The US has wasted the last decades on not development but trying to protect and conserve what is. A shitload of money going into the work of lawyers while R&D is cutting costs.
It's like racing - either you try to block the competition or you try to drive as fast as possible. Using lawyers and litigations is just trying to block the competition - but when you are in fourth row that only means that the leaders are leaving you behind.
The cost of WGA is that I get something on my computer that slows down startup and doesn't provide me with any advantage whatsoever.
WGA is a genuine disadvantage - and the whole name of it is a lie. I don't want it, and I don't need it - except for the reason that M$ thinks it's necessary in order to provide OS updates.
Of course - at that stage they had gained market for the majority of the computers in the world and were able to change the playing field by getting harsher and raising the prices to gain even more money.
And now they are pushing against possible competition at many fronts - all from patent lawsuits to covert operations masked as cooperation.
But regardless of age there are good and bad icons. Newer icons aren't better, and often they seem to be even more confusing than many old icons.
It's time to realize that a clean strict interface for the users is often better than all those flashy colors, gradients and animations that wastes time and productivity. Look into what users really do, not what you think the users should do with your software.
The reasoning behind this from CBS is that any media released that is in the public domain will cause people to being drawn away from watching new things with copyright on that the media business can do money from.
So expect that original footage going out of copyright are going for destruction instead of re-release since they can't make money from it.
Exception would be well-known footage since that would be bad PR.
Alternative licenses instead of BSD would be LGPL or Apache Public License.
But you are right - beware of closed licenses unless you have a perfectly clear specification that you aren't at risk of getting sued for any error in the code. I think that you should check with a Lawyer about your legal responsibilities and options to really avoid trouble. A commercial license usually also means commercial responsibility for the package.
And if you have created a package good enough to attract the interest of the commercial world it's probably better than any decently priced commercially available package anyway. What the commercial company probably fears is the risk of having to open up their own code to the world since their license is "contaminated" by BSD or whatever.
One really interesting thing when it comes to the Wii is that the controllers are talking Bluetooth, which makes them useful for other applications too.
For some reason - even though we live tighter and tighter together in the society of today we also have more pronounced problems with isolation and problems when it comes to mental issues.
Much of this seems to originate from the scare of child predators and other things. And letting the kids take themselves to school is out of the question due to the car traffic of today.
This means that even going a block or two is a bad idea for kids today - there may be an accident. There can be kids who don't know crap about the blocks half a mile away from home since to get there they must be driven by car.
The few lucky kids living in rural parts may still be able to grab a fishing pole and get out of sight for a while. And if they have friends "nearby" they may actually go out and explore their neighborhood and find out what nature has to offer.
But parents today has to pamper their kids or they will be bad parents. And both parents has to work long hours to keep up the living standard in areas where the cost of living is extreme. So when they are at home the "quality time" is short and intense.
Add to that the fact that many children's programs on TV contains a lot of violence and action mixed with crap beauty contests and whatever that makes the kids feel like they aren't good enough. And nobody cares until there is a tit flash or other naked skin that's considered indecent - then it's all panic. But ask - how many kids do really care about a naked tit? To kids things that go bang are sexier.
And yet another question - do that corporation know that they have the right to that game?
Not every corporation does have track records that legally entitles them to the copyright of a certain piece of software written some 30 years ago. It may be that during some part of the process those rights were left out or that the purchase only was for the brand name etc.
Not everyone suing does hold the rights either.
There are multiple variations on a theme here. But if you do sell a look-alike that does have some modern or modified qualities in it it's hard to claim copyright on it. All adventure games do inherit from the original "The Cave".
And now it's the internet - so selling games from certain sales locations will make lawsuits trickier. You may even have a business model of free download and then sell services around the game instead.
Just go the way that will create the most headache for the holders of the rights to the original game for them to figure out if it's worth pursuing and how to do that. Distribute the responsibility for the game and the development of it into different legal entities so that you only have a facade company that takes the hit if something goes down the drain. Facade company owns the rights to the software, but every employee is in another to which all the money goes as "development costs", so if it goes really bad only the facade falls and the application rights may get voided.
Done right the risks are lowered.
Just make sure that it will cost more to investigate your businesses than what can be gained from pursuing a case against you and you can relax a bit.
Not entirely true - we have it in the office where I work right now. Scares the crap out of you every time it starts when you are in the vicinity of it! Of course - my office isn't in the US.
Slashdot Mirror
The US has wasted the last decades on not development but trying to protect and conserve what is. A shitload of money going into the work of lawyers while R&D is cutting costs.
It's like racing - either you try to block the competition or you try to drive as fast as possible. Using lawyers and litigations is just trying to block the competition - but when you are in fourth row that only means that the leaders are leaving you behind.
I actually know the feeling having lived at one of the few dark spots in Europe.
That depends on which country you live in if that's legal or not.
The cost of WGA is that I get something on my computer that slows down startup and doesn't provide me with any advantage whatsoever.
WGA is a genuine disadvantage - and the whole name of it is a lie. I don't want it, and I don't need it - except for the reason that M$ thinks it's necessary in order to provide OS updates.
Of course - at that stage they had gained market for the majority of the computers in the world and were able to change the playing field by getting harsher and raising the prices to gain even more money.
And now they are pushing against possible competition at many fronts - all from patent lawsuits to covert operations masked as cooperation.
Business as usual.
But regardless of age there are good and bad icons. Newer icons aren't better, and often they seem to be even more confusing than many old icons.
It's time to realize that a clean strict interface for the users is often better than all those flashy colors, gradients and animations that wastes time and productivity. Look into what users really do, not what you think the users should do with your software.
I would rather compare Microsoft with a Komodo Dragon.
Poison and infection in a single bite causing a painful death for the victim.
May I get a patch for Windows NT 3.51?
The reasoning behind this from CBS is that any media released that is in the public domain will cause people to being drawn away from watching new things with copyright on that the media business can do money from.
So expect that original footage going out of copyright are going for destruction instead of re-release since they can't make money from it.
Exception would be well-known footage since that would be bad PR.
And incorporate USB, Firewire, SATA and Fibre Channel too into that too.
Time to change job.
And the ability to get a subscription without a bundled phone matters too. All I want is a SIM card and then insert it into a phone of my choice.
I would say that on an university area you can expect to find just about everything. So a clown on a unicycle isn't really strange.
Unusual would be if someone had put a live blue whale on the campus ground.
If students can get away with THIS, a clown on a unicycle is just another event in the day on campus.
Alternative licenses instead of BSD would be LGPL or Apache Public License.
But you are right - beware of closed licenses unless you have a perfectly clear specification that you aren't at risk of getting sued for any error in the code. I think that you should check with a Lawyer about your legal responsibilities and options to really avoid trouble. A commercial license usually also means commercial responsibility for the package.
And if you have created a package good enough to attract the interest of the commercial world it's probably better than any decently priced commercially available package anyway. What the commercial company probably fears is the risk of having to open up their own code to the world since their license is "contaminated" by BSD or whatever.
The only person needing counseling seems to be the vice-principal.
One really interesting thing when it comes to the Wii is that the controllers are talking Bluetooth, which makes them useful for other applications too.
Just take a look at the Wiimote library.
And recently I have interfaced a Wiimote with a windows mobile device, so anyone stating that it can't be done is wrong.
Linux kernel developers also use that button.
Eye-tracking tech could be incorporated in places where you want to see what people really are looking at.
I imagine that the "nature film" industry would be interested to figure out how to maximize their outcome.
You will probably need to eat something to gain minerals, but eating for energy can be restricted.
And SCO seems to still haven't come to the conclusion.
For some reason - even though we live tighter and tighter together in the society of today we also have more pronounced problems with isolation and problems when it comes to mental issues.
Much of this seems to originate from the scare of child predators and other things. And letting the kids take themselves to school is out of the question due to the car traffic of today.
This means that even going a block or two is a bad idea for kids today - there may be an accident. There can be kids who don't know crap about the blocks half a mile away from home since to get there they must be driven by car.
The few lucky kids living in rural parts may still be able to grab a fishing pole and get out of sight for a while. And if they have friends "nearby" they may actually go out and explore their neighborhood and find out what nature has to offer.
But parents today has to pamper their kids or they will be bad parents. And both parents has to work long hours to keep up the living standard in areas where the cost of living is extreme. So when they are at home the "quality time" is short and intense.
Add to that the fact that many children's programs on TV contains a lot of violence and action mixed with crap beauty contests and whatever that makes the kids feel like they aren't good enough. And nobody cares until there is a tit flash or other naked skin that's considered indecent - then it's all panic. But ask - how many kids do really care about a naked tit? To kids things that go bang are sexier.
And yet another question - do that corporation know that they have the right to that game?
Not every corporation does have track records that legally entitles them to the copyright of a certain piece of software written some 30 years ago. It may be that during some part of the process those rights were left out or that the purchase only was for the brand name etc.
Not everyone suing does hold the rights either.
There are multiple variations on a theme here. But if you do sell a look-alike that does have some modern or modified qualities in it it's hard to claim copyright on it. All adventure games do inherit from the original "The Cave".
And now it's the internet - so selling games from certain sales locations will make lawsuits trickier. You may even have a business model of free download and then sell services around the game instead.
Just go the way that will create the most headache for the holders of the rights to the original game for them to figure out if it's worth pursuing and how to do that. Distribute the responsibility for the game and the development of it into different legal entities so that you only have a facade company that takes the hit if something goes down the drain. Facade company owns the rights to the software, but every employee is in another to which all the money goes as "development costs", so if it goes really bad only the facade falls and the application rights may get voided.
Done right the risks are lowered.
Just make sure that it will cost more to investigate your businesses than what can be gained from pursuing a case against you and you can relax a bit.
If an address is lame or not depends on which group you are targeting.
@digital.com is an address with a lot of history, sadly no longer in effect.
@.su can have some nostalgic coolness since the TLD .su is under deconstruction.
But @hotmail. and @gmail. usually sucks, since that means that the person behind that address is just providing the garbage dump mail address.
Some short and cryptic email addresses can have some coolness to them, since a short cryptic email address were fairly common in the infancy of email.
No problem, it will take care of it - and you too.
Not entirely true - we have it in the office where I work right now. Scares the crap out of you every time it starts when you are in the vicinity of it! Of course - my office isn't in the US.