Oh great - a drive to promote expensive, poorly-made goods. Wouldn't the world be sooo great if everyone drove around in hummers, doing 1mpg, breaking down every 2 yards.
There's a reason these people haven't brought production back to the US - the US has out-priced itself, and can't produce the goods any more (metaphorically and literally speaking).
This isn't flamebait or trolling or whatever, just economics.
I wouldn't want someone hacking "public airwaves" if it meant my cordless phone and WLAN stopped working. After all, no single public entity has the right to stop any other public person from using public airwaves. It seems fair enough to me.
I think people are getting confused between buying something and buying something with all the rights intact. Just because you have something in your hand doesn't mean it's yours to do with as you see fit (passports/money/drivers licenses are good examples). Unfortunately, modifying something you purchase from someone else could get the mfr in trouble. It seems fair enough that a company protect itself as best it can against such things.
This isn't the 16th century. We're not talking about a bucket of potatoes. We're talking about very expensive, very intelligent pieces of equipment with incredible potential. To expect companies to sell these ever-improving products with no say on how they'll be used is pretty naive.
I can seriously understand where you're coming from, but I think you're missing the bigger picture.
Saying it's a plot to kill tux is pretty funny. It's not. It's a plot to further the interests of companies, not quash open source. If that's what happens in the process, consider it an unfortunate effect, not the goal.
I hear you, and I know exactly what you're saying, but I don't think you understand the enormity of the work put into those drivers/firmwares. Millions of dollars is invested in drivers, and to expect a company to release the contents of those drivers for everyone (competitors included) to look at, for no commercial gain, is pretty incredible. It's not a "just in case we can make more money" deal, it's a "just in case our competitors get this and screw us out of millions, eventually leading to the closing of our company". Why would they take the risk on releasing information vital to their competitive edge?
"Protecting one's ass" is not a bad thing. They have two choices:
1. Keep drivers closed, releasing only binaries
or
2. Release source of drivers, allowing everyone and their dog to get their hands on millions of dollars of work, possibly using it against the original creator.
I'm british too:) I still think that if a company's poured millions into their drivers (nvidia is a great example here), they're well within their rights to hold onto it, whether it clashes with my personal ideology regarding softare or not - they paid for 'em, they keep 'em.:)
The only benefit for hardware manufacturers in releasing the code for their drivers is to make 2% of their market happy (OSS guys). They could also scupper their own plans in the process.:)
No, many artists don't want people to spend money on their albums, but get them free and support the artist at their live shows. That fact alone means iTMS won't be all-encompassing, by any standard.
Some hardware it's illegal to hack with or without the DMCA. Wireless equipment, for example, requires FCC-vetting before it can be used.
The DMCA, with regard to drivers, has little effect on most PC users around the world. Windows users don't have to hack drivers as manufacturers give them full-on drivers for free.
You say "hacking your hardware", but you really mean "hacking your copy of someone else's software, which they're letting you use under certain terms and conditions, which you have agreed to follow by using the hardware in question". Written like that it makes your point seem a lot less valid.
Just because you have something in your hand doesn't make it yours. Take money, for example. You have it in your wallet, yet it's not yours. You can't destroy it or copy it or anything. Passports are the same. Having it in your posession doesn't give you free reign to do whatever you want. There are lots of harmful side-effects of modifying what someone else has done, for you and that other party.
Of course, if you think it's a plot to kill Tux, fine.:)
The firmware is software that runs the hardware. Winmodems are simple analogue/digital/analogue converters, very similar to soundcards. Lots of effort is put into drivers to make them workable. I set up a fax server using 3 HCF modems, and bad drivers made it nigh-on impossible to set up. Hylafax worked like a dream with a hardware modem, and the modems worked fine in Windows, but the two together without real manufacturer-supplied drivers sucked so much we binned the project. Firmware is more advanced than just displaying a logo at boot-up. In the case of soft modems, the firmware IS the modem.
I can't see why people are getting upset about this. The free market almost requires mfrs to use firware, as it cuts costs incredibly. And it's also a lot easier updating firmware over the net than hardware:)
If a hardware company can save money by putting firmware on chips, then let them. We are in no position to use our ideology to dictate their business model. If we don't like what they're doing, we can just walk away. As it is, firmware makes things a LOT cheaper, so it's not going anyware soon. Firmware has been a core component of hardware companies for years and years. Open firmware is good, but closed firmware makes bleeding-edge technologies possible, such as graphics cards etc.
It can be illegal, actually. If the omnipotent RIAA-esque organisation has sole distribution rights for music in its catalogue, then yes - bringing it into the country without them saying it's OK is breaking the law. It happened in the UK with records being imported from Hong Kong.
Without the firmware, that router of yours would cease working. Whether you know it or not, every purchase of hardware you buy for your computer is dependent HEAVILY on the firmware. It's the same with drivers, and owing to the fact it's easier and cheaper to change something in sofware than hardware, more and more will be done in drivers/firmware, which means this will get even more common.
If you can't find it in your heart to accept binary drivers, maybe computers aren't for you;) j/k
Having a degree or certification doesn't prove anything except the fact you have a degree or certification. Lots of people can recite, parrot-fashion, everything they need to pass any test. It's a different breed of person who can pull that out of the deepest recesses of their mind and apply it in a timely and effective manner, suitable to the business at hand.
Looking for applicants with degrees/certs is siding on lazy. You have to look for the right applicant, not the right degree. After all, we're talking about PEOPLE not machines. There are many valid reasons for people to not go to college. Prejudicing against them not only hurts them, but possibly the hirer too.
In a field such as IT, technology changes faster than any course at a college. They can't teach real-world experience. I've been to college, and I know it's true. They can teach you case studies and methodology but they can't teach you about office politics and "picky servers set up by some guy 18 months ago". You have to figure that out for yourself. Your success in the real world has nothing to do with degrees. If you're a smart cookie and can let people see that, you're set. In many cases experience does a person more good than a degree.
Remember, when you get out of college, you're instantly 4 years of real-life experience behind someone your same age who didn't go. A lot changes in 4 years...
Don't automatically assume this is going to decay into some name-calling debacle. The US might stoop to calling names and being childish, but European courts are more concerned with the matters at hand than whether they can "stick it to the US". Don't get above yourself:)
Remember, it wasn't France who came up with "Freedom Fries". Do you know how bad the US looked after that? hehehe probably not:)
I hear ya. Christianity has a good little "get out of heresy free card" it can play here - God told people, and people are fallable (indeed, imperfect). That means that through the hands of people, God's word got all funkified.
All that stuff about coveting thy neighbour's wife? It was written by a guy who's wife ran off. Gay = bad? Written by a fella who didn't like gay people.
The people who translated and copied the bible added their own spin. They made it conform to their own personal beliefs. The bible is steeped in time-old bigotry and bias, yet is so "wonderfully divine" most Christians would rather chew their own feet off than question it.
That's something completely different. That's video projected onto a small bit of glass over one eye, as opposed to a laser projecting directly on a retina. It's a personal HUD, nothing more. It doesn't even involve lasers.
Do you get mad when you go round a friends house and they ask you if you want a beer or a cup of tea?
friend: "pclminion - what do you want to drink? Beer? Cup of tea?"
pclminion: "WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT ME!?! VALUE MY PRIVACY, DAMN YOU!"
They want to make the park better for you, not worse. Good park = repeat custom = more money for them. Bad park = lawsuits = no money for them.
It's specifically for the exact situation you mention - when the child gets seperated from its parents. They're not talking about just knowing where the kid is, but finding them if they get lost.
They can't get any more information from this than just observing people's movements through the park. Simple metrics from vendors and trial-and-error placement of stalls, etc. covers their "candy aisle" scheming more than adequately. We're not talking about millions of people here:)
If you're in public, you have no privacy. That's what public means. When you step outside of your foil-lined house, you're accepting the fact that people can see you.
What's different about the methods you describe and people following you around and spying on you? Nothing. It just happens easier, and you can't spot it. Do you get annoyed/scared/tingly when people look at you outside? It's not as if the only way for people to even notice you outside is via CCTV. People have eyes and memories, and can talk to each other.
If you don't want people looking at you, don't go outside. That's what "public" and "private" mean.
You'll fit right in in the US. If you think security and tracking is off the hook here, just see what happens in the states. The difference there is if you act up, you get a redneck with a revolver in your face, calling you a terrorist.
We have a constitution, by the way. We've had one for ages. It's just not in one place, or in a "So You're An American Citizen"-style pamphlet. If you researched the society you believe is trying to spy you into the ground, you'd realise just what you're leaving. I guess it's wasted on some people. have fun!
This isn't the first technology to "help" parents, so I think your point is a bit late:) Baby monitors, etc. Electronics are everywhere in modern parenting, and unfortunately act as a crutch for the less-inclined parents to goof off.
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There's a reason these people haven't brought production back to the US - the US has out-priced itself, and can't produce the goods any more (metaphorically and literally speaking).
This isn't flamebait or trolling or whatever, just economics.
I think people are getting confused between buying something and buying something with all the rights intact. Just because you have something in your hand doesn't mean it's yours to do with as you see fit (passports/money/drivers licenses are good examples). Unfortunately, modifying something you purchase from someone else could get the mfr in trouble. It seems fair enough that a company protect itself as best it can against such things.
This isn't the 16th century. We're not talking about a bucket of potatoes. We're talking about very expensive, very intelligent pieces of equipment with incredible potential. To expect companies to sell these ever-improving products with no say on how they'll be used is pretty naive.
I can seriously understand where you're coming from, but I think you're missing the bigger picture.
Saying it's a plot to kill tux is pretty funny. It's not. It's a plot to further the interests of companies, not quash open source. If that's what happens in the process, consider it an unfortunate effect, not the goal.
"Protecting one's ass" is not a bad thing. They have two choices:
1. Keep drivers closed, releasing only binaries
or
2. Release source of drivers, allowing everyone and their dog to get their hands on millions of dollars of work, possibly using it against the original creator.
I'm british too :) I still think that if a company's poured millions into their drivers (nvidia is a great example here), they're well within their rights to hold onto it, whether it clashes with my personal ideology regarding softare or not - they paid for 'em, they keep 'em. :)
The only benefit for hardware manufacturers in releasing the code for their drivers is to make 2% of their market happy (OSS guys). They could also scupper their own plans in the process. :)
No, many artists don't want people to spend money on their albums, but get them free and support the artist at their live shows. That fact alone means iTMS won't be all-encompassing, by any standard.
The DMCA, with regard to drivers, has little effect on most PC users around the world. Windows users don't have to hack drivers as manufacturers give them full-on drivers for free.
You say "hacking your hardware", but you really mean "hacking your copy of someone else's software, which they're letting you use under certain terms and conditions, which you have agreed to follow by using the hardware in question". Written like that it makes your point seem a lot less valid.
Just because you have something in your hand doesn't make it yours. Take money, for example. You have it in your wallet, yet it's not yours. You can't destroy it or copy it or anything. Passports are the same. Having it in your posession doesn't give you free reign to do whatever you want. There are lots of harmful side-effects of modifying what someone else has done, for you and that other party.
Of course, if you think it's a plot to kill Tux, fine. :)
I can't see why people are getting upset about this. The free market almost requires mfrs to use firware, as it cuts costs incredibly. And it's also a lot easier updating firmware over the net than hardware :)
If a hardware company can save money by putting firmware on chips, then let them. We are in no position to use our ideology to dictate their business model. If we don't like what they're doing, we can just walk away. As it is, firmware makes things a LOT cheaper, so it's not going anyware soon. Firmware has been a core component of hardware companies for years and years. Open firmware is good, but closed firmware makes bleeding-edge technologies possible, such as graphics cards etc.
It can be illegal, actually. If the omnipotent RIAA-esque organisation has sole distribution rights for music in its catalogue, then yes - bringing it into the country without them saying it's OK is breaking the law. It happened in the UK with records being imported from Hong Kong.
If you can't find it in your heart to accept binary drivers, maybe computers aren't for you ;) j/k
Jeez - you really think like that?? and don't mind???
Looking for applicants with degrees/certs is siding on lazy. You have to look for the right applicant, not the right degree. After all, we're talking about PEOPLE not machines. There are many valid reasons for people to not go to college. Prejudicing against them not only hurts them, but possibly the hirer too.
In a field such as IT, technology changes faster than any course at a college. They can't teach real-world experience. I've been to college, and I know it's true. They can teach you case studies and methodology but they can't teach you about office politics and "picky servers set up by some guy 18 months ago". You have to figure that out for yourself. Your success in the real world has nothing to do with degrees. If you're a smart cookie and can let people see that, you're set. In many cases experience does a person more good than a degree.
Remember, when you get out of college, you're instantly 4 years of real-life experience behind someone your same age who didn't go. A lot changes in 4 years...
You move "down" to management, regardless where you start ;)
Those burgers don't flip themselves...
The military certs are tough to get 'cos of the applicant, not the test :-P
Remember, it wasn't France who came up with "Freedom Fries". Do you know how bad the US looked after that? hehehe probably not :)
All that stuff about coveting thy neighbour's wife? It was written by a guy who's wife ran off. Gay = bad? Written by a fella who didn't like gay people.
The people who translated and copied the bible added their own spin. They made it conform to their own personal beliefs. The bible is steeped in time-old bigotry and bias, yet is so "wonderfully divine" most Christians would rather chew their own feet off than question it.
That's something completely different. That's video projected onto a small bit of glass over one eye, as opposed to a laser projecting directly on a retina. It's a personal HUD, nothing more. It doesn't even involve lasers.
friend: "pclminion - what do you want to drink? Beer? Cup of tea?"
pclminion: "WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT ME!?! VALUE MY PRIVACY, DAMN YOU!"
They want to make the park better for you, not worse. Good park = repeat custom = more money for them. Bad park = lawsuits = no money for them.
They can't get any more information from this than just observing people's movements through the park. Simple metrics from vendors and trial-and-error placement of stalls, etc. covers their "candy aisle" scheming more than adequately. We're not talking about millions of people here :)
What's different about the methods you describe and people following you around and spying on you? Nothing. It just happens easier, and you can't spot it. Do you get annoyed/scared/tingly when people look at you outside? It's not as if the only way for people to even notice you outside is via CCTV. People have eyes and memories, and can talk to each other.
If you don't want people looking at you, don't go outside. That's what "public" and "private" mean.
You'll fit right in in the US. If you think security and tracking is off the hook here, just see what happens in the states. The difference there is if you act up, you get a redneck with a revolver in your face, calling you a terrorist.
We have a constitution, by the way. We've had one for ages. It's just not in one place, or in a "So You're An American Citizen"-style pamphlet. If you researched the society you believe is trying to spy you into the ground, you'd realise just what you're leaving. I guess it's wasted on some people. have fun!
This isn't the first technology to "help" parents, so I think your point is a bit late :) Baby monitors, etc. Electronics are everywhere in modern parenting, and unfortunately act as a crutch for the less-inclined parents to goof off.
Fair enough if Lego came round and put one in your bathroom...
dude! always start by re-routing the encryptions before you try anything like that, otherwise you'll be in a world of pain!
They're in the majority in the UK.
Tell it to Bush. DOMA? Grow up.