademark office in spain. Have a look at the original case documents.
Hype? I never heard of E3 before. E3 as an shortcut of EEE whatever that stands for?
And I don't know ESA. Ehmm, wrong. European Space Agency == ESA. And Microsoft created the European Software Alliance (ESA) in order to look more European in lobbying, yet another hat for consultations.
So it is rather surprising to me. 'The End of E3', sorry. Does it make a difference? Will I have to miss E3 I just learned about? Will my children ask me about the good old days of E3?
Why don't you write to the EU. Nothing against informed slashposts.... Nothing against the DRM article. But regularly the EU consults citizens and lobbyists, also on DRM (see also another intresting consultation). And who will participate? Only few lobbyists while the users discuss with each other on public news sites.
No wonder legislature looks bad. You do not need to explain the details of what is going wrong. The core issue is to improve legislature and shift power back to the users.
Digital Rights Management systems (DRMs) involve technologies that identify and describe digital content protected by intellectual property rights. While DRMs are essentially technologies which provide for the management of rights and payments, they also help to prevent unauthorised use.
25. Do you use Digital Rights Management systems (DRMs) or intend to do so? If you do not use any, why not? Do you consider DRMs an appropriate means to manage and secure the distribution of copyrighted material in the online environment?
26. Do you have access to robust DRM systems providing what you consider to be an appropriate level of protection? If not, what is the reason for that? What are the consequences for you of not having access to a robust DRM system?
27. In the sector and in the country or countries you operate in, are DRMs widely used? Are these systems sufficiently transparent to creators and consumers? Are the systems used user-friendly?
28. Do you use copy protection measures? To what extent is such copy protection accepted by others in the sector and in the country or countries you operate in?
29. Are there any other issues concerning DRMs you would like to raise, such as governance, trust models and compliance, interoperability?
I see. It seems to be the difference of true public spaces (under the rule of public order) and private spaces which look like public spaces at first sight.
E.g. you can protest on the street but may not do it in a shopping mall. Okay, some persons like Le Richard and his crazy Frenchmen do.
So, is it illegal in the United States and in Canada to photograph police officers? If they arrest you there must be a formal reason.
My uncle did a cross-atlantic flight to New York and then made tourist photographs. He was surprised that citizens went angry on him because he photographed at a bus station. Security madness....
In fact voice recognition would be a great playground for non-profit open source software projects.
Voice recognition means permanent beta. Voice recognition only slightly improved during the last ten years. One reason is that the VR market it a trivial patent minefield. The rest is just performance.
Sure, we will get proper voice recognition some day. I would source it out to open source and integrate it back into my products once it will be ready.
You forget that most acts of surveillance are on proper legal grounds. Data protection laws one the one side, surveillance regulation on the other.
There are many interests involved and you as a stakeholder were unable to make your voice heard. It has a lot to do with access to political decision making and strength of interest groups.
However, there are so many opportunities. Act when regulation is prepared, and don't complain when regulation is applied. Why don't you spent your time writing about upcoming regulation rather than current rule of law.
I think the whole sphere of politics and regulation needs more coverage. There are many opportunities to raise your voice in lobbying, consultations etc.
You cannot rescue the world alone but like an steering and hacking an Open Source Project you can adopt a special issue such as rfid, compile information ressources with a wiki, compile arguments and expertise. And then: Don't talk with your friends, talk to decision makers, politicians and the like.
"But if they need to test it against their internal systems, a download or the CD is required."
Probably they think of Wine compatibility....
"need to test it against their internal systems" sounds as if there was an operating system problem or a problem with your machine, provided it does not run the app beta.
I guess providers of alternative operating systems such as Reactos or users of compatibility layers such as Wine are addressed here. Or users or producers of special braille devices and other addons etc.
Windows works on all new Intel PCs which are shipped with windows. Of course drivers are needed but they are shipped by your hardware vendor, no problem. And if hardware does not work you will regard it as a problem of your hardware vendor, not of Microsoft.
Microsoft has the support hell. Users expect to run almost everything. Windows has to provide interfaces for third party drivers, most of them as always poorly written and a usability hell.
sorry, I am a supporter of open networks. I think the freifunk olsr-protocol approach of open wireless networks is best. We don't need internet providers and we don't need internet provider which leak our communication data to the governments and endanger the freedom of the net. The net should be a net and wireless technology is great for the creation of a real P2P internet.
I cannot support any action against people who use your network. It is against my understanding of hacker ethics. When you don't like it then close your network. But no childish games please.
I may even say that I find it unethical to exclude your neighbours from using your network but I respect your opinions. When your network is open it means: Be free to use it. Not: You can use it but I will fuck up or intercept your communication.
You know, my post was modded down, for Apple fans it is perhaps a flamebait.
But Apple is a Hardware plattform with an operating system. Very good and high quality.
Apple has not to solve the shit Microsoft faces. Its operating system does not have to run everywhere and interoperate with Crap Associated hardware solutions provider and its driver programming hell department.
We expect Windows to work with any hardware and Linux to get to the same point. Difference: Linux should support it without external driver components, out of the box.
Apple has a limited plattform. They even had some safeguards that you do not tinker and use other hardware. They don't want you to run your copy of Tiger on Intel PCs.
This is proprietary+.
The IBM PC was the "open" plattform in the 80th. The PC survived, good for Intel and Microsoft. Microsoft does not force you to use a Microsoft mouse. Microsoft does not sell real computers.
Linux could do the same. Imagine a distribution, lets call it IBMUX which works on IBM PCs only and works on any IBM PC. Regressions are made, hardware from IBM PCs will be supported. When you take a Dell, you will get into trouble. It is no big deal to optimze your operating system for a limited set of hardware. Then you can fully concentrate on user experience. IBM PCs are probably no big deal. Hardware support is always a matter of time.
These flaws are abused by malware solution providers.
Malware is combatted by anti-malware solution providers.
Conclusion: The whole business model is build on MS's security holes.
> Hell their OS is the REASON these other companies exist, and now Microsoft gets to profit from thier own security holes?
In fact it sounds fishy when the same company responsible for the holes provides solutions for anti-malware. It is like snakes in colonial India. It creates an incentive to keep the security holes.
Holes plus antivirus in the hands of Microsoft: It is like a emergency service run by by funeral company.
"Ship of Fools",
Sebastian Brandt, Das Narrenschyff, Basel: de Olpe,1494
featuring caricatures of Albrecht Dürer.
one of the most popular early books printed after Gutemberg invented printed.
Slashdot Mirror
I think Suse is still very good because of Yast. Same for Mandrake, excellent tools.
RedHat/Fedora does not reach for the desktop market. Ubuntu does, it has good default configurations, very polished.
What is needed is more consolidation. Distributions are still to backend diverse. System configuration etc. should be made easier. I would like to see a kind of Yast everywhere approach.
It is so sad that they do not support the YaSt2Debian port. YaSt is real fun.
The European Union currently conduct a consultation on rfid. I really would like to know what the role of governments should be. Governments are lobbied like hell on rfid. Some civil rights groups call them spychips. And lobbyists approach governments. And the question is why? Shouldn't markets decide?
Anyway, I suggest you to fill out the questionaire.
Other intresting consultation links can be found here and here. It is important to get more people involved in these political procedures and legislature who actually know what they are talking about. And I would like to spam politicians with the request for 'better interoperability'. Here the regulator has to take measures. I found it very nice that the EU already considered it. "Interoperability, standardization, governance, and Intellectual Property Rights (1 June)"
So maybe it makes sense to report cases like these to the authorities to avoid madness. I guess they do not read Slashdot.
Stalin meets Mein Fuhrer... and remakes of historical films. Resurrections of dead actors. New chaplin movies.
Now add to that virtual enriched realities.
Could be real fun. I have a vision of young fellows marching to Verdun with gaming sports equipment in their hands.
Or watch Jesus live.
"States from Connecticut to California have tried to step in with enough funding to keep the labs going and slow the exodus of U.S. talent to countries like Singapore, Britain and Taiwan."
Are there so many American researchers? Usually US research means 80% foreigners. Nobody knows whether stem cell research will lead to results. Nations like Singapore and Taiwan are industry whores. They do it because business wants it and does not care about ethics.
It is important to have a critical view of new technology. Be it RFID, DRM or stem cells. Nations from asia are often technoradical. Mao cooked steel in villages... Some of them had success. Many asian politicians are engineers.
I am technoliberal. We have to care about civil liberties and push technology forward. Technology a means to a more prosperous life in an open society. It could well be the other way around. Western values have to be defended against these nations. Trade sanctions are an option.
The intresting aspect is that rocket attacks are a kind of symbolic warfare, psycho-war. Of course people are dying but those attacks on Israel fulfill no real military purpose. And Israel responds with classical warfare which then solidarises Lebanese citizens with the attackers... and so on.
Oh well.
It seems like the problem is asymmetric warfare and we are clueless what to do and how to win it. The fact is that an army is useless when your nation gets attacked by those combattants.
Is it possible to win against partisans and guerrilla warfare? Don't think so.
Intrestingly the wikipedia article is not correct
"In 2004, Microsoft registered Segoe and Segoe Italic as original font designs with the European Union trademark and design office. Linotype protested, and in February 2006, the EU withdrew Microsoft's registration. In its submission to the EU, Microsoft tried to claim that Linotype had failed to prove that it had been selling Frutiger and Frutiger Next prior to 2004. The EU rejected these claims. It should be noted that the EU looks at type specimens at 16 point size, in which many of the subtle differences of similar fonts are not noticeable."
Not at the "EU" but at the community trademark office in spain. Have a look at the original case documents.
Hype? I never heard of E3 before. E3 as an shortcut of EEE whatever that stands for?
And I don't know ESA. Ehmm, wrong. European Space Agency == ESA. And Microsoft created the European Software Alliance (ESA) in order to look more European in lobbying, yet another hat for consultations.
So it is rather surprising to me. 'The End of E3', sorry. Does it make a difference? Will I have to miss E3 I just learned about? Will my children ask me about the good old days of E3?
No wonder legislature looks bad. You do not need to explain the details of what is going wrong. The core issue is to improve legislature and shift power back to the users.
Now, the questionaire of the content consultation also covers DRM.
Here is the questionaire
I see. It seems to be the difference of true public spaces (under the rule of public order) and private spaces which look like public spaces at first sight. E.g. you can protest on the street but may not do it in a shopping mall. Okay, some persons like Le Richard and his crazy Frenchmen do.
So, is it illegal in the United States and in Canada to photograph police officers? If they arrest you there must be a formal reason.
My uncle did a cross-atlantic flight to New York and then made tourist photographs. He was surprised that citizens went angry on him because he photographed at a bus station. Security madness....
In fact voice recognition would be a great playground for non-profit open source software projects.
Voice recognition means permanent beta. Voice recognition only slightly improved during the last ten years. One reason is that the VR market it a trivial patent minefield. The rest is just performance.
Sure, we will get proper voice recognition some day. I would source it out to open source and integrate it back into my products once it will be ready.
You forget that most acts of surveillance are on proper legal grounds. Data protection laws one the one side, surveillance regulation on the other.
There are many interests involved and you as a stakeholder were unable to make your voice heard. It has a lot to do with access to political decision making and strength of interest groups.
However, there are so many opportunities. Act when regulation is prepared, and don't complain when regulation is applied. Why don't you spent your time writing about upcoming regulation rather than current rule of law.
Think of this here:
Commission Communication on the Review of the EU Regulatory Framework for electronic communications networks and services and launch of public consultation
Quite intresting. Good and high quality input could make a difference.
I think the whole sphere of politics and regulation needs more coverage. There are many opportunities to raise your voice in lobbying, consultations etc.
You cannot rescue the world alone but like an steering and hacking an Open Source Project you can adopt a special issue such as rfid, compile information ressources with a wiki, compile arguments and expertise. And then: Don't talk with your friends, talk to decision makers, politicians and the like.
By the way:
* RFID consultation
* Your Voice in Europe - EU consultations
* Edri.org - a civil rights organisation
"But if they need to test it against their internal systems, a download or the CD is required."
Probably they think of Wine compatibility....
"need to test it against their internal systems" sounds as if there was an operating system problem or a problem with your machine, provided it does not run the app beta.
I guess providers of alternative operating systems such as Reactos or users of compatibility layers such as Wine are addressed here. Or users or producers of special braille devices and other addons etc.
Charging for bug hunting. Not bad. Microsoft sells hunting permissions. A business idea for the future.
Now,
when you do not secure your wi-fi network everyone can use it. Some operating systeme even make automatic connections I am told.
There is no such thing as "stealing a connection" . When you sing in the garden everyone on the street can listen.
I do not tell you what to do. You may secure your network but if its configured open then act according to it or close the doors.
You know, Ballmer denies problems and spreads stupid propaganda. The Stalingrad method of empires, a clear sign of fading market trust.
He does not really talk about business or technology visions.
His new vision is to challenge iPod by a low cost player that is pushed into the market.
He buys new market shares by selling unprofitable products.
No new cash cow. And the power of the old cows is fading. I expect KDE4 to be more intresting than VISTA.
Windows works on all new Intel PCs which are shipped with windows. Of course drivers are needed but they are shipped by your hardware vendor, no problem. And if hardware does not work you will regard it as a problem of your hardware vendor, not of Microsoft.
Microsoft has the support hell. Users expect to run almost everything. Windows has to provide interfaces for third party drivers, most of them as always poorly written and a usability hell.
Hmm, Rosegarden? Lmms?
sorry, I am a supporter of open networks. I think the freifunk olsr-protocol approach of open wireless networks is best. We don't need internet providers and we don't need internet provider which leak our communication data to the governments and endanger the freedom of the net. The net should be a net and wireless technology is great for the creation of a real P2P internet.
I cannot support any action against people who use your network. It is against my understanding of hacker ethics. When you don't like it then close your network. But no childish games please.
I may even say that I find it unethical to exclude your neighbours from using your network but I respect your opinions. When your network is open it means: Be free to use it. Not: You can use it but I will fuck up or intercept your communication.
You know, my post was modded down, for Apple fans it is perhaps a flamebait. But Apple is a Hardware plattform with an operating system. Very good and high quality. Apple has not to solve the shit Microsoft faces. Its operating system does not have to run everywhere and interoperate with Crap Associated hardware solutions provider and its driver programming hell department. We expect Windows to work with any hardware and Linux to get to the same point. Difference: Linux should support it without external driver components, out of the box. Apple has a limited plattform. They even had some safeguards that you do not tinker and use other hardware. They don't want you to run your copy of Tiger on Intel PCs. This is proprietary+. The IBM PC was the "open" plattform in the 80th. The PC survived, good for Intel and Microsoft. Microsoft does not force you to use a Microsoft mouse. Microsoft does not sell real computers. Linux could do the same. Imagine a distribution, lets call it IBMUX which works on IBM PCs only and works on any IBM PC. Regressions are made, hardware from IBM PCs will be supported. When you take a Dell, you will get into trouble. It is no big deal to optimze your operating system for a limited set of hardware. Then you can fully concentrate on user experience. IBM PCs are probably no big deal. Hardware support is always a matter of time.
In fact it is not about
suspected == crime
It was about low level enforcement action against suspected offenders. Probably nothing wrong with it.
IPRED2 is not about copyright infringement.
It is about all infringements of an intellectual property right.... under certain weak conditions. Madness because infringement != crime.
The missing link is anti-piracy action which results in strange applications of criminal law.
Now, the problem is:
MS's software has security flaws.
These flaws are abused by malware solution providers.
Malware is combatted by anti-malware solution providers.
Conclusion: The whole business model is build on MS's security holes.
> Hell their OS is the REASON these other companies exist, and now Microsoft gets to profit from thier own security holes?
In fact it sounds fishy when the same company responsible for the holes provides solutions for anti-malware. It is like snakes in colonial India. It creates an incentive to keep the security holes.
Holes plus antivirus in the hands of Microsoft: It is like a emergency service run by by funeral company.
"Ship of Fools", Sebastian Brandt, Das Narrenschyff, Basel: de Olpe,1494 featuring caricatures of Albrecht Dürer. one of the most popular early books printed after Gutemberg invented printed.