Screw Hollywood being out of ideas, now the government has run out of ideas! I mean... MATRIX, agents, UAVs/Sentinels... haven't we already seen this three times, already?
Crickey! Next thing you know, NASA will be announcing plans for turning the ISS into a larger, more military-oriented space station, tasked to study the sun and keep watch on the Earth, that they call the "Death Star."
Just another reason that my favorite permissions setting is 0000.
Nah, who am I kidding? I can barely use the terminal in Mac OS X!
(Though if someone would point me toward a general list or guide to the commands available, I might use it and become an even geekier... geek....If that's possible.
I suppose I'll engage in what's probably flamebaiting, and air my opinions on this subject.
I know my fellow nerds are getting hurt by this situation, and that it's going to get worse before it gets better... but I still can't get up the will within me to get up off my duff and do anything about it. Aside from the fact that I no longer watch television (with one very, very rare exception: PBS's "Nova"), I see this as two uncaring, gigantic, emotionless corporations dueling out.
The closest metaphor I can put this situation into, and it's an overblown one at that, is this: The village of Viewrton has a relatively small but happy and harmless population; it has the normally great coincidence of being bordered on one side by Greater Evil Empire Viacom and The Evil Republic of DishStar. Normally, the village of Viewrton benefits from the services and wooing of both with minimal expense in return, but this situation has half of the villagers taken hostage at gunpoint by The Evil Republic, and the remainder taken hostage at gunpoint by Greater Evil Empire. The village is empty, and none of the villagers had a damn thing to do with the dispute, but they're now the ones suffering. (Like I said, it's an overblown metaphor.)
The fact is, though, that both companies are blackmailing each other with the same customer base (read: population of customers). Viacom is saying to DishStar, "pays us more for this package, or we'll take away all our best channels, and your customers flee." Meanwhile, DishStar is saying to Viacom, "We want things like they were before or better, rather than like it's been recently; if you don't fold in to our demands, we pull our customer base out from under you, and our customers are forced to flee from you."
Meanwhile, neither company seems to realize that they're threatening each other with the same damn thing, and the customers are caught in the middle, confused, enraged, and unable to trust either corporation.
And what's the effect on me, personally? It's another disgusting abuse of trust committed by corporations, and it makes me even more dead-set against wanting to support either. I said above that I don't watch television anymore, with the single exception of one show on PBS, and I'm ever-more determined to hold to that. I am and have for the past four years been utterly sick and tired with ALL the bullcrap these giant media conglomerations have been pulling, not just on Americans but a great deal of the world population. Through a psychological dependence of bread and circuses, these media corporations hold control, and only a few can find the guts or shake the lies to break away. This isn't the first unpunished crime of theirs, and it won't be the last... not by far.
All of that being said, I suppose I'll apologize for what has probably been flamebait (someone else can better use that karma, I'm sure), and hit the sack. (It's always night, somewhere....)
Does anyone else have the sneaking suspicion that they're including the entire chain of manufacture and resources used in those numbers? Like, the water used to mine the ores to make the steel, which is made with x ammount of electricity, which is in turn produced by x ammount of fossil fuels, to be bent into the case frame, etc.?
I'm all for reduce, reuse, recycle... but I'd rather that other proponents of it don't mislead in order to promote the three R's. (Not to make accusations, of course....)
I'd also like to see their numbers on LCD screens.
Hypothetical situation: I'm a patient of Doctor A, and he is sued by lawyer B, representing plaintiff C; the suit goes in favor of the Doctor, but his insurance rates are driven to his breaking point and he has to shut down his practice. Would I then be able to sue lawyer B with another lawyer for taking up a bad case only in the interest of greed?
If so, there might be a counter to the problem of there being too many lawsuits (and not just against doctors). If we can turn the bad/greedy lawyers against themselves, might we be able to "get rid of them" (without violence!), therefore providing us with an increased chance of getting a "good" lawyer?
Also, what about countersuits? Can and are doctors fighting back with that tool?
Well, it looks like I'm in the minority who don't believe this guy.
I don't think he knows what he's talking about; the way that he keeps mentioning that he's looking out for the company's long-term survivability in regards to the company's track record of red ink reminds me of Tom Smykowski's nervous, angry interview with the Bobs in Office Space. The fact that he said that the Xbox 2 was going to have a "CD," not even a "CD Drive," rather than a DVD drive of some sort tells me that he's not at all familiar with what the specs of the Xbox 2 will be.
If I read the article correctly, M-Systems has had a total of one quarter of profit in fifteen years of existence, and this quarter will have them back in red ink. It sounds to me like the poor guy's in the process of jumping ship ("I personally own a lot of shares in the company, and I sell shares every quarter....") but doesn't want the public shareholders to beat him to it, so he's trying to sell everything M-Systems is doing as a Real Big Thing(TM), which will bring in "hundreds of millions to the company, spread over a few years...." In other words, I don't think M-Systems is anywhere near as important in the Xbox 2 development process as Mr. Moran would like to have us believe.
Then again, if such is the case we're back to square one with conflicting rumors and no solid statement from Microsoft either way. I'm hoping Microsoft does decide to include backward-compatability. If they don't, I'll not even begin to consider purchasing one for a few years.
Plays computer games? Check. Fat? According to the insurance industry... check. Mean? Not according to what I've been told.
That's me.
Plays computer games? Check. Fat? No check. Mean? No check.
That's my best friend.
Plays computer games? No check. Fat? No check. Mean? Check.
That's [pick one: Timothy McVeigh, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Ashcroft, Andrea Yates, Ted Bundy, all of the above].
It's rather obvious that the "researchers" and the author are taking correlation for causation at the least; more likely, they've dredged up the findings they want and have published them as scientifically accurate.
Meanwhile, the studies which have said that video games can actually be beneficial are buried.
One thought I had was to gradually apply a charge to the solar panels and then suddenly apply an opposite charge, causing the dust to be repelled from the surface, to be carried away by the Martian winds.
When the Arctic floe melts at spring, the Inuit are going for thousands of years to its edges for fishing and finding game
In the future, the Inuit are now going to the edges of the Arctic ice floe. That's hard enough to wrap my mind around, but then you tell me that they are now going for thousands of years. I guess they really do need that ESA help--imagine how long they'd be going to that floe edge without some satellite maps!
Seriously, though, this is very cool. Melting ice is rather dangerous to be on, no matter how many years of experience you have walking on it. It looks like these maps might help save some lives.
Those poor hamsters seem to be unable to generate the power needed to keep that website running.
Then again, it's usually the gerbil that makes the little metal wheel spin fast, in my experience.
~UP
"Hey Brian, what are we going to do, today?" "The same thing we do every day, Paul! Try to take over the world!" "But we did that yesterday, Brian." "Oh, right. Well, then... are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "That now would be a great time to make some logos?" "...Actually, that's not a half-bad idea, now that we have that whole world thing out of the way."
Or when beaurocrats have to defend their jobs.
"...That's what this staff meeting is all about! That's what happened at the CIA last year. You have to interview with a consultant and they bring in efficiency experts. You're interviewing for your own job!" "Maybe we could... do something. You know, to convince them to let us keep our jobs." "Like what?" "I don't know... make a new logo?" "Sounds good to me. I'm in."
Your reply quite clearly communicates the fact that you (whoever you are, you Anonymous Coward, you...!) have made an ignorant assumption. Your assumption is that all file-sharers are practicing illegally, or with unprovoked malicious intent, and it is ignorant because by its very nature it ignores the fact that are thousands of file-sharing service users use that capability to legally exchange files (like the Linux kernel source code, as mentioned in the case above).
Those who protest may not do so out in the open, intentionally drawing media attention to themselves, but they are practicing civil disobediance. Perhaps the high-prices part of their protest is of no comparison to the civil disobediance of Ghandi and his followers or the liberals and feminists of the era known as "The 60s," but I would not so easily dismiss the notion that what they protest is significant. Indeed, if you take the time to think about it, they are, in part, protesting the actions of the RIAA and member companies of, to use bold words, screwing the artists and song-writers of their fair share of profits in pursuit of the companies' and RIAA's greed.
The record companies have indeed conned the artists out of their copyright and therefore a fair portion of sales revenues. The companies have addressed the artists, saying (in effect) "hand over your copyright, and you receive the priviledge of doing business with us." Before this, their line was (again, in effect) "hey, if you sign over your copyright, we'll make sure you don't have to pay for lawyers or persue those pesky copyright infringements!" The con of that being, of course, that their offer boils down to "hand over your copyright, and you will no longer have to deal with some lawsuits," which in turn boils down to "give us something for nothing." The record companies, and the RIAA that they have created, have turnned song-writers and artists alike into service-providers, when they should be recognized as service and product providers. In doing so, they have found excuse for shorting the song-writers and artists of money. Granted, a few "megapopular" artists escape the trap of debt and become wealthy, but I think it fair to say that the vast majority end up worse for wear in accepting the deal, aside from some brief fame (the shortness of which may well be attributed to the Record companies, as well).
Further, going back to my original point, those who share in protest are also doing so in protest to the legal crackdowns on filesharing as a whole. Why punish an entire group for the actions of a few? Why punish the few through severe penalties when their complaints are legitimate? Why respond when crackdowns on all, when ridding the source of those legitimate protests will stop a a sizable portion of the file-trading community from protesting, and pursuing individual cases of actual infringementt upon the law, rather than rashly and blindly issuing law suits?
These questions I think you should address, along with the knowledge that I myself am not a file-sharer of any kind.
Precisely! If they've already served a 'cease and desist, or else!' letter to you and your ISP, it is likely that they've served similar letters to each of those who downloaded from you. The fact that they sent a letter to your ISP in the first place is proof enough that they are not, in fact, checking the files to see if they are, in fact, files for the leaked Microsoft source code. That they collected the information may be taken as proof that they are pursuing similar legal action against those who downloaded that linux source code from you while they were gathering client information.
This is indeed something to be angry and appalled at, an action which is both needless and malicious to innocent individuals. A nice, swift legal slap to the face might make them at least consider a change in the manner they pursue the illegal leaks, hostings, and downloadings.
Civil disobedience. The practice of this ideology and method of protest begun many decades ago, but it has changed from protesting government actions (or inactions, whichever the case may be) to protesting government, corporate, and/or organizational practices. It may not occur to you, but it may be that some these illegal file-sharers are only breaking the law in protest of exploitation and high prices. Alternatively, if you wish to view civil disobedience as pertaining only to governmental practices, you could see the participation in such civil disobediance as protesting the lack of government action to stop such disservices to the community.
I cannot say I speak for file-sharers, but we all must take into account the culture of rebellion, especially against lawyer groups and corporations, in analysing the file-sharing movement and practice.
(The RIAA does not need to operate the way it does today. It could, for example, simply apply itself as a marketing, CD manufacturing, and distribution service, still garner substantial profit margins, and NOT take the copyright of the artist and cheat the artist of his/her/their proper compensation in practicing that business model. Things could be made better in this regard, for this subject, and there are people, plebs if you will, who are making the demand for change; the actions those individuals take in stating their demands are not necessarily organized or nonagressive in nature.)
In the tradition of the classic acronym many a slashdot denizen has used in composing their often insightful and interesting posts, IANAL. Even though such is the case (and until I am contradicted by someone who can truthfully say "IAAL"), it is clear to me that you probably have a very strong legal case against Microsoft right now; granted, it might only warrant small claims court, but it's still a case against them, and if you can get a guilty(?) verdict out of it, you have granted the lawyers of the EFF and other such foundations a tool with which to defend your fellow innocent file-sharers.
Go for it, man, if not for the your own rights and those same rights held by others online, then to strike a blow against that oft-belligerent corporation, Microsoft, or at least, so as to appeal to your baser desires, for the money. Don't tell me that such an award would be but a drop in the bucket and therefore not worth the effort for you (because if you do, I'll be asking for a donation to the "Put Undefined Parameter Through College Fund;-) ).
... is it now revolutionary or an act of sedition for a US citizen to operate, no less develop, Open Source Software, now? Or is the current US leadership only "keeping up foreign relations," Goose style (from Top Gun), and telling other nations that they should only use proprietary (and more often than not, US-developed) software?
Between this, the Patriot Act, and the Patriot Act II, I'm wondering how long it'll be before I'm sent to a recreation of the Heart Mountain "relocation" camp for possessing an OSS application (or other, similarly small and idiotic "offenses").
I may be declaring myself a commie liberal "pinko" (O! The irony!) by saying this, but I really, truly don't understand why the current leadership of the US is taking such an agressive, belligerent stance on nearly every major foreign policy decision. What stops the US from choosing to work cooperatively in alliances with other nations? I'm afraid that I'll never understand, and equally afraid that I will someday understand.
I got some "Valentines" gifts and cards from family members, but as they're not in the so-called "spirit" of the holiday, I don't suppose they count.
That being the case, I believe one could say that I didn't get anything for Val's day. That being the norm, one could question why I'm posting in this thread at all, to which I would respond, "bite me." In truth, it's probably loneliness and a touch of frustration which inspires me, and no doubt many others in similar romantic situations (or lack thereof), to post here.
A few have expressed it before, that the holiday of February 14 is a discriminatory one, and I have to agree. Still, one could argue that it is no more or less a discriminatory holiday than any other "major" holiday is; Christmas is discriminatory to non-Christians, for example. The difference is that Christmas is an "optional" holiday, whereas Valentines Day seems to be applied to everyone, regaurdless to whether or not they want to take part in it.
Think about it, you don't see many resteraunts offering cross-shaped salmon filets on Christmas, but for some reason it's popular and acceptable to offer heart-shaped filets, steaks, etc. on Valentines day. It is, in short, assumed that every man, woman, and child will be participating in said holiday, even though said holiday is not applicable to every man, woman, and child. The only other holiday where such assumption is made (which I can think of, right now) is New Year's Day, but you're hard-pressed to find people who do not use the "common" (aka Judeo-Christian) calendar primarily.
But enough of my rather off-topic rant; please, those of you who were able to truly celebrate the holiday, share with us your stories. I, at least, want to hear of your experiences, how they were exciting and/or different, seemed strange and/or wonderful, or were just plain horrible.
Even if it doesn't apply to labor/workplace laws, anyone who personally harrasses you is setting themselves up for a civil and/or criminal court case. You can't tape them saying that stuff (since it breaks wiretapping laws, I believe), but I'd check with a lawyer about it.
I also don't know the labor/employment laws of your state, but I don't think that bringing either kind of case would be grounds for termination.
On the other hand, if you're really getting this kind of abuse, I would suggest that you pack up your stuff and walk out as soon as you can. If you need to submit a two-week notice, do it... but get out, man.
I've run into this precise problem before, as have others, I assume. I won't bore you with the details of my particular experiences, but needless to say, you can take heart in knowing that you're not alone. That being said, on with my advice:
1 - Be polite. Neither of you need to hammer your keyboards. More often than not, the keyboard will respond to lighter strokes. Lighter strokes = less noise. Using the mouse sparingly, as you are, also helps.
2 - Dim your monitors. This is usually built into the standalone monitors via their "menu" buttons, and into the OS of laptops. Usually.
3 - Put sound barriers between your beds and your computers, so that the sound has to reflect off of several surfaces before reaching your ears. This will dampen the noise, somewhat.
4 - If at all possible, when a roommate is going to sleep, the other should head to the labs for an hour. Theoretically, when the other returns to do work, the sleeping one will be in a deep enough sleep such that quiet typing and a dimmed monitor shouldn't wake them.
5 - Get a dorm single or move off campus as soon as possible. It may not happen until next fall, but it's amazing how much more and better sleep both of you will get.:-)
I own two Macs, so don't take this as a troll, please.
Right now, Macs are feeling the effects of this virus, too; it's slowing down internet connections for ALL platforms thanks to the fact that it's indiscriminately flooding networks with "noise" in trying to find other machines with the MyDoom-opened port. To my knowledge, it doesn't stop searching, either.
And a "counter-virus" would only make things worse. Sure, you eventually stop the original worm(s), but you also do more damage and risk opening up a can of worms in doing so. Not only is YOUR "counter-virus" going to add to the network congestion, but it may well become a problem itself if it's not written just right. In other words, the cure might be worse than the disease.
For the short term, we need an education campaign. Teach the standard (and sub-standard) users of the world how to identify a virus, how to prevent getting infected, and why they should care. As the old saying goes, "you can give a man a fish, and feed him for a day, or you can teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime."
Slashdot Mirror
Screw Hollywood being out of ideas, now the government has run out of ideas! I mean... MATRIX, agents, UAVs/Sentinels... haven't we already seen this three times, already?
Crickey! Next thing you know, NASA will be announcing plans for turning the ISS into a larger, more military-oriented space station, tasked to study the sun and keep watch on the Earth, that they call the "Death Star."
May Neo have pity on us all....
~UP
Just another reason that my favorite permissions setting is 0000.
...If that's possible.
Nah, who am I kidding? I can barely use the terminal in Mac OS X!
(Though if someone would point me toward a general list or guide to the commands available, I might use it and become an even geekier... geek.
~UP
I suppose I'll engage in what's probably flamebaiting, and air my opinions on this subject.
I know my fellow nerds are getting hurt by this situation, and that it's going to get worse before it gets better... but I still can't get up the will within me to get up off my duff and do anything about it. Aside from the fact that I no longer watch television (with one very, very rare exception: PBS's "Nova"), I see this as two uncaring, gigantic, emotionless corporations dueling out.
The closest metaphor I can put this situation into, and it's an overblown one at that, is this: The village of Viewrton has a relatively small but happy and harmless population; it has the normally great coincidence of being bordered on one side by Greater Evil Empire Viacom and The Evil Republic of DishStar. Normally, the village of Viewrton benefits from the services and wooing of both with minimal expense in return, but this situation has half of the villagers taken hostage at gunpoint by The Evil Republic, and the remainder taken hostage at gunpoint by Greater Evil Empire. The village is empty, and none of the villagers had a damn thing to do with the dispute, but they're now the ones suffering. (Like I said, it's an overblown metaphor.)
The fact is, though, that both companies are blackmailing each other with the same customer base (read: population of customers). Viacom is saying to DishStar, "pays us more for this package, or we'll take away all our best channels, and your customers flee." Meanwhile, DishStar is saying to Viacom, "We want things like they were before or better, rather than like it's been recently; if you don't fold in to our demands, we pull our customer base out from under you, and our customers are forced to flee from you."
Meanwhile, neither company seems to realize that they're threatening each other with the same damn thing, and the customers are caught in the middle, confused, enraged, and unable to trust either corporation.
And what's the effect on me, personally? It's another disgusting abuse of trust committed by corporations, and it makes me even more dead-set against wanting to support either. I said above that I don't watch television anymore, with the single exception of one show on PBS, and I'm ever-more determined to hold to that. I am and have for the past four years been utterly sick and tired with ALL the bullcrap these giant media conglomerations have been pulling, not just on Americans but a great deal of the world population. Through a psychological dependence of bread and circuses, these media corporations hold control, and only a few can find the guts or shake the lies to break away. This isn't the first unpunished crime of theirs, and it won't be the last... not by far.
All of that being said, I suppose I'll apologize for what has probably been flamebait (someone else can better use that karma, I'm sure), and hit the sack. (It's always night, somewhere....)
Sorry, and guten nacht zu allen!
~UP
Does anyone else have the sneaking suspicion that they're including the entire chain of manufacture and resources used in those numbers? Like, the water used to mine the ores to make the steel, which is made with x ammount of electricity, which is in turn produced by x ammount of fossil fuels, to be bent into the case frame, etc.?
I'm all for reduce, reuse, recycle... but I'd rather that other proponents of it don't mislead in order to promote the three R's. (Not to make accusations, of course....)
I'd also like to see their numbers on LCD screens.
~UP
Hypothetical situation: I'm a patient of Doctor A, and he is sued by lawyer B, representing plaintiff C; the suit goes in favor of the Doctor, but his insurance rates are driven to his breaking point and he has to shut down his practice. Would I then be able to sue lawyer B with another lawyer for taking up a bad case only in the interest of greed?
If so, there might be a counter to the problem of there being too many lawsuits (and not just against doctors). If we can turn the bad/greedy lawyers against themselves, might we be able to "get rid of them" (without violence!), therefore providing us with an increased chance of getting a "good" lawyer?
Also, what about countersuits? Can and are doctors fighting back with that tool?
~UP
Why do you think the ID numbers are in the hundreds of thousands?
The turnover rate here is astounding.
~UP
Relax, everyone, it's just the beta for Frogger 3.0.
~UP
Well, it looks like I'm in the minority who don't believe this guy.
I don't think he knows what he's talking about; the way that he keeps mentioning that he's looking out for the company's long-term survivability in regards to the company's track record of red ink reminds me of Tom Smykowski's nervous, angry interview with the Bobs in Office Space. The fact that he said that the Xbox 2 was going to have a "CD," not even a "CD Drive," rather than a DVD drive of some sort tells me that he's not at all familiar with what the specs of the Xbox 2 will be.
If I read the article correctly, M-Systems has had a total of one quarter of profit in fifteen years of existence, and this quarter will have them back in red ink. It sounds to me like the poor guy's in the process of jumping ship ("I personally own a lot of shares in the company, and I sell shares every quarter....") but doesn't want the public shareholders to beat him to it, so he's trying to sell everything M-Systems is doing as a Real Big Thing(TM), which will bring in "hundreds of millions to the company, spread over a few years...." In other words, I don't think M-Systems is anywhere near as important in the Xbox 2 development process as Mr. Moran would like to have us believe.
Then again, if such is the case we're back to square one with conflicting rumors and no solid statement from Microsoft either way. I'm hoping Microsoft does decide to include backward-compatability. If they don't, I'll not even begin to consider purchasing one for a few years.
~UP
Ok....
Plays computer games? Check.
Fat? According to the insurance industry... check.
Mean? Not according to what I've been told.
That's me.
Plays computer games? Check.
Fat? No check.
Mean? No check.
That's my best friend.
Plays computer games? No check.
Fat? No check.
Mean? Check.
That's [pick one: Timothy McVeigh, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Ashcroft, Andrea Yates, Ted Bundy, all of the above].
It's rather obvious that the "researchers" and the author are taking correlation for causation at the least; more likely, they've dredged up the findings they want and have published them as scientifically accurate.
Meanwhile, the studies which have said that video games can actually be beneficial are buried.
~UP
... webserver goes crashing down. She hasn't impacted yet, but she's burnin' up in the atmosphere as I type!
I just hope the satellite's not being controlled from that poor box....
~UP
One thought I had was to gradually apply a charge to the solar panels and then suddenly apply an opposite charge, causing the dust to be repelled from the surface, to be carried away by the Martian winds.
Degauss the solar panels? Brilliant!
~UP
It's still missing a few things; for instance, it won't tell me the speed of an unladen swallow in knots.
:)
But I do like the speed of light in cubits per fortnight. The history geek in me is still laughing.
~UP
When the Arctic floe melts at spring, the Inuit are going for thousands of years to its edges for fishing and finding game
In the future, the Inuit are now going to the edges of the Arctic ice floe. That's hard enough to wrap my mind around, but then you tell me that they are now going for thousands of years. I guess they really do need that ESA help--imagine how long they'd be going to that floe edge without some satellite maps!
Seriously, though, this is very cool. Melting ice is rather dangerous to be on, no matter how many years of experience you have walking on it. It looks like these maps might help save some lives.
~UP
Those poor hamsters seem to be unable to generate the power needed to keep that website running. Then again, it's usually the gerbil that makes the little metal wheel spin fast, in my experience. ~UP
when beaurocrats get bored.
"Hey Brian, what are we going to do, today?"
"The same thing we do every day, Paul! Try to take over the world!"
"But we did that yesterday, Brian."
"Oh, right. Well, then... are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"That now would be a great time to make some logos?"
"...Actually, that's not a half-bad idea, now that we have that whole world thing out of the way."
Or when beaurocrats have to defend their jobs.
"...That's what this staff meeting is all about! That's what happened at the CIA last year. You have to interview with a consultant and they bring in efficiency experts. You're interviewing for your own job!"
"Maybe we could... do something. You know, to convince them to let us keep our jobs."
"Like what?"
"I don't know... make a new logo?"
"Sounds good to me. I'm in."
This attempt at humor brought to you by:
~UP
Your reply quite clearly communicates the fact that you (whoever you are, you Anonymous Coward, you...!) have made an ignorant assumption. Your assumption is that all file-sharers are practicing illegally, or with unprovoked malicious intent, and it is ignorant because by its very nature it ignores the fact that are thousands of file-sharing service users use that capability to legally exchange files (like the Linux kernel source code, as mentioned in the case above).
Those who protest may not do so out in the open, intentionally drawing media attention to themselves, but they are practicing civil disobediance. Perhaps the high-prices part of their protest is of no comparison to the civil disobediance of Ghandi and his followers or the liberals and feminists of the era known as "The 60s," but I would not so easily dismiss the notion that what they protest is significant. Indeed, if you take the time to think about it, they are, in part, protesting the actions of the RIAA and member companies of, to use bold words, screwing the artists and song-writers of their fair share of profits in pursuit of the companies' and RIAA's greed.
The record companies have indeed conned the artists out of their copyright and therefore a fair portion of sales revenues. The companies have addressed the artists, saying (in effect) "hand over your copyright, and you receive the priviledge of doing business with us." Before this, their line was (again, in effect) "hey, if you sign over your copyright, we'll make sure you don't have to pay for lawyers or persue those pesky copyright infringements!" The con of that being, of course, that their offer boils down to "hand over your copyright, and you will no longer have to deal with some lawsuits," which in turn boils down to "give us something for nothing." The record companies, and the RIAA that they have created, have turnned song-writers and artists alike into service-providers, when they should be recognized as service and product providers. In doing so, they have found excuse for shorting the song-writers and artists of money. Granted, a few "megapopular" artists escape the trap of debt and become wealthy, but I think it fair to say that the vast majority end up worse for wear in accepting the deal, aside from some brief fame (the shortness of which may well be attributed to the Record companies, as well).
Further, going back to my original point, those who share in protest are also doing so in protest to the legal crackdowns on filesharing as a whole. Why punish an entire group for the actions of a few? Why punish the few through severe penalties when their complaints are legitimate? Why respond when crackdowns on all, when ridding the source of those legitimate protests will stop a a sizable portion of the file-trading community from protesting, and pursuing individual cases of actual infringementt upon the law, rather than rashly and blindly issuing law suits?
These questions I think you should address, along with the knowledge that I myself am not a file-sharer of any kind.
~UP
Precisely! If they've already served a 'cease and desist, or else!' letter to you and your ISP, it is likely that they've served similar letters to each of those who downloaded from you. The fact that they sent a letter to your ISP in the first place is proof enough that they are not, in fact, checking the files to see if they are, in fact, files for the leaked Microsoft source code. That they collected the information may be taken as proof that they are pursuing similar legal action against those who downloaded that linux source code from you while they were gathering client information.
This is indeed something to be angry and appalled at, an action which is both needless and malicious to innocent individuals. A nice, swift legal slap to the face might make them at least consider a change in the manner they pursue the illegal leaks, hostings, and downloadings.
~UP
Civil disobedience. The practice of this ideology and method of protest begun many decades ago, but it has changed from protesting government actions (or inactions, whichever the case may be) to protesting government, corporate, and/or organizational practices. It may not occur to you, but it may be that some these illegal file-sharers are only breaking the law in protest of exploitation and high prices. Alternatively, if you wish to view civil disobedience as pertaining only to governmental practices, you could see the participation in such civil disobediance as protesting the lack of government action to stop such disservices to the community.
I cannot say I speak for file-sharers, but we all must take into account the culture of rebellion, especially against lawyer groups and corporations, in analysing the file-sharing movement and practice.
(The RIAA does not need to operate the way it does today. It could, for example, simply apply itself as a marketing, CD manufacturing, and distribution service, still garner substantial profit margins, and NOT take the copyright of the artist and cheat the artist of his/her/their proper compensation in practicing that business model. Things could be made better in this regard, for this subject, and there are people, plebs if you will, who are making the demand for change; the actions those individuals take in stating their demands are not necessarily organized or nonagressive in nature.)
~UP
In the tradition of the classic acronym many a slashdot denizen has used in composing their often insightful and interesting posts, IANAL. Even though such is the case (and until I am contradicted by someone who can truthfully say "IAAL"), it is clear to me that you probably have a very strong legal case against Microsoft right now; granted, it might only warrant small claims court, but it's still a case against them, and if you can get a guilty(?) verdict out of it, you have granted the lawyers of the EFF and other such foundations a tool with which to defend your fellow innocent file-sharers.
;-) ).
Go for it, man, if not for the your own rights and those same rights held by others online, then to strike a blow against that oft-belligerent corporation, Microsoft, or at least, so as to appeal to your baser desires, for the money. Don't tell me that such an award would be but a drop in the bucket and therefore not worth the effort for you (because if you do, I'll be asking for a donation to the "Put Undefined Parameter Through College Fund
Viva la revolucion!
~UP
... is it now revolutionary or an act of sedition for a US citizen to operate, no less develop, Open Source Software, now? Or is the current US leadership only "keeping up foreign relations," Goose style (from Top Gun), and telling other nations that they should only use proprietary (and more often than not, US-developed) software?
Between this, the Patriot Act, and the Patriot Act II, I'm wondering how long it'll be before I'm sent to a recreation of the Heart Mountain "relocation" camp for possessing an OSS application (or other, similarly small and idiotic "offenses").
I may be declaring myself a commie liberal "pinko" (O! The irony!) by saying this, but I really, truly don't understand why the current leadership of the US is taking such an agressive, belligerent stance on nearly every major foreign policy decision. What stops the US from choosing to work cooperatively in alliances with other nations? I'm afraid that I'll never understand, and equally afraid that I will someday understand.
~UP
Wait, sorry, not a poll thread... my mistake.
I got some "Valentines" gifts and cards from family members, but as they're not in the so-called "spirit" of the holiday, I don't suppose they count.
That being the case, I believe one could say that I didn't get anything for Val's day. That being the norm, one could question why I'm posting in this thread at all, to which I would respond, "bite me." In truth, it's probably loneliness and a touch of frustration which inspires me, and no doubt many others in similar romantic situations (or lack thereof), to post here.
A few have expressed it before, that the holiday of February 14 is a discriminatory one, and I have to agree. Still, one could argue that it is no more or less a discriminatory holiday than any other "major" holiday is; Christmas is discriminatory to non-Christians, for example. The difference is that Christmas is an "optional" holiday, whereas Valentines Day seems to be applied to everyone, regaurdless to whether or not they want to take part in it.
Think about it, you don't see many resteraunts offering cross-shaped salmon filets on Christmas, but for some reason it's popular and acceptable to offer heart-shaped filets, steaks, etc. on Valentines day. It is, in short, assumed that every man, woman, and child will be participating in said holiday, even though said holiday is not applicable to every man, woman, and child. The only other holiday where such assumption is made (which I can think of, right now) is New Year's Day, but you're hard-pressed to find people who do not use the "common" (aka Judeo-Christian) calendar primarily.
But enough of my rather off-topic rant; please, those of you who were able to truly celebrate the holiday, share with us your stories. I, at least, want to hear of your experiences, how they were exciting and/or different, seemed strange and/or wonderful, or were just plain horrible.
Respectfully,
Undefined Parameter
(I Am Still Not A Lawyer), but....
Even if it doesn't apply to labor/workplace laws, anyone who personally harrasses you is setting themselves up for a civil and/or criminal court case. You can't tape them saying that stuff (since it breaks wiretapping laws, I believe), but I'd check with a lawyer about it.
I also don't know the labor/employment laws of your state, but I don't think that bringing either kind of case would be grounds for termination.
On the other hand, if you're really getting this kind of abuse, I would suggest that you pack up your stuff and walk out as soon as you can. If you need to submit a two-week notice, do it... but get out, man.
~UP
I've run into this precise problem before, as have others, I assume. I won't bore you with the details of my particular experiences, but needless to say, you can take heart in knowing that you're not alone. That being said, on with my advice:
:-)
1 - Be polite. Neither of you need to hammer your keyboards. More often than not, the keyboard will respond to lighter strokes. Lighter strokes = less noise. Using the mouse sparingly, as you are, also helps.
2 - Dim your monitors. This is usually built into the standalone monitors via their "menu" buttons, and into the OS of laptops. Usually.
3 - Put sound barriers between your beds and your computers, so that the sound has to reflect off of several surfaces before reaching your ears. This will dampen the noise, somewhat.
4 - If at all possible, when a roommate is going to sleep, the other should head to the labs for an hour. Theoretically, when the other returns to do work, the sleeping one will be in a deep enough sleep such that quiet typing and a dimmed monitor shouldn't wake them.
5 - Get a dorm single or move off campus as soon as possible. It may not happen until next fall, but it's amazing how much more and better sleep both of you will get.
Hope this helps!
~UP
I own two Macs, so don't take this as a troll, please.
Right now, Macs are feeling the effects of this virus, too; it's slowing down internet connections for ALL platforms thanks to the fact that it's indiscriminately flooding networks with "noise" in trying to find other machines with the MyDoom-opened port. To my knowledge, it doesn't stop searching, either.
And a "counter-virus" would only make things worse. Sure, you eventually stop the original worm(s), but you also do more damage and risk opening up a can of worms in doing so. Not only is YOUR "counter-virus" going to add to the network congestion, but it may well become a problem itself if it's not written just right. In other words, the cure might be worse than the disease.
For the short term, we need an education campaign. Teach the standard (and sub-standard) users of the world how to identify a virus, how to prevent getting infected, and why they should care. As the old saying goes, "you can give a man a fish, and feed him for a day, or you can teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime."
~UP
In all likelihood, I just felt sick afterwards... and then later got a strain of flu that wasn't covered by the vaccine.
My apologies for the error.
~UP