Here's my quick letter, written before this thing ever showed up on slashdot. Bravo for other folks for correcting the factual errors. I just felt driven to express my disgust, and did not have time to address the details.
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This article is outrageous! There is absolutely no foundation to the
allegations that proponents of linux are behind the virus-led DDOS
attacks against SCO. Absolutely none. Whatever asinine fool wrote this
virus could have chosen any web site to attack. SCO was either a
company personally disdained by the author (a former SCO employee,
perhaps?), or much more likely, the company's web site was chosen to
point attention towards linux proponents, and draw it away from the
virus' creator.
This article paints linux users as a bunch of warriors gone mad in some
sort of an all-out war of the operating systems. The vast majority of
linux users, "zealots" or not, are disgusted by this virus (and all
malicious software) and many have been vocal with their opposition to
this sort of attack.
Usually the BBC has shown a very even hand in its reporting of the
popularity of, differences between, and problems with Microsoft Windows
and linux-based operating systems (linux is not an operating system, it
is merely part of a group of programs which together make an operating
system). Your coverage of computer affairs has always seemed very fair
and reasonable to me.
This article by Mr. Evans is anything but fair and reasonable. It is
poisonous.
Sorry, don't think so. How many WinZip registration keys are floating around the internet? How much lost profit $$ does that represent for them?
You're smoking crack. It doesn't represent ANY "lost profit $$" for them. Assholes who use those reg. keys wouldn't have paid for the software anyway, whether it's downloaded shareware or sold off the shelf at Fry's.
Many honest people pay for shareware. People are going to 'steal' your software no matter what your (non free) license is. Honest people will buy it. As a former shareware author (and one who has paid for shareware), I speak from experience.
Meanwhile, you don't need to worry much about packaging costs or membership in the BSA or--if your product is good enough--marketing, for that matter. How many of you heard of WinZip (to use Mr. Jones' example) from an advertisement?
Cool. I read your post carefully and all that seemed clear to me is you hadn't spotted any port 80 traffic via your proxy, which didn't surprise me in the least. Thanks for the report.
When I am riding hard, the thing I might possibly be able to use in a head-up display would be a tachometer, not a speedometer
Well, the *ahem* article says, and I quote (emphasis added):
The Sportvue head-mounted display will allow riders to see speed, r.p.m. and gear position without taking their eyes off the road. The system gathers speed information from a global positioning satellite receiver attached to the rear of the helmet.
In response to other readers' comments about excessive time lag with GPS-determined speed, I suppose the information could still be useful for checking the accuracy of your bike's speedo on straightaways and at constant speeds. I can't see too many people throwing down a few hundred bucks just for that, though.
Anyway... personally, as a serious and long-time motorcyclist, I can't imagine having much use for a unit like this unless the speed was sourced from a wheel-mounted sensor, and calibrated for wheel (tire) diameter, as with bicycle speedometers (I actually know at least one motorcyclist who uses a bicycle speedo on his motorbike).
A HUD might be useful for racers, who have a real need to constantly monitor their RPMs (incidentally, race bikes don't even have speedometers). Most of us (who don't play racer boys on the public streets) aren't going to worry so much about redlining our bikes that we need to constantly monitor the tach, and once we get to know a bike, we'll know when to shift by sound and feel, not by watching for RPM shiftpoints.
So it all seems pretty silly unless it can determine speed without GPS. It seems to me it could be a lot cheaper without GPS besides, and without any concerns about Big Brother.
It's a barely-ready-for-snapshot *unstable* version. I'd pretty much call that an alpha. It's nowhere near ready for final release. Hell, I can't even get today's snapshot to work at all.
One of their main excuses for doing that was to curtail kiddie porn.
If you ask me, restricting/curtailing chat rooms is a great thing. Let the kids talk to their existing friends on IM, but not venture into some public forum where anyone can accost/be"friend" them.
But anyway, there's extensive discussion of the issue here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/31360 06.stm and here: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/0 9/24/06 2218&mode=thread&tid=109&tid=126&tid=187&tid=9 5
I'm not even sure you deserve a response, what with the 'hippie programmer' troll...
But whenever I'm involved the hiring process, those candidates who have been involved in volunteer work of _any_ kind will always get extra points from me.
I'd rather have someone working for me who isn't soley interested in their _own_ bottom line and that Escalade they've been lusting after. Someone who's a pure mercenary seems less likely to put their heart into the project they're working on, and more likely to rip off my company any chance they get. Funny, when I worked at a certain large corporation, that could have described my boss. Nope, I wouldn't have hired him either.
So you don't like people who are willing to contribute to society while further developing their job-related skills?
Let me guess. You wouldn't hire some slacker like Linus Torvalds in a million years, would you?
Damned hippie programmers. Look what the 'great unwashed' have done with that kernel he gave them!
I'm looking to hire someone who will put in the effort to grow our business and boost our stock price.
Right, that'll also help those super-valuable (some day...) stock options you're offering them? Oh wait, that trick doesn't work any more does it?
Oh, I get it, you're looking for slaves. Me, I'd rather have human beings working with/for me. I pity your little hirelings.
...This look like an interesting addition to any home, even if the article's title is a bit of a misnomer.
It's not a misnomer, it's just a little culture shock for our humble editors:) But when I saw the headline on the BBC front page the other day, I'll admit I also "fell for it" at first. But seriously, since these "Jurassic Pines" are being marketed as house plants, rather than something to put in your yard, they'll be spending their lives in big pots--hence, "pot plants".
I'm sure the British have been calling plants in pots "pot plants" long before the slang usage of "pot" as a word for dope came into common use.
A few years ago, while walking in London, I saw a sidewalk sandwich-board advertising "Sale! Pot plants L2.50" and you can bet I wish I'd had my camera with me so I could have titillated my Yankee friends back home.
Anyway, I'm sure the Brits in our audience see such things every day and make nothing of it. Do you guys over there even call marijuana "pot"? The BBC normally refers to it as "cannabis".
-gnunick
They use different words for things in America. For instance they say elevator and we say lift. They say drapes and we say curtains. They say president and we say brain damaged git.
-- Alexei Sayle
Slashdot Mirror
-------------
This article is outrageous! There is absolutely no foundation to the allegations that proponents of linux are behind the virus-led DDOS attacks against SCO. Absolutely none. Whatever asinine fool wrote this virus could have chosen any web site to attack. SCO was either a company personally disdained by the author (a former SCO employee, perhaps?), or much more likely, the company's web site was chosen to point attention towards linux proponents, and draw it away from the virus' creator.
This article paints linux users as a bunch of warriors gone mad in some sort of an all-out war of the operating systems. The vast majority of linux users, "zealots" or not, are disgusted by this virus (and all malicious software) and many have been vocal with their opposition to this sort of attack.
Usually the BBC has shown a very even hand in its reporting of the popularity of, differences between, and problems with Microsoft Windows and linux-based operating systems (linux is not an operating system, it is merely part of a group of programs which together make an operating system). Your coverage of computer affairs has always seemed very fair and reasonable to me.
This article by Mr. Evans is anything but fair and reasonable. It is poisonous.
Sincerely, (my name)
You're smoking crack. It doesn't represent ANY "lost profit $$" for them. Assholes who use those reg. keys wouldn't have paid for the software anyway, whether it's downloaded shareware or sold off the shelf at Fry's.
Many honest people pay for shareware. People are going to 'steal' your software no matter what your (non free) license is. Honest people will buy it. As a former shareware author (and one who has paid for shareware), I speak from experience.
Meanwhile, you don't need to worry much about packaging costs or membership in the BSA or--if your product is good enough--marketing, for that matter. How many of you heard of WinZip (to use Mr. Jones' example) from an advertisement?
Cool. I read your post carefully and all that seemed clear to me is you hadn't spotted any port 80 traffic via your proxy, which didn't surprise me in the least. Thanks for the report.
Ummm.. it's not even supposed to start until Feburary 1. Are you living in the future, or too busy to read the news?
Why should I trust software from an author who offers to protect my computer for free, when he's so rabidly against opening his source code?
See the end of his FAQ
So how do we know else it really does?
Well, the *ahem* article says, and I quote (emphasis added):
In response to other readers' comments about excessive time lag with GPS-determined speed, I suppose the information could still be useful for checking the accuracy of your bike's speedo on straightaways and at constant speeds. I can't see too many people throwing down a few hundred bucks just for that, though.
Anyway... personally, as a serious and long-time motorcyclist, I can't imagine having much use for a unit like this unless the speed was sourced from a wheel-mounted sensor, and calibrated for wheel (tire) diameter, as with bicycle speedometers (I actually know at least one motorcyclist who uses a bicycle speedo on his motorbike).
A HUD might be useful for racers, who have a real need to constantly monitor their RPMs (incidentally, race bikes don't even have speedometers). Most of us (who don't play racer boys on the public streets) aren't going to worry so much about redlining our bikes that we need to constantly monitor the tach, and once we get to know a bike, we'll know when to shift by sound and feel, not by watching for RPM shiftpoints.
So it all seems pretty silly unless it can determine speed without GPS. It seems to me it could be a lot cheaper without GPS besides, and without any concerns about Big Brother.
It's a barely-ready-for-snapshot *unstable* version. I'd pretty much call that an alpha. It's nowhere near ready for final release. Hell, I can't even get today's snapshot to work at all.
One of their main excuses for doing that was to curtail kiddie porn.
0 06.stm0 9/24/06 2218&mode=thread&tid=109&tid=126&tid=187&tid=9 5
If you ask me, restricting/curtailing chat rooms is a great thing. Let the kids talk to their existing friends on IM, but not venture into some public forum where anyone can accost/be"friend" them.
But anyway, there's extensive discussion of the issue here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3136
and here:
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/
do the google if you want more...
But whenever I'm involved the hiring process, those candidates who have been involved in volunteer work of _any_ kind will always get extra points from me.
I'd rather have someone working for me who isn't soley interested in their _own_ bottom line and that Escalade they've been lusting after. Someone who's a pure mercenary seems less likely to put their heart into the project they're working on, and more likely to rip off my company any chance they get. Funny, when I worked at a certain large corporation, that could have described my boss. Nope, I wouldn't have hired him either.
So you don't like people who are willing to contribute to society while further developing their job-related skills?
Let me guess. You wouldn't hire some slacker like Linus Torvalds in a million years, would you?
Damned hippie programmers. Look what the 'great unwashed' have done with that kernel he gave them!
I'm looking to hire someone who will put in the effort to grow our business and boost our stock price.
Right, that'll also help those super-valuable (some day...) stock options you're offering them? Oh wait, that trick doesn't work any more does it?
Oh, I get it, you're looking for slaves. Me, I'd rather have human beings working with/for me. I pity your little hirelings.
ta GN>
It's not a misnomer, it's just a little culture shock for our humble editors :) But when I saw the headline on the BBC front page the other day, I'll admit I also "fell for it" at first. But seriously, since these "Jurassic Pines" are being marketed as house plants, rather than something to put in your yard, they'll be spending their lives in big pots--hence, "pot plants".
I'm sure the British have been calling plants in pots "pot plants" long before the slang usage of "pot" as a word for dope came into common use.
A few years ago, while walking in London, I saw a sidewalk sandwich-board advertising "Sale! Pot plants L2.50" and you can bet I wish I'd had my camera with me so I could have titillated my Yankee friends back home.
Anyway, I'm sure the Brits in our audience see such things every day and make nothing of it. Do you guys over there even call marijuana "pot"? The BBC normally refers to it as "cannabis".
-gnunick
They use different words for things in America. For instance they say elevator and we say lift. They say drapes and we say curtains. They say president and we say brain damaged git. -- Alexei Sayle