It is a good business model -- on one end, they act as if they own the hardware they sell you by restricting the ways third parties can deliver their information goods and services to your apple-branded hardware; on the other end, they are getting a commission from the third parties who want to deliver content to you for the privilege.
It is profits all the way, eating at both the consumer and producer surplus;)
No surprise at all. But this is the goal of Apple in the first place. The smartphones and the tablets are like perishable goods -- the pace of new product development is fierce, so delaying a product by a few months has a huge impact on the bottom line. And that is what Apple is shooting for with patents that are at most borderline bogus.
This and a ruthless, magical marketing gives them a not insignificant edge, the quality of their products notwithstanding.
Fine, so? Nobody's arguing nature-vs-nurture here except you -- with yourself. I don't really care why xenophobia comes about, if it is 80% genetic, 80% social or 80% alien due to not wearing tinfoil.
The important point is that one can deal with xenophobia, whatever its origins, by reason, and that ought to be enough for its vilest forms, if not all of it, to go away.
The other important point is that, regretfully, it doesn't happen, because it is a useful brainwashing tool.
Skin colour is different mostly because of environmental differences. What environmental differences do you propose to explain your suggested differences in the expression of genetic xenophobia? Dark skin is beneficial where the sun is strong, lighter skin -- in the latitudes that are closer to the poles, but it seems the cruelty with which people kill the other tribe is approximately the same everywhere.
If it is a biologically-based trait, then the sentence you quote is most certainly "right", in the sense that all are born that way. Whether this is a good excuse is a totally different matter, though.
You are obviously forgetting McCarthy, who was doing his best to protect America from subversive elements long before CALEA and the WoD, the incarceration of American Japanese, and who knows what else before these.
All people seem to just be born as scared-to-death xenophobes, and most just don't learn any better as they age.
Yes, I do, free of charge to causes I find worthy. I host several mailing lists, websites, etc. If I don't think you're worthy, you can always backup your shit with Titanium backup pro and dump it on several free sites.
Do you expect everybody who wants to use back to have to learn how to write a shell script?
I expect nothing, I answered your question. But if you want an answer to this question too, yes, I expect that everybody who values their data to have the necessary skills to manage it. For keeping your data "in the cloud" you don't need developer skills, you need manual reading skills and google search skills.
While I do maintain a home server and did write several scripts to make things exactly as I like them, your own server and custom scripts are not required for a "cloud solution". You can have your own easily -- all bits and pieces are already available out there for free or nearly for free, all you need is to pick the two or three that are needed, install them on your phone/tablet and read the manuals.
Then you can use even a free data dumping service like gmail to keep the backup files.
come with a stipulation in the acceptable use policy that "servers" shall not be used on them.
I'm sorry to hear that, however it is not necessary for remote data backup - see above.
BTW, In this country the last mile of the internets is run by a regulated monopoly, but that is all they run. ISPs compete from there onwards and you can choose ISP from a very large pool. The competition is strong, the prices are low and quality is outstanding. Maybe you should consider helping your country to adopt a similar model as well.
And how much does a server running ftpd cost per year to lease?
I run ftp (well, something similar) on a server and have a few scripts that allow me to sync everything on my smartphone to the "cloud". The server cost $450 to build (really bare-bones, a no-brand 6 core CPU, 16 GB of ram and a few terabytes of RAID1) and needs about $20 a month for 100mbps connection. Theoretically, it is not as reliable as the "icloud" but the current uptime is 369 days, and in that period I've experienced one network outage that lasted about 5 minutes and was announced by the provider three weeks in advance:)
As a bonus, I share the connection with the family, a few neighbors and whoever hooks up to the free spot I provide outside my place.
It is a lost fight unless everyone in Europe picks the phone to their EMP and tells them in no uncertain terms to vote ACTA down or lose votes. And then have all your friends do so too.
Hollywood helped the US government win two wars for the "hearts and the minds" -- the WWII, mostly domestically, and the Cold war internationally. It has been the most important piece of the propaganda machine available to the US government for nearly seven decades.
If you want the full story, Lawrence Lessig has a good and free book on the open culture with a chapter or two dedicated to the topic.
It was not a matter of "properly patenting" their UI or not at all -- at the time they would very likely not have been able to get such a nefarious patent even if they tried very hard. Unfortunately, things have changed a lot since then.
If this is the rationale, they seem to be showing a very un-Appleish return on investment, and not only short-term -- every loss seems to permanently remove value from their "intellectual property portfolio".
I have worked inside several socialist enterprises for some years before the Comecon collapsed, so I have a lot of first-hand experience. What are your facts and reality?
Because when the work is contracted, the work is done in a piecemeal manner in order to show a lower budget to the committee that will be approving funds. Since the budget as a rule is never enough to allow for a proper, safe design, deployment and operation, things are done haphazardly, staff is overworked and/or under-qualified and the requirements change daily and need to be completed yesterday. As a result, you get holes, and holes get exploited.
Then some politician exploits the news to create yet another committee to investigate and countermeasure the "attacks", leaving even less money for planning and deployment, and creating more opportunities for attacks and for position for his cronies, while maintaining an image of staunch defender of National Security.
Can you? If you do a job that requires emergency long-distance travel, and you consistently refuse to be patted down and leave every time, how long will you hold your job?
Will your employer be sympathetic to you standing up for your rights?
Is that a Futurama reference of some sort? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I have not yet memorized the series, so I'm not quite sure what is your point.
Because the other side still has their business running, their executives free, their bank accounts unfrozen, the US government firmly behind their backs, and a US senator threatening his colleagues on their behalf?
has to make you wonder who Universal has in their pocket to make that happen
Hollywood was and still is the most powerful propaganda weapon that the US government has at its disposal. What makes you think they can make their voice herd only by paying money?
Why would that be a surprise? Backroom deals (settlements) are the norm in the justice system, and taking stuff to court was the last resort. Obviously, there is some negotiations about a deal in the background, and obviously the Megaupload people are not in the better position to negotiate. Was it ever different?
Break out the computers and statistics, because that's what is useful for most people after school.
Sure, bring it on. Throw out physics, biology and chemistry, they suck. But how to use those computers and statistics if you don't understand how the world you're trying to use them on actually works? You need a model to fit data against, no?
Slashdot Mirror
It is a good business model -- on one end, they act as if they own the hardware they sell you by restricting the ways third parties can deliver their information goods and services to your apple-branded hardware; on the other end, they are getting a commission from the third parties who want to deliver content to you for the privilege.
It is profits all the way, eating at both the consumer and producer surplus ;)
No surprise at all. But this is the goal of Apple in the first place. The smartphones and the tablets are like perishable goods -- the pace of new product development is fierce, so delaying a product by a few months has a huge impact on the bottom line. And that is what Apple is shooting for with patents that are at most borderline bogus.
This and a ruthless, magical marketing gives them a not insignificant edge, the quality of their products notwithstanding.
What "starts"? Withholding scientific publications because of various "national security" concerns is most definitely not a new practice.
lol! Well, culture can affect skill colour too!
Fine, so? Nobody's arguing nature-vs-nurture here except you -- with yourself. I don't really care why xenophobia comes about, if it is 80% genetic, 80% social or 80% alien due to not wearing tinfoil.
The important point is that one can deal with xenophobia, whatever its origins, by reason, and that ought to be enough for its vilest forms, if not all of it, to go away.
The other important point is that, regretfully, it doesn't happen, because it is a useful brainwashing tool.
And that's all I care about.
Skin colour is different mostly because of environmental differences. What environmental differences do you propose to explain your suggested differences in the expression of genetic xenophobia? Dark skin is beneficial where the sun is strong, lighter skin -- in the latitudes that are closer to the poles, but it seems the cruelty with which people kill the other tribe is approximately the same everywhere.
If it is a biologically-based trait, then the sentence you quote is most certainly "right", in the sense that all are born that way. Whether this is a good excuse is a totally different matter, though.
My dog was much nicer than that. What, btw, is an emporer?
You are obviously forgetting McCarthy, who was doing his best to protect America from subversive elements long before CALEA and the WoD, the incarceration of American Japanese, and who knows what else before these.
All people seem to just be born as scared-to-death xenophobes, and most just don't learn any better as they age.
Yes, I do, free of charge to causes I find worthy. I host several mailing lists, websites, etc. If I don't think you're worthy, you can always backup your shit with Titanium backup pro and dump it on several free sites.
Do you expect everybody who wants to use back to have to learn how to write a shell script?
I expect nothing, I answered your question. But if you want an answer to this question too, yes, I expect that everybody who values their data to have the necessary skills to manage it. For keeping your data "in the cloud" you don't need developer skills, you need manual reading skills and google search skills.
While I do maintain a home server and did write several scripts to make things exactly as I like them, your own server and custom scripts are not required for a "cloud solution". You can have your own easily -- all bits and pieces are already available out there for free or nearly for free, all you need is to pick the two or three that are needed, install them on your phone/tablet and read the manuals.
Then you can use even a free data dumping service like gmail to keep the backup files.
come with a stipulation in the acceptable use policy that "servers" shall not be used on them.
I'm sorry to hear that, however it is not necessary for remote data backup - see above.
BTW, In this country the last mile of the internets is run by a regulated monopoly, but that is all they run. ISPs compete from there onwards and you can choose ISP from a very large pool. The competition is strong, the prices are low and quality is outstanding. Maybe you should consider helping your country to adopt a similar model as well.
And how much does a server running ftpd cost per year to lease?
I run ftp (well, something similar) on a server and have a few scripts that allow me to sync everything on my smartphone to the "cloud". The server cost $450 to build (really bare-bones, a no-brand 6 core CPU, 16 GB of ram and a few terabytes of RAID1) and needs about $20 a month for 100mbps connection. Theoretically, it is not as reliable as the "icloud" but the current uptime is 369 days, and in that period I've experienced one network outage that lasted about 5 minutes and was announced by the provider three weeks in advance :)
As a bonus, I share the connection with the family, a few neighbors and whoever hooks up to the free spot I provide outside my place.
I hope that answers your question.
It is not enough. The process is skewed heavily in favor of the right holders and their government representatives. Even the rapporteur for ACTA at the European Parliament thinks so: https://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/ACTA_rapporteur_denounces_ACTA_mascarade
It is a lost fight unless everyone in Europe picks the phone to their EMP and tells them in no uncertain terms to vote ACTA down or lose votes. And then have all your friends do so too.
Hollywood helped the US government win two wars for the "hearts and the minds" -- the WWII, mostly domestically, and the Cold war internationally. It has been the most important piece of the propaganda machine available to the US government for nearly seven decades.
If you want the full story, Lawrence Lessig has a good and free book on the open culture with a chapter or two dedicated to the topic.
It was not a matter of "properly patenting" their UI or not at all -- at the time they would very likely not have been able to get such a nefarious patent even if they tried very hard. Unfortunately, things have changed a lot since then.
If this is the rationale, they seem to be showing a very un-Appleish return on investment, and not only short-term -- every loss seems to permanently remove value from their "intellectual property portfolio".
I have worked inside several socialist enterprises for some years before the Comecon collapsed, so I have a lot of first-hand experience. What are your facts and reality?
The corporate politics isn't all that different inside the Socialist enterprise, the difference is that everything else is much worse.
Because when the work is contracted, the work is done in a piecemeal manner in order to show a lower budget to the committee that will be approving funds. Since the budget as a rule is never enough to allow for a proper, safe design, deployment and operation, things are done haphazardly, staff is overworked and/or under-qualified and the requirements change daily and need to be completed yesterday. As a result, you get holes, and holes get exploited.
Then some politician exploits the news to create yet another committee to investigate and countermeasure the "attacks", leaving even less money for planning and deployment, and creating more opportunities for attacks and for position for his cronies, while maintaining an image of staunch defender of National Security.
Business as usual.
The small difference is that you're asking for it when you pay ;)
one can refuse the pat-down and leave
Can you? If you do a job that requires emergency long-distance travel, and you consistently refuse to be patted down and leave every time, how long will you hold your job?
Will your employer be sympathetic to you standing up for your rights?
Will your customers be?
Is that a Futurama reference of some sort? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I have not yet memorized the series, so I'm not quite sure what is your point.
Because the other side still has their business running, their executives free, their bank accounts unfrozen, the US government firmly behind their backs, and a US senator threatening his colleagues on their behalf?
has to make you wonder who Universal has in their pocket to make that happen
Hollywood was and still is the most powerful propaganda weapon that the US government has at its disposal. What makes you think they can make their voice herd only by paying money?
Why would that be a surprise? Backroom deals (settlements) are the norm in the justice system, and taking stuff to court was the last resort. Obviously, there is some negotiations about a deal in the background, and obviously the Megaupload people are not in the better position to negotiate. Was it ever different?
You seem to use "fuck" too much, why so angry?
Break out the computers and statistics, because that's what is useful for most people after school.
Sure, bring it on. Throw out physics, biology and chemistry, they suck. But how to use those computers and statistics if you don't understand how the world you're trying to use them on actually works? You need a model to fit data against, no?