Why is IBM so pro Linux over the last few years? I'm not going conspiracy with this, I'm just curious what their motive is. I mean, excuse me for not tossing full faith into trusty `ol "Big Blue", but for some reason every time IBM chants the virtues of Linux I cringe slightly. My guts just twist like a compass pointing due south. I don't think anybody on/. is naive enough to think IBM supports Linux for the same reasons most folks here do, but their exact motive remains a mystery to me. The question isn't so much what they gain but what Microsoft (or whomever they view as their direct competitor) loses. While there is no doubt IBM is a good friend to have, it's a friend I look to with a forced smile.
From TFA:
Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith issued the following response Thursday: "Amazon.com remains confident in the validity of its 1-Click patent, which enables customers to shop conveniently without having to enter their shipping and billing information each time they purchase. We look forward to working with the examiners in the Patent and Trademark Office, and we welcome the opportunity to revalidate what we believe is an important innovation in e-commerce."
Who couldn't think of this stuff? There is no innovation in it all. While the current patent foolishness is problematic I think it will sort itself out in the end, because there are competitive business interests (read money) fighting over various positions on patents. Copyrights seem to be a far more dangerous issue to liberty focused individuals (read geeks) because all the cards seem stacked into the hands of the major copyright holders. The people never seem to get a fair shake anymore unless their interests coincide with that of a large corporate block.
Because when microsoft is gone we are going to miss such a big target. We're in the ending days of the OS cold war and and it looks like the open source ideals will be the ones to topple the microsoft monopoly. After that is done, the competition will become more diverse and obscure. With out such a great target to aim at open source might lose some of the zest it has now.
I suppose the best thing would be to see microsoft lose a sizable portion of it's user base and become more dynamic in its products and increase industry inovation over all.
What advantage do they get by lying about the license of their module? Doesn't it just load normally regardless of the license? If it didn't give them some advantage why would they lie about it?
Pharmaceuticals have been the most profitable sector for a long time. In 2002 the industry had 18.5% profits, while the fortune 500 averaged around 3% Also notice that while R&D costs for the industry are very high, they spend more on marketing than R&D
Actually, pharmaceutical companies make very little money from cures and virtually none from vaccines. Cures just aren't good business in the world of big money pharmaceuticals, once someone is "cured" they no longer need your product. They much prefer continually needed drugs for conditions like indigestion, depression, contraception, schizophrenia and high cholesterol, to name a few.
Vaccines receive less attention than cures because vaccine development is exceptionally long and costly with virtually no chance of even breaking even. When was the last time you heard of a world changing vaccine?
I think it's time for the people of the United States to band together, chip in, and buy ourselves a politician or two. Maybe with a bit left over we can even get a couple of lobbyists.
It's been so long since I've played TF. Those were some good days. I spent a summer basicly attached to my computer playing TF. TF had a magic no game I've played since has matched. What I remember most is how the level of skill increased from the begining. When I first started playing most servers switched between two maps, 2fort4 and the Rock. As time went on all the techniques got so hashed out. I remember that one of the things that seperated a good player from the great was RJing from the water on 2forts.
I liked to play medic. In the begining I would run (wall slide) every where. But as time progressed so many new tricks where learned. When I would spawn, I'd run up the stairs and prime a hand grenade or conc and jump from the one base all the across to the sniper deck on the other side and waste the snipers with the nail gun or hack em with the medic axe. It was cool to see the evolution of game.
Then sadly, the number of cheaters started to increase as did the number of Mega servers (gag) and of course as it grew the fun factor of a small tight community started to slip away. Sigh, fun times playing TF
My right MB was prime HG on first click, toss on second
Yeah right, video games are to blame. Other wise these kids and the Columbine ones and all the others wouldn't have gotten the idea or skills to kill.
Then they could have just suffered their torture and abuse in silence and all the "right" and "good" people wouldn't have to fear for their kids safety at school from the "outcasts".
We take out these kids only mechanizms to affect the world then we can abuse them all we want without fear of their ultimate reaction. Because people don't care about what these kids are going through, they only care that their kids are safe at school...
Due to incredible advances in trauma medicine, murder rates are a bad indicator of violence - an act of violence that killed someone 30 years ago may be highly survivable today. Better is the aggravated assault rate - which, in the U.S., which, per capita, increased seven times between 1957 and 1997, and has gone up similarly all over the world in the past few decades.
Ummmm, if more people survive wouldn't that of course increase the aggravated assault rate? Not to mention other factors along the same lines that could push up the statistic he happens to favor. Where is the evidance that shows more attempted murders aren't being prosecute as aggrivated assaults. A statistic without context doesn't mean anything. Heck, when ever is a statistic not backed by an agenda.
Just as a historical reference, the Sherman anti-trust act was named after it's author/sponsor Senator John Sherman of Ohio. Who just happened to be the younger brother of General William Tecumseh Sherman who captured and pillaged Atlanta and made his march to the sea during the civil war.
Maybe it's time for another one, I know I wouldn't mind seeing some pillaging of the business in Atlanta.
Wow, what a diatribe. There is no grand conspiracy. The problem with that thought is that RIAA's members are at competition with each other inside the "RIAA Sphere". David Geffen wants to sell as many records as possible and he's not going to collude with Sony to homogenize music to a form where they have a bigger share.
They try to influence what is popular, no doubt about it, sometimes they succeed, sometimes they don't. But there is more to what gains popularity than just what RIAA pushes. Hip-hop is popular now, not because RIAA has brainwashed people but because a lot of people really like it. Tastes and times change, what is popular will always ebb and flow.
/The problem you mention, the one anthropologists are constantly attempting to combat, what is the term for this? I'd like to read up on it.
Don't get me wrong, I'm as happy as anyone of IBM's support of Linux but that doesn't mean that I trust them out right.
What if IBM is guilty? What if they did misappropriate some proprietary code, on purpose or other wise? Sure the kernel folks will replace it and life will move on, but that will be very damaging to Linux. While we are all throwing stones at SCO maybe we shouldn't completely turn our backs on IBM. Their "support" of Linux may end up doing a lot of harm. Plus they may already be cooking up something they intended to replace AIX and Linux in the next five years or so. Before there was MS there was IBM.
That's an excellent point you made about the nutering of the English language. It's a point made by a book often quoted on slashdot, 1984. That is the point Welles is making with newspeak.
We are losing the ablity to express the complexity of human expierence. In 1984 it's about controling the people. I think the reason it's happening to us is the inflation to sell products. If they have a good product, they don't say it's good they say it's great or even the best. When everybody is trying to sell their product, of course they inflate the quality of it. Words of high praise or really any superlative statement start to get numbed down.
When that mentality and the media become as central to daily existance as they have, it seems only a matter of time till Britney becomes more than just a "musician" and becomes an artist.
Why would they want to embrace p2p or any other digital distribution technology? Right now *AA are raking in huge profits and have a stangle hold on the distribution platforms. They have the power right now and unless sales would increase, rather than shift, they would be foolish to cut a third party into their greed fest. The new digital market is likely too fluid for them to get the same monopoly on. Why upset the boat when you have the best seat.
More over, the article mentions an illegal modification of the registration information, sounds like the circumvention clause of the DMCA applies to me...
Most of the comments here are fully about debate of the usefulness and or purpose of new gadgets. I think some folks are so wrapped up in the tech-geek culture that they may be missing the larger point of the article.
What I took from it was that we are turning into our worst nightmares of ourselves. A world where we sit in front of some sort of box all day staring at it as it spews messages about what is right and wrong and the proper way to live our lives. Many of the gadgets we are creating only feed our laziness, giving us more free time to stare at the box. We get fat from the food we cram into our faces while staring at the box for the next proper thing to do. The message I continually receive from the media (maybe itâ(TM)s just my tinfoil hat) is that Iâ(TM)m in some way not OK. That Iâ(TM)m too fat, too ugly, not cool or a bad ass or some other inferiority. However, their nifty little XYZ will fix my world and I just canâ(TM)t live without it. I just donâ(TM)t like other telling me how I should think, especially about myself. Sorry for the diatribe, I guess my fears are that the marketing departments now tell the engineers what to build rather than marketing what theyâ(TM)ve builtâ¦
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You spent 5 minutes laughing at the naivety of a 14 year old girl? OK.
Why is IBM so pro Linux over the last few years? I'm not going conspiracy with this, I'm just curious what their motive is. I mean, excuse me for not tossing full faith into trusty `ol "Big Blue", but for some reason every time IBM chants the virtues of Linux I cringe slightly. My guts just twist like a compass pointing due south. I don't think anybody on /. is naive enough to think IBM supports Linux for the same reasons most folks here do, but their exact motive remains a mystery to me. The question isn't so much what they gain but what Microsoft (or whomever they view as their direct competitor) loses. While there is no doubt IBM is a good friend to have, it's a friend I look to with a forced smile.
Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith issued the following response Thursday: "Amazon.com remains confident in the validity of its 1-Click patent, which enables customers to shop conveniently without having to enter their shipping and billing information each time they purchase. We look forward to working with the examiners in the Patent and Trademark Office, and we welcome the opportunity to revalidate what we believe is an important innovation in e-commerce."
Who couldn't think of this stuff? There is no innovation in it all. While the current patent foolishness is problematic I think it will sort itself out in the end, because there are competitive business interests (read money) fighting over various positions on patents. Copyrights seem to be a far more dangerous issue to liberty focused individuals (read geeks) because all the cards seem stacked into the hands of the major copyright holders. The people never seem to get a fair shake anymore unless their interests coincide with that of a large corporate block.
I suppose the best thing would be to see microsoft lose a sizable portion of it's user base and become more dynamic in its products and increase industry inovation over all.
What advantage do they get by lying about the license of their module? Doesn't it just load normally regardless of the license? If it didn't give them some advantage why would they lie about it?
Pharmaceuticals have been the most profitable sector for a long time. In 2002 the industry had 18.5% profits, while the fortune 500 averaged around 3% Also notice that while R&D costs for the industry are very high, they spend more on marketing than R&D
Vaccines receive less attention than cures because vaccine development is exceptionally long and costly with virtually no chance of even breaking even. When was the last time you heard of a world changing vaccine?
I think it's time for the people of the United States to band together, chip in, and buy ourselves a politician or two. Maybe with a bit left over we can even get a couple of lobbyists.
I liked to play medic. In the begining I would run (wall slide) every where. But as time progressed so many new tricks where learned. When I would spawn, I'd run up the stairs and prime a hand grenade or conc and jump from the one base all the across to the sniper deck on the other side and waste the snipers with the nail gun or hack em with the medic axe. It was cool to see the evolution of game.
Then sadly, the number of cheaters started to increase as did the number of Mega servers (gag) and of course as it grew the fun factor of a small tight community started to slip away. Sigh, fun times playing TF
My right MB was prime HG on first click, toss on second
Go >V< !!
Then they could have just suffered their torture and abuse in silence and all the "right" and "good" people wouldn't have to fear for their kids safety at school from the "outcasts".
We take out these kids only mechanizms to affect the world then we can abuse them all we want without fear of their ultimate reaction. Because people don't care about what these kids are going through, they only care that their kids are safe at school...
Ummmm, if more people survive wouldn't that of course increase the aggravated assault rate? Not to mention other factors along the same lines that could push up the statistic he happens to favor. Where is the evidance that shows more attempted murders aren't being prosecute as aggrivated assaults. A statistic without context doesn't mean anything. Heck, when ever is a statistic not backed by an agenda.
Maybe it's time for another one, I know I wouldn't mind seeing some pillaging of the business in Atlanta.
They try to influence what is popular, no doubt about it, sometimes they succeed, sometimes they don't. But there is more to what gains popularity than just what RIAA pushes. Hip-hop is popular now, not because RIAA has brainwashed people but because a lot of people really like it. Tastes and times change, what is popular will always ebb and flow.
What if IBM is guilty? What if they did misappropriate some proprietary code, on purpose or other wise? Sure the kernel folks will replace it and life will move on, but that will be very damaging to Linux. While we are all throwing stones at SCO maybe we shouldn't completely turn our backs on IBM. Their "support" of Linux may end up doing a lot of harm. Plus they may already be cooking up something they intended to replace AIX and Linux in the next five years or so. Before there was MS there was IBM.
We are losing the ablity to express the complexity of human expierence. In 1984 it's about controling the people. I think the reason it's happening to us is the inflation to sell products. If they have a good product, they don't say it's good they say it's great or even the best. When everybody is trying to sell their product, of course they inflate the quality of it. Words of high praise or really any superlative statement start to get numbed down.
When that mentality and the media become as central to daily existance as they have, it seems only a matter of time till Britney becomes more than just a "musician" and becomes an artist.
Why would they want to embrace p2p or any other digital distribution technology? Right now *AA are raking in huge profits and have a stangle hold on the distribution platforms. They have the power right now and unless sales would increase, rather than shift, they would be foolish to cut a third party into their greed fest. The new digital market is likely too fluid for them to get the same monopoly on. Why upset the boat when you have the best seat.
It's different because Netflix payed for the lobbyist to grease the wheels (or pockets) to get the patent.
More over, the article mentions an illegal modification of the registration information, sounds like the circumvention clause of the DMCA applies to me...
Most of the comments here are fully about debate of the usefulness and or purpose of new gadgets. I think some folks are so wrapped up in the tech-geek culture that they may be missing the larger point of the article.
What I took from it was that we are turning into our worst nightmares of ourselves. A world where we sit in front of some sort of box all day staring at it as it spews messages about what is right and wrong and the proper way to live our lives. Many of the gadgets we are creating only feed our laziness, giving us more free time to stare at the box. We get fat from the food we cram into our faces while staring at the box for the next proper thing to do. The message I continually receive from the media (maybe itâ(TM)s just my tinfoil hat) is that Iâ(TM)m in some way not OK. That Iâ(TM)m too fat, too ugly, not cool or a bad ass or some other inferiority. However, their nifty little XYZ will fix my world and I just canâ(TM)t live without it. I just donâ(TM)t like other telling me how I should think, especially about myself. Sorry for the diatribe, I guess my fears are that the marketing departments now tell the engineers what to build rather than marketing what theyâ(TM)ve builtâ¦