Well, if it's actually backwards, it would probably be written in the local character set. Slashcode will probably munge these examples, but Semitic languages are notorious for traditionally transliterating everything (with the major exception of bibliography entries). This is probably because of the orientation of the text. If you look at a localized copy of any operating system, you will see just about everything reversed, including things like webbrowser arrows (Left pointing is forward, right pointing is backward---it just makes sense in context).
For instance: بي  اس  دي = Bii Aas Dii == BSD فری  بی  اس  دي = Frii Bii Aas Dii == FreeBSD لينوكس = Liinuuks == Linux ويندوز = Wiinduuz == Windows دوج = Duudg = Dodge (automotive) I've also seen one example ( http://www.neelwafurat.com -- Look at the logo) write its own name with  كوم. (dot kuum) at the end. Truth be told, I'm really in favor of this. As an L2 speaker of Arabic, having to code switch so often is just plain silly and actually far more confusing than we may joke about on here.
(And yes, slashcode strikes again, but I'm too lazy to go back and delete what I typed. I put it in codemode so you can see the escapes if your heart desires)
As far as notation goes, yes. Modern musical typesetting is just an adaptation of engraving scores. There are pitfalls, yes, but it's really not that much different at all. Many recently-printed scores will, for instance, still use German or Italian names for instruments, and old Italian is used for essentially all written directives, even today. Furthermore, I think most classical musicians would probably be "experts" (a misnomer, because there's not much to learn) in older notation, just by virtue of their calling. Likewise for instruments and so on. Even if these details are not understood fully, the music can still be played.
Now trying to sightread handwritten music, that may be a different story. But not all music was scribe-written at the time, especially in Germany where music engraving began to flourish in the seventeenth century.
I think the real question would be, Is a recent retypesetting of the same music copyrightable? If Mutopia transcribes a Bach piece into lilypond format, can someone sue them because they transcribed it from a commercial (allegedly copyrighted) score and not an original?
The article has it backwards. It's not the librarians job to learn how to serve millions of individual patrons (some of whom are research professors by now and will not tolerate this article's bull attitude to information accessibility, thank you very much). It's the individuals job to know how to look for information and ask questions. People who can't (or refuse) do this are consigned forever to be tourists to the land of real knowledge, with cheap phrasebook knowledge of the language spoken therein---to use the article's analogy. It's not their job to make you care about the topic at hand.
On a related note, try learning about the habits of those who actually DO know about technology: http://www.rap.ucar.edu/staff/tres/elements.html. This is just one of many examples of related phenomena, but I can attest.
Correction: depictions of currency are not copyrighted, and postage stamps are copyrighted if released after 1978, at least according to Wikipedia. The distinctions are probably important, however, IANAL.
I adminned for a LAN party once. We did it in the school cafeteria from 10AM to 11PM. The guys who set up the boxes had half of the machines plugged into a single outlet. Apparently this half of the place was pwnz0ring the other half because I remember things getting louder from that side. Then they got louder still in the form of some words I had never heard before when I walked past and tripped over it.
I don't remember much after that. Good times.
Adams needs to stick to comedy, because his apparent world view is both laughable, pitiful, and additionally, just plain unhealthy. It's sad that he doesn't bother to consider those of us who are going out of our way to actually be more tolerant, especially atheists. I'm sure Gates himself would agree.
Mod me down if you will (and I _know_ you will), but fueling this kind of stereotype is the reason the current "war"---and many like it---started in the first blasted place.
I think it stands for eXPerience. Leaving it as a verb without a clarifying noun leaves the door open, however, for a plethora of really corny joke names...
How can someone do something so smart only by doing something so dumb?
Anyone remember the episode of South Park, describing the history of Mormons?
Sorry, but if you use that show (which, by the way, I used to watch occasionally until I saw that episode; they were just trying to make the church look bad) as an authorative reference, then I'm afraid you're the one that's been fooled. I knew that by bringing this up I was going to present the opportunity for someone---an AC, no less---to start attacking my faith. Perhaps you don't adhere to the same beliefs that I do, but it's not worth a flamewar. I was just trying to tell my story as it was pertinent to abstinence from caffeine.
That, eventually worked for me. *sigh* The most coffee I ever drank was about 4 pots in the space of about 7 hours (with the average being closer to 1 pot in the space of three, thank goodness).
Now, I've become a Mormon. The fact that Mormons are proscribed coffee and caffeinated tea was a godsend (pun intended). Seriously, though, after learning about the doctrine (known within the church as the Word of Wisdom), I went completely cold turkey. KILLER headaches ensued. I couldn't even see clearly for a couple of days. After that, though, I was sleeping a ``normal'' 7 hours a night, my grades shot up, and I was more attentative than ever before; not to mention the fact that I finally took an interest in finding a girlfriend...I guess caffeine is responsible for a lot of characteristics of geeks.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, if it's actually backwards, it would probably be written in the local character set. Slashcode will probably munge these examples, but Semitic languages are notorious for traditionally transliterating everything (with the major exception of bibliography entries). This is probably because of the orientation of the text. If you look at a localized copy of any operating system, you will see just about everything reversed, including things like webbrowser arrows (Left pointing is forward, right pointing is backward---it just makes sense in context).
For instance:
بي  اس  دي = Bii Aas Dii == BSD
فری  بی  اس  دي = Frii Bii Aas Dii == FreeBSD
لينوكس = Liinuuks == Linux
ويندوز = Wiinduuz == Windows
دوج = Duudg = Dodge (automotive)
I've also seen one example ( http://www.neelwafurat.com -- Look at the logo) write its own name with  كوم. (dot kuum) at the end. Truth be told, I'm really in favor of this. As an L2 speaker of Arabic, having to code switch so often is just plain silly and actually far more confusing than we may joke about on here.
(And yes, slashcode strikes again, but I'm too lazy to go back and delete what I typed. I put it in codemode so you can see the escapes if your heart desires)
NetBSD uses shadow passwords too. Check your facts at the door.
They fail because Chuck Norris throws them.
There, fixed that for you.
And now this thread is complete!
As far as notation goes, yes. Modern musical typesetting is just an adaptation of engraving scores. There are pitfalls, yes, but it's really not that much different at all. Many recently-printed scores will, for instance, still use German or Italian names for instruments, and old Italian is used for essentially all written directives, even today. Furthermore, I think most classical musicians would probably be "experts" (a misnomer, because there's not much to learn) in older notation, just by virtue of their calling. Likewise for instruments and so on. Even if these details are not understood fully, the music can still be played.
Now trying to sightread handwritten music, that may be a different story. But not all music was scribe-written at the time, especially in Germany where music engraving began to flourish in the seventeenth century.
I think the real question would be, Is a recent retypesetting of the same music copyrightable? If Mutopia transcribes a Bach piece into lilypond format, can someone sue them because they transcribed it from a commercial (allegedly copyrighted) score and not an original?
He's saying that works by the US Government are in the public domain. Nice one, tho
Hear, Hear!
The article has it backwards. It's not the librarians job to learn how to serve millions of individual patrons (some of whom are research professors by now and will not tolerate this article's bull attitude to information accessibility, thank you very much). It's the individuals job to know how to look for information and ask questions. People who can't (or refuse) do this are consigned forever to be tourists to the land of real knowledge, with cheap phrasebook knowledge of the language spoken therein---to use the article's analogy. It's not their job to make you care about the topic at hand.
On a related note, try learning about the habits of those who actually DO know about technology: http://www.rap.ucar.edu/staff/tres/elements.html. This is just one of many examples of related phenomena, but I can attest.
Light sabers, anyone?
Ancestry.com isn't run by the Church. You're thinking of familysearch.com
Why is this on slashdot in the first place?
Really, why?
Correction: depictions of currency are not copyrighted, and postage stamps are copyrighted if released after 1978, at least according to Wikipedia. The distinctions are probably important, however, IANAL.
Well, in the US at least, currency is not copyrighted (except for certain coins, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Money-US , and postage stamps are only copyrighted if produced after 1978 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_ Service#Postage_stamps ).
CSS is Finnished then.
Schmidt! Yes, I effed that one up.
neil diamond
Still searching for that artificial heart of gold, eh? I know the feeling.
I adminned for a LAN party once. We did it in the school cafeteria from 10AM to 11PM. The guys who set up the boxes had half of the machines plugged into a single outlet. Apparently this half of the place was pwnz0ring the other half because I remember things getting louder from that side. Then they got louder still in the form of some words I had never heard before when I walked past and tripped over it. I don't remember much after that. Good times.
I concur.
Adams needs to stick to comedy, because his apparent world view is both laughable, pitiful, and additionally, just plain unhealthy. It's sad that he doesn't bother to consider those of us who are going out of our way to actually be more tolerant, especially atheists. I'm sure Gates himself would agree.
Mod me down if you will (and I _know_ you will), but fueling this kind of stereotype is the reason the current "war"---and many like it---started in the first blasted place.
Missy...I mean, mom...your Myspace page is most heinous. Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K....
Or how about the mouse-embedded screen. Kinda hard to watch DVDs on.
but will it run Linux?
Oh wait...
they are not proper pronouns.
No, they're proper adjectives (ie. capitalized)
I think it stands for eXPerience. Leaving it as a verb without a clarifying noun leaves the door open, however, for a plethora of really corny joke names...
Some sort of text-to-speech engine?
How can someone do something so smart only by doing something so dumb?
Anyone remember the episode of South Park, describing the history of Mormons?
Sorry, but if you use that show (which, by the way, I used to watch occasionally until I saw that episode; they were just trying to make the church look bad) as an authorative reference, then I'm afraid you're the one that's been fooled. I knew that by bringing this up I was going to present the opportunity for someone---an AC, no less---to start attacking my faith. Perhaps you don't adhere to the same beliefs that I do, but it's not worth a flamewar. I was just trying to tell my story as it was pertinent to abstinence from caffeine.
How about quitting cold turkey?
That, eventually worked for me. *sigh* The most coffee I ever drank was about 4 pots in the space of about 7 hours (with the average being closer to 1 pot in the space of three, thank goodness).
Now, I've become a Mormon. The fact that Mormons are proscribed coffee and caffeinated tea was a godsend (pun intended). Seriously, though, after learning about the doctrine (known within the church as the Word of Wisdom), I went completely cold turkey. KILLER headaches ensued. I couldn't even see clearly for a couple of days. After that, though, I was sleeping a ``normal'' 7 hours a night, my grades shot up, and I was more attentative than ever before; not to mention the fact that I finally took an interest in finding a girlfriend...I guess caffeine is responsible for a lot of characteristics of geeks.
That poor, poor, server...it's already sluggish. But then again, CVS isn't much better.