Were the day glow green color and, in the original specs, the hand crank. I wanted to take notes on my bright green notebook during one of those interminable sales demos, then right in the middle plug in my hand crank and charge up my laptop. Sorry, just charging up, go right on.
Then they took the hand crank out of the design and my whole sales demo interrupt fantasy just fell apart. But by that time I was already hooked on the idea of cheap laptop with built-in mesh networking.
I think I'd use the less powerful and more portable laptop more than a power brick that costs $3,000.00. If it linked in to my desktop when in range, all the better.
we will have to watch out for self contrived idiocies such as political breakdown within the wizard circles
I'm far more worried about Linux as a commercial success than a hobby project. When companies like IBM start dedicating programmers, commercial interests are likely to marginalize the hero wizards who got us here.
Historically one of the things I really liked about Linux is the developers were not driven by bottom line considerations but that's starting the change.
It's the difference between playing golf as a hobby and playing professional golf. Golf as a hobby is fun, one of the few games you can drink beer while you play. The level of effort to get to the pro level takes all the fun out of it. Golf becomes a business, a craft, a profession. I fear the same result in Linux. That success will take some of the fun out of it.
Sounds like a way for VAR's to approach small to medium size companies with an offer to "get legal" on their software installs. Which arises from the assumption that all small to medium size companies are running some unlicensed copies of something. The VAR's get a piece of the action and Microsoft has plausible deniability. Oh, those darn VAR's! They're such scamps (wink-wink, nudge-nudge).
Reminds me of some of the things RIAA did. I could see VAR's dressing up like they're some type of investigator and showing up at some company unannounced, claiming the company might be running illegal software and this is their one chance to come clean or face legal action. Or maybe Microsoft tips them off because someone there is using a volume license key that doesn't belong to them. And it won't stop at OS software, I'm sure they'll audit everything. Workstations, servers, the whole enchilada. A VAR might be pimping for a number of different software companies.
To me this is more of a sign of how desperate Microsoft is to keep up their quarterly numbers. When they need numbers they go back to the well of their existing user base and squeeze. After all, that's free money. Collecting on what's already out there.
It seems so strange to me that companies take the most incredible crap from Microsoft. Switch already. If you can't handle the Linux tech stuff get a Mac.
AT&T cooperates in wholesale spying on the American public without a warrant, then goes back to Congress and asks for immunity from lawsuits. Now they slip a "no criticize" clause in their user agreement. Reminds me of Microsoft, only worse. When did dickish corporate behavior become the new standard? I must have missed that memo.
The interesting question is whether corporate behavior is just a more visible mirror of the increasing lack of civility in every day relationships? Because when I think back to times when even corporations still behaved with a modicum of civility and tended to err on the side of the customer, I realized that the general level of decency at all levels of interaction was higher.
When it comes to AT&T a whole new generation is learning why we broke them up in the first place.
What algae lacks is a powerful lobby in Washington like the corporate farms and corn sweetener have. It would also threaten a large volume of the petroleum supply chain. Since so much of our foreign policy seems centered around protecting Saudi Arabia's cash flow (when we're not arming Israel), I can't imagine our government getting behind algae production.
Not like energy independence should be a national strategic priority or anything.
It would mean we'd need to put more diesel vehicles on the road but who says we have to have a single source model? With the hydrogen bonus from the algae oil, a little ethanol to keep the farm lobby happy, and oil producing algae we could certainly retire a few of those super tankers in the oil pipeline.
With the right financial incentives and treating it like a strategic priority we could have large scale production online in five years. We could potentially be getting the majority of our transportation fuel from algae in ten years if we really committed to it. I don't mean a Bush commitment, I mean a Kennedy man-on-the-moon commitment.
Since that day, I become more and more bewildered that people continue to put up with that crap.
Not only at home but in their business as well. If it wasn't so painful it would be funny to watch.
Okay, it's funny to watch anyway. And the incredible justifications for spending the money. If you've got a couple power users with specific needs for MS Office, fine. Spend the money. But buying a copy for every seat? Madness. Painful madness at that.
after they discovered that he did not have WMD, they still tried to pin something on him
Because if they didn't he could sue them. Dude's wife dies and they shake him down for 22 hours, think how that's going to play with a jury. So they had to find something to use as a bargaining chip to make the potential lawsuit go away.
Besides, if there are too many stories like this our do-nothing Congress might be tempted to clip their wings. Couldn't have that, now could we? So they look until they find something.
Why do there always have to be (punitive) damages paid?
I've got one concern with no financial penalty, and I admit it's minor. It encourages companies to think, "Hey, let's start with GPL'd software and if we get caught, we'll wait until someone sues us and settle."
On the flip side, other companies see how the FOSS community treats violators and contrasts that with Microsoft and the BSA.
Microsoft - Product activation, DRM, byzantine license requirements, and CALS.
BSA - Audits, lawsuits, big public settlements.
FOSS - Warning, another warning, filing, quick settlement with no big fines.
Who would you rather do business with? Once again the FOSS community demonstrates a better way to do business.
$2/watt retail? I'm there. I'll take 5Kw worth of panels, a couple wind turbines, and backup diesel generator and the power company can kiss my big, white butt. Already have my battery boxes built, best start working on those wiring diagrams!
Didn't we all see a similar article like this back when XP was introduced?
No, I don't think we did. XP wasn't near the disaster roll out Vista has been. XP was an improvement. A marginal one, but still an improvement. I remember companies that liked Win2K delaying XP, but I don't remember many downgrading XP to 2000. XP delivered some value, not a lot, but it delivered.
XP got me interested in Linux. Not because it was a poor release but because I didn't like...still don't like...their product activation BS. In those early days it was a tough transition. Now people try Linux because it works better than Vista.
Not only did we not read about a similar implementation disaster back when XP was released, we're seeing Microsoft become less relevant and deliver less value as time goes on. And with the price increases associated with vista, that fact is becoming clear to all but the most strident of the MSFT faithful.
nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
What part of "any person within its jurisdiction" isn't clear? Too bad we can't give these right wing fucktards their own country to trash instead of ruining this one.
Just because we started out united doesn't mean we have to stay that way. I want a divorce.
Although I suspect this is more of an attempt by NBC to get people to pay to watch commercials, it's ultimately going to be bad for their business and the on-demand market in general. It's almost never a win to fragment a potential market, particularly for the consumer but who really cares about them anymore? With entertainment consolidated to a few major players, the consumer is an abstract concept with no form or value as an individual.
Ultimately this will prove to be a fruitless endeavor. You can't drive an internet market by conscription. The history of the internet is littered with the corpses of companies that thought the same thing. Imagine needing a set-top box to tune in an individual TV station. NBC and CBS use the same type box, but you need a different one for ABC and Fox. WB has their own. It seems silly in any other market context, but that's what Apple and NBC are trying to do.
Personally, I don't think the big media players are ever going to catch on. The farther down the road we go, the big media companies actually seem to be devolving. Fortunately that will open up markets for smarter players. Production companies with a leaner cost structure and the freedom of thought to consider product placement, co-branding and a host of other revenue streams rather than a strict commercial model.
I gave a keynote at a NAB convention a couple years ago about the likely impact of the internet on media distribution and the opportunities for new revenue channels. Got a lot of head nodding but when I talked to them afterwards it was pretty clear it wasn't sinking in. They were still trying to fit the internet into the revenue models they already knew.
IBM announced they were joining OpenOffice.org and dedicating 35 developers to the project
This time a steely barb in another one of its profit centers. Microsoft is too fat to kill with a pointed stick but this will sting all the same.
Microsoft also stuck a harpoon in themselves with Vista. Something they've been doing a lot lately. Product activation, byzantine EULA's, where renting software isn't enough you also have to buy a license for your users to connect to it. Nevermind you paid for the server license, and paid for the client OS, you have to buy a freaking license to connect the two. And many act like this all okay somehow. It's freaking nuts.
35 developers helping out with OpenOffice is going to make a big difference. IBM lending credibility to OpenOffice will likely do a lot to enhance its image, regardless of whether they added any support staff.
It's the most insane thing I've ever seen. You're basically renting music. At least it would be tolerable if there was ONE standard for copy protected music, that format was free of patent encumbrance and any player could use it. And there was some kind of standards body that would ensure that the next insanely great format would still play the old versions, or at least make sure there's an upgrade path so your 4,000 iTunes songs don't go down the toilet if something ever happened to Apple.
Imagine this applied to TV's. Your TV would work with DirecTV but not Dish Network. You could get ABC and WB on broadcast, but not CBS and Fox has its own standard that doesn't work with any of the others. In any other circumstance it seems totally insane.
This applies to video codecs as well and DVD's.
I have records that are 60 years old that will still play. I've got film that's almost that old that you can put in any standard projector and holes in the film line up with the sprocket and you can watch the movie. How many of you have a portable music player that's more than five years old?
That's why I get my music at Magnatune. It's DRM free and half the money goes to the artist. You can listen to the whole CD before you buy it and if it's one you really like, you can kick in a couple extra bucks for the artist. If it's one that only has one or two songs you like, don't pay as much. You don't have the selection of a big label but there's plenty to pick from. If you like blues try Burnshee Thornside, indie rock try Brad Sucks, pop, or pick from classical, world and metal.
Every time I see The Gimp, I think about Pulp Fiction. How about a cooler name? I know it sounds like form over substance, but you'd be surprised how something so simple could slow adoption.
Noncommercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
Unless the site owner had an agreement outside the content license (ToS?) then he had no right to license the content to anyone else or sell it to anyone else. IMHO the only relevant question is whether the purpose of the site is commercial.
If it's hosted in the US a DMCA take-down notice should be adequate to get your material off the site. If it's in Germany, that's an interesting question. I'm not sure how that works.
CreativeCommons is a license to use material, not a waiver of copyright or bill of sale. You can either choose to use the material according to the license terms or choose not to use the material, much like the GPL. Now whether any of this has teeth under German law...beats me.
Slashdot Mirror
Were the day glow green color and, in the original specs, the hand crank. I wanted to take notes on my bright green notebook during one of those interminable sales demos, then right in the middle plug in my hand crank and charge up my laptop. Sorry, just charging up, go right on.
Then they took the hand crank out of the design and my whole sales demo interrupt fantasy just fell apart. But by that time I was already hooked on the idea of cheap laptop with built-in mesh networking.
I think I'd use the less powerful and more portable laptop more than a power brick that costs $3,000.00. If it linked in to my desktop when in range, all the better.
Too bad about the hand crank, though.
we will have to watch out for self contrived idiocies such as political breakdown within the wizard circles
I'm far more worried about Linux as a commercial success than a hobby project. When companies like IBM start dedicating programmers, commercial interests are likely to marginalize the hero wizards who got us here.
Historically one of the things I really liked about Linux is the developers were not driven by bottom line considerations but that's starting the change.
It's the difference between playing golf as a hobby and playing professional golf. Golf as a hobby is fun, one of the few games you can drink beer while you play. The level of effort to get to the pro level takes all the fun out of it. Golf becomes a business, a craft, a profession. I fear the same result in Linux. That success will take some of the fun out of it.
given the considerable size of the creature, the massive teeth and jaws are thought to have been used to slice up large amounts of...
Mammals: It's what's for dinner.
Sounds like a way for VAR's to approach small to medium size companies with an offer to "get legal" on their software installs. Which arises from the assumption that all small to medium size companies are running some unlicensed copies of something. The VAR's get a piece of the action and Microsoft has plausible deniability. Oh, those darn VAR's! They're such scamps (wink-wink, nudge-nudge).
Reminds me of some of the things RIAA did. I could see VAR's dressing up like they're some type of investigator and showing up at some company unannounced, claiming the company might be running illegal software and this is their one chance to come clean or face legal action. Or maybe Microsoft tips them off because someone there is using a volume license key that doesn't belong to them. And it won't stop at OS software, I'm sure they'll audit everything. Workstations, servers, the whole enchilada. A VAR might be pimping for a number of different software companies.
To me this is more of a sign of how desperate Microsoft is to keep up their quarterly numbers. When they need numbers they go back to the well of their existing user base and squeeze. After all, that's free money. Collecting on what's already out there.
It seems so strange to me that companies take the most incredible crap from Microsoft. Switch already. If you can't handle the Linux tech stuff get a Mac.
Who could have ever guessed that Slashdotters were pedantic nerds with nothing better to do on a Saturday night than correct a minor error?
You mean there are other options? What are these strange things of which you speak?
AT&T cooperates in wholesale spying on the American public without a warrant, then goes back to Congress and asks for immunity from lawsuits. Now they slip a "no criticize" clause in their user agreement. Reminds me of Microsoft, only worse. When did dickish corporate behavior become the new standard? I must have missed that memo.
The interesting question is whether corporate behavior is just a more visible mirror of the increasing lack of civility in every day relationships? Because when I think back to times when even corporations still behaved with a modicum of civility and tended to err on the side of the customer, I realized that the general level of decency at all levels of interaction was higher.
When it comes to AT&T a whole new generation is learning why we broke them up in the first place.
There's another bonus with oil producing algae, it can grow in brackish water and eat sewage.
What algae lacks is a powerful lobby in Washington like the corporate farms and corn sweetener have. It would also threaten a large volume of the petroleum supply chain. Since so much of our foreign policy seems centered around protecting Saudi Arabia's cash flow (when we're not arming Israel), I can't imagine our government getting behind algae production.
Not like energy independence should be a national strategic priority or anything.
It would mean we'd need to put more diesel vehicles on the road but who says we have to have a single source model? With the hydrogen bonus from the algae oil, a little ethanol to keep the farm lobby happy, and oil producing algae we could certainly retire a few of those super tankers in the oil pipeline.
With the right financial incentives and treating it like a strategic priority we could have large scale production online in five years. We could potentially be getting the majority of our transportation fuel from algae in ten years if we really committed to it. I don't mean a Bush commitment, I mean a Kennedy man-on-the-moon commitment.
Since that day, I become more and more bewildered that people continue to put up with that crap.
Not only at home but in their business as well. If it wasn't so painful it would be funny to watch.
Okay, it's funny to watch anyway. And the incredible justifications for spending the money. If you've got a couple power users with specific needs for MS Office, fine. Spend the money. But buying a copy for every seat? Madness. Painful madness at that.
Sheez, take your meds or something.
It looks like this person is trying to sell crack. Cancel or allow?
after they discovered that he did not have WMD, they still tried to pin something on him
Because if they didn't he could sue them. Dude's wife dies and they shake him down for 22 hours, think how that's going to play with a jury. So they had to find something to use as a bargaining chip to make the potential lawsuit go away.
Besides, if there are too many stories like this our do-nothing Congress might be tempted to clip their wings. Couldn't have that, now could we? So they look until they find something.
Why do there always have to be (punitive) damages paid?
I've got one concern with no financial penalty, and I admit it's minor. It encourages companies to think, "Hey, let's start with GPL'd software and if we get caught, we'll wait until someone sues us and settle."
On the flip side, other companies see how the FOSS community treats violators and contrasts that with Microsoft and the BSA.
Microsoft - Product activation, DRM, byzantine license requirements, and CALS.
BSA - Audits, lawsuits, big public settlements.
FOSS - Warning, another warning, filing, quick settlement with no big fines.
Who would you rather do business with? Once again the FOSS community demonstrates a better way to do business.
$2/watt retail? I'm there. I'll take 5Kw worth of panels, a couple wind turbines, and backup diesel generator and the power company can kiss my big, white butt. Already have my battery boxes built, best start working on those wiring diagrams!
Didn't we all see a similar article like this back when XP was introduced?
No, I don't think we did. XP wasn't near the disaster roll out Vista has been. XP was an improvement. A marginal one, but still an improvement. I remember companies that liked Win2K delaying XP, but I don't remember many downgrading XP to 2000. XP delivered some value, not a lot, but it delivered.
XP got me interested in Linux. Not because it was a poor release but because I didn't like...still don't like...their product activation BS. In those early days it was a tough transition. Now people try Linux because it works better than Vista.
Not only did we not read about a similar implementation disaster back when XP was released, we're seeing Microsoft become less relevant and deliver less value as time goes on. And with the price increases associated with vista, that fact is becoming clear to all but the most strident of the MSFT faithful.
This is the character of you and your kind.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/09/20/gold-star-father-who-lost-son-in-iraq-allegedly-beaten-by-members-of-pro-war-group/
Disgusting people, little better than animals.
You leave.
nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
What part of "any person within its jurisdiction" isn't clear? Too bad we can't give these right wing fucktards their own country to trash instead of ruining this one.
Just because we started out united doesn't mean we have to stay that way. I want a divorce.
Although I suspect this is more of an attempt by NBC to get people to pay to watch commercials, it's ultimately going to be bad for their business and the on-demand market in general. It's almost never a win to fragment a potential market, particularly for the consumer but who really cares about them anymore? With entertainment consolidated to a few major players, the consumer is an abstract concept with no form or value as an individual.
Ultimately this will prove to be a fruitless endeavor. You can't drive an internet market by conscription. The history of the internet is littered with the corpses of companies that thought the same thing. Imagine needing a set-top box to tune in an individual TV station. NBC and CBS use the same type box, but you need a different one for ABC and Fox. WB has their own. It seems silly in any other market context, but that's what Apple and NBC are trying to do.
Personally, I don't think the big media players are ever going to catch on. The farther down the road we go, the big media companies actually seem to be devolving. Fortunately that will open up markets for smarter players. Production companies with a leaner cost structure and the freedom of thought to consider product placement, co-branding and a host of other revenue streams rather than a strict commercial model.
I gave a keynote at a NAB convention a couple years ago about the likely impact of the internet on media distribution and the opportunities for new revenue channels. Got a lot of head nodding but when I talked to them afterwards it was pretty clear it wasn't sinking in. They were still trying to fit the internet into the revenue models they already knew.
Geeeeeeeks in spaaaaaaaaccceeeee.
IBM announced they were joining OpenOffice.org and dedicating 35 developers to the project
This time a steely barb in another one of its profit centers. Microsoft is too fat to kill with a pointed stick but this will sting all the same.
Microsoft also stuck a harpoon in themselves with Vista. Something they've been doing a lot lately. Product activation, byzantine EULA's, where renting software isn't enough you also have to buy a license for your users to connect to it. Nevermind you paid for the server license, and paid for the client OS, you have to buy a freaking license to connect the two. And many act like this all okay somehow. It's freaking nuts.
35 developers helping out with OpenOffice is going to make a big difference. IBM lending credibility to OpenOffice will likely do a lot to enhance its image, regardless of whether they added any support staff.
It's the most insane thing I've ever seen. You're basically renting music. At least it would be tolerable if there was ONE standard for copy protected music, that format was free of patent encumbrance and any player could use it. And there was some kind of standards body that would ensure that the next insanely great format would still play the old versions, or at least make sure there's an upgrade path so your 4,000 iTunes songs don't go down the toilet if something ever happened to Apple.
Imagine this applied to TV's. Your TV would work with DirecTV but not Dish Network. You could get ABC and WB on broadcast, but not CBS and Fox has its own standard that doesn't work with any of the others. In any other circumstance it seems totally insane.
This applies to video codecs as well and DVD's.
I have records that are 60 years old that will still play. I've got film that's almost that old that you can put in any standard projector and holes in the film line up with the sprocket and you can watch the movie. How many of you have a portable music player that's more than five years old?
That's why I get my music at Magnatune. It's DRM free and half the money goes to the artist. You can listen to the whole CD before you buy it and if it's one you really like, you can kick in a couple extra bucks for the artist. If it's one that only has one or two songs you like, don't pay as much. You don't have the selection of a big label but there's plenty to pick from. If you like blues try Burnshee Thornside, indie rock try Brad Sucks, pop, or pick from classical, world and metal.
What's the big freaking mystery anyway? If they announce the number their service is no longer "unlimited"? We already know it's limited.
I downloaded OpenOffice 2.2 tonight. How many song equivalents is that?
Every time I see The Gimp, I think about Pulp Fiction. How about a cooler name? I know it sounds like form over substance, but you'd be surprised how something so simple could slow adoption.
This seems pretty clear to me:
Noncommercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
Unless the site owner had an agreement outside the content license (ToS?) then he had no right to license the content to anyone else or sell it to anyone else. IMHO the only relevant question is whether the purpose of the site is commercial.
If it's hosted in the US a DMCA take-down notice should be adequate to get your material off the site. If it's in Germany, that's an interesting question. I'm not sure how that works.
CreativeCommons is a license to use material, not a waiver of copyright or bill of sale. You can either choose to use the material according to the license terms or choose not to use the material, much like the GPL. Now whether any of this has teeth under German law...beats me.
The playground bully getting their ass kicked by a girl. lol.
I think this is just another example of the delusional management culture at Microsoft. Look at what's been coming out of Redmond lately:
- We made Google what they are (and by implication can un-make them)
- Vista is setting sales records! (and so are voluntary downgrades to XP, which they're conveniently not reporting)
- Anti-competitive? Us? (Yeah, you)
- OOXML is a great standard! (so good we have to bribe partners to vote for it)
- Zune is an iPod killer! (iDontThinkSo)
- Forced updates were just a lack of communication (coupled with a lack of intelligence)
- We listen to our customers (the same way Bush listens)