..there's no denying that Bill Gates made PCs mainstream and accessible-with Windows 95..
PC's were mainstream and accessible before that, in the Win 3.X era. All the hype that sorrounded the Win95 launch IMO was (besides all the marketing from MSFT) that it would be the next major upgrade to Windows since it became popular.
anyone could use a PC-no need to muck about with a terminal, or config.sys, or compile your own kernel.
I don't remember having to do so in my old C-64. Neither Apple users. So, what is the merit on Mr. Gates?
Yes, Win95 users didn't really need to know how does the OS work to use it, but it was pretty much like that in the Win 3.1x age. Of course, when things got broken, a geek was needed to fix them, but it didn't change too much in Win95 and even today.
..I think many geeks hate him for demystifying computer use-suddenly..
Yeah, right. He did it all that by himself. And he invented PCs and The Internet too!
..their skills were obsolete in the face of Plug and Play.
Yes, Plug and Pray, as it was known at that time. And it has been a myth, until recently. And it didn't make computer geeks become obsolete, it let them with more time to do things more interesting than making the damned sound card work in Windows.
MSN is not going to beat google anytime soon in my opinion. Not unless google makes some silly decision.
I fear google to actually make stupid decisions. When I read that they want to make other things like "embed google search into handheld devices", reminds me when Netscape became involved with Sun's Java thin clients.
There is another "free" trade agreement to be signed between the US and central american countries, CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) It also has a chapter about Intellectual Property, with the same kind of DMCA-like and everything-is-patentable regulations.
And this agreement is sold by the media, wealthy elites and goverment propaganda (at least in Costa Rica) as a "we must sign it or we all will starve" thing.
Funny, text of CAFTA is very similar to the Australia Agreement text: same structure and chapter names. It's like the US Trade Representative has a template for agreements like these, on top of which negotiations take place. So these are not really agreeements between two parties, but some sort of take-it-or-leave-it imposition.
Even in CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement ) another "Free" Trade Agreement the US would sign with central american countries, which also includes DMCA-like regulatios; ISP's won't be liable for what their customers do, altough they shall cooperate to detect copyright infringers.
It's kind of funny how big is the gap between american standars and those in the third world.
For example, in my country, if you can:
-Work on a PhD degree -Travel every summer to exotic places -Afford to live alone in a nice apartment with an office -Have a desktop AND a laptop computer
like you do, you live WAY ABOVE the national poverty line.
Unfortunately, the whole world is becoming like the US. Corporations act globally, and they have the power to convince goverments. For example, Central American countries will have to adapt their local IP laws to accept things like the DMCA and software patents to get to sign a free trade agreement with the US (CAFTA)
-Hi, Thank you for calling Dell technical support. My name is Richard. How may I help you?
-Hello, I ordered a PowerEdge server with Red Hat Enterprise Linux on it...
-Excuse me, I would appreciate that you call it GNU/Linux. By using that name, you acknowledge all the contribution of the GNU project in a GNU/Linux Operating system.
-Well OK, I have Red Hat Enterprise GNU/Linux and I'm having this problem...
-Of course you have a problem! You are running a GNU/Linux distribution with pieces of software that are non free. Non Free software is evil! By using it you are privating your neighboor to receive the benefits from it.
-Is it that bad?
-Yes. If you use a single piece of non free software, you can't be a saint in the church of Emacs.
User hangs up the phone
Supervisor (with indian accent): Mr Stallman. Can you please come to my office?
A very good book, sometimes makes me dream about starting a company with my geek friends.
And yes, some characters are kind of Apple fans; altought Coupland points that the corporate culture of both companies is very alike.
Re:This won't spell the end to software developmen
on
Perens on Patents
·
· Score: 0
Things are different now. The "big boys" in contries that respect patents are also "the big boys" worldwide, they use their lobbying power to make sure "protection to their IP" is enforced anywhere.
For example, "free trade" agreements between the U.S. and poor latin american countries are often depicted as the only and magical solution to these countries, so their goverments will do whatever is needed to sign one of these. These agreements generally give more benefits on patents holders than those existing in those counries. Proposal for FTAA (Free Trade Are of the Americas) includes DRM issues more strict than those in the DMCA.
For example, CAFTA (the agreement U.S. is negotiating with Central America) will require more barriers to generic drugs, this will extend the monopoly the patent holder (big pharma) has on every drug; as a result, millions of people already poor won't be able to afford medicines.
I didn't like it. The book has a good start (from a geek perspective)
One character comes up with an algorithm to get hidden messages in ancient books by making anagrams of the text on them. The book evens shows a piece of source code to generate all possible anagrams from a single word (well, the source code sucks because it's on early 80's basic and it uses goto's like hell)
But from there, the book begins to decay. It gets boring and silly. The end really sucks.
Slashdot Mirror
rather than address in any meaningful way, US lawmakers will try to "fix" by imposing the DMCA on the entire world via treaties
They are already doing that. For example, these regulations will be imposed on Central America. Similar regulations would be imposed to Australia.
You must be trolling.
..there's no denying that Bill Gates made PCs mainstream and accessible-with Windows 95..
..I think many geeks hate him for demystifying computer use-suddenly..
..their skills were obsolete in the face of Plug and Play.
PC's were mainstream and accessible before that, in the Win 3.X era. All the hype that sorrounded the Win95 launch IMO was (besides all the marketing from MSFT) that it would be the next major upgrade to Windows since it became popular.
anyone could use a PC-no need to muck about with a terminal, or config.sys, or compile your own kernel.
I don't remember having to do so in my old C-64. Neither Apple users. So, what is the merit on Mr. Gates?
Yes, Win95 users didn't really need to know how does the OS work to use it, but it was pretty much like that in the Win 3.1x age. Of course, when things got broken, a geek was needed to fix them, but it didn't change too much in Win95 and even today.
Yeah, right. He did it all that by himself. And he invented PCs and The Internet too!
Yes, Plug and Pray, as it was known at that time. And it has been a myth, until recently. And it didn't make computer geeks become obsolete, it let them with more time to do things more interesting than making the damned sound card work in Windows.
"More education is necessary. One form of education is lawsuits."
Will it support Ogg ?
MSN is not going to beat google anytime soon in my opinion. Not unless google makes some silly decision.
I fear google to actually make stupid decisions. When I read that they want to make other things like "embed google search into handheld devices", reminds me when Netscape became involved with Sun's Java thin clients.
Ever heard about the Holy Shroud?
Not that you should believe it, but its history and facts are very interesting. Even if it wasn't real, it would be the best fake ever made.
And this agreement is sold by the media, wealthy elites and goverment propaganda (at least in Costa Rica) as a "we must sign it or we all will starve" thing.
Funny, text of CAFTA is very similar to the Australia Agreement text: same structure and chapter names. It's like the US Trade Representative has a template for agreements like these, on top of which negotiations take place. So these are not really agreeements between two parties, but some sort of take-it-or-leave-it imposition.
That really blows.
Even in CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement ) another "Free" Trade Agreement the US would sign with central american countries, which also includes DMCA-like regulatios; ISP's won't be liable for what their customers do, altough they shall cooperate to detect copyright infringers.
It's kind of funny how big is the gap between american standars and those in the third world.
For example, in my country, if you can:
-Work on a PhD degree
-Travel every summer to exotic places
-Afford to live alone in a nice apartment with an office
-Have a desktop AND a laptop computer
like you do, you live WAY ABOVE the national poverty line.
Outsourced tech support is about everything but customer satisfaction.
Unfortunately, the whole world is becoming like the US. Corporations act globally, and they have the power to convince goverments. For example, Central American countries will have to adapt their local IP laws to accept things like the DMCA and software patents to get to sign a free trade agreement with the US (CAFTA)
Between them, only FreeDos is not based on BSD
-Hello, I ordered a PowerEdge server with Red Hat Enterprise Linux on it...
-Excuse me, I would appreciate that you call it GNU/Linux. By using that name, you acknowledge all the contribution of the GNU project in a GNU/Linux Operating system.
-Well OK, I have Red Hat Enterprise GNU/Linux and I'm having this problem...
-Of course you have a problem! You are running a GNU /Linux distribution with pieces of software that are non free. Non Free software is evil! By using it you are privating your neighboor to receive the benefits from it.
-Is it that bad?
-Yes. If you use a single piece of non free software, you can't be a saint in the church of Emacs.
User hangs up the phone
Supervisor (with indian accent): Mr Stallman. Can you please come to my office?
A very good book, sometimes makes me dream about starting a company with my geek friends.
And yes, some characters are kind of Apple fans; altought Coupland points that the corporate culture of both companies is very alike.
Things are different now. The "big boys" in contries that respect patents are also "the big boys" worldwide, they use their lobbying power to make sure "protection to their IP" is enforced anywhere.
For example, "free trade" agreements between the U.S. and poor latin american countries are often depicted as the only and magical solution to these countries, so their goverments will do whatever is needed to sign one of these. These agreements generally give more benefits on patents holders than those existing in those counries. Proposal for FTAA (Free Trade Are of the Americas) includes DRM issues more strict than those in the DMCA.
For example, CAFTA (the agreement U.S. is negotiating with Central America) will require more barriers to generic drugs, this will extend the monopoly the patent holder (big pharma) has on every drug; as a result, millions of people already poor won't be able to afford medicines.
Well, I don't think Elitechrome is poor, but it's not cheap either.
May 12, 2003, SCO (with Gollum voice):
The thieves! Those Linux thieves stole it from us!
The name of the Rose is really good. I never thought sombebody could make a good book about some people disscusing if Jesus had ever laugh.
I didn't like it. The book has a good start (from a geek perspective)
One character comes up with an algorithm to get hidden messages in ancient books by making anagrams of the text on them. The book evens shows a piece of source code to generate all possible anagrams from a single word (well, the source code sucks because it's on early 80's basic and it uses goto's like hell)
But from there, the book begins to decay. It gets boring and silly. The end really sucks.
I think it's this, IMHO:
Open your web browser and type slashdot.org
I think the name "Hal" would be more appropiate to this so-called person.
Guess which job will be the last to be outsourced overseas? A: The job of the person who says which job gets outsourced.
So, is Motorola betting on Linux (this phone, A760) or MS Smartphone (MPx200)? Or are they just playing with both to see which one wins?
I remember '98 Leonids shower. That was really beutiful! One of the greatests things I've seen in my life, I think. (1st is '91 solar eclipse)
It's a shame we have full moon tonight, so seeing the shower will be harder. In the other hand, if we had not full moon, we would not have eclipse.
Revolvolution?