Both of those instances are not actually the introduction of anything new - they are simply cases of the law being applied as written. I don't imagine the simpsons porn issue will change - afterall, which politician would want to soften an anti-child porn law? But the video game issue is being actively challenged, and most of the country wants to change it, and it's just a matter of time until it is changed. The only reason it hasn't already been fixed is because of the bizarre rule that any changes to the classification system have to be agreed to by the Attorneys General of every state - and the S.A. Attorney General (the Michael Atkinson from this story, coincidentally) keeps digging in his heels and coming up with more and more ridiculous reasons why the change would be bad. However, he's unlikely to remain Attorney General after S.A's approaching election, so the problem will go away.
One thing to be careful of when judging the state of things in the other country, is that negative proposals or plans like this always generate headlines. The more important story, where the plan is cancelled, or defeated almost never does. In this particular case, Atkinson has already ditched this plan, due to the massive public outcry - but you won't see a followup story saying that. So as a result someone that only reads headlines would have a very warped idea of the truth.
How old is the author of this article? They seem to think that all of these things only finally got workable in the 90s, yet in many of the cases there was a perfectly working substitute in place in the 80s, 70s, or even earlier.
I find it very interesting that pointing out that Australia does not actually have filtered Internet results in the comment getting buried with 'Overrated' mods. How can a comment with no moderation be overrated? Particularly when it is debunking a myth.
Do Slashdot mods these days enjoy the aura of hysterical ignorance that has evolved here over time?
You mean the filter that actually _does not exist_ and will never exist?
My point still stands - it would have been very odd for Mrs Clinton to have labelled Australia as an Internet censoring nation for proposed legislation that has not been put before parliament, and is unlikely to pass if and when it gets there.
BTW, I happen to live in Canberra, so I know damned well that any current Internet filtering in Australia lives only in the minds of Slashdot readers that never read more than a headline.
I watched parts of that speech. Was I the only one yelling at my TV, saying "WHAT ABOUT AUSTRALIA'S CENSORSHIP".
Which censorship would that be?
But of course, despite naming an assortment of "bad" countries (you know. where they nais pas parle englais) that are filtering the internet, she didn't mention our friends in the AU.
It would have been very odd if she had, considering that there's no filtering happening in Australia.
I get those sorts of emails all the time - I'm the lead developer for a couple of our flagship products, and others in the company seem to think that means I'm a walking manual.
So like the GP, emails that wouldn't have existed if the sender had just read the manual (or even the error message in front of them) get left to age a bit before I reply - particularly if they're from a multiple offender
You're right. The single vendor lock-in is just killing them. They were doing so well when they allowed others to build Mac clones, they should just go back to doing that. Jobs was obviously an idiot for cancelling the scheme - if he hadn't the company may have been a household name by now, instead on teetering on the brink of disaster.
a "Dedicated Server" in the context of a PC Multiplayer game is a separate server program distributed along side the game, or the ability to run the game itself in a headless server mode - as opposed to hosting the game within a running playing session.
It allows players to set up semi-permanent servers for their friends - or the world - and also prevents the server interfering with the performance of the game, and vice versa.
They are distinct from centralised servers - it's historically rare for a FPS to have a centralised server.
I think Australians would be perfectly happy that an Australian government research organisation funded by their taxes was also making additional income licensing their technologies to overseas and multi-national companies.
you don't truly understand how patents work, do you?
A patent isn't on a general concept, it's on a very specific design. So yes, others have put batteries in computers, that doesn't change anything. If Google has a patent, it's for the _specific_ way in which they use the battery.
Don't let the existence of overly vague and broad software patents confuse you - real patents are supposed to be very specific.
no, it means that those 23 companies all copied the same original infringing implementation. There's not a whole lot of new ideas in the web browser market - and when someone has one, everyone else implements it. It would be very easy for a large number to all be infringing on a patent. (Not that I'm making any particular claim about the validity of this specific patent)
even close source it and sell it, with no modification
That is utterly false. The BSD license gives you no right to relicense it. It gives you an unrestricted right to distribute it in source or binary forms, but NOT any right to relicense it. It also gives you utterly no right to claim it as your own work, in fact, it explicitly states that you must leave the copyright notice intact - the copyright notice which will contain the name of the original author.
The terms of the BSD license are: You must acknowledge the source by retaining the copyright notice (the GPL requires this too) - either by leaving it in the source, if you distribute source, or by putting it in the docco, or similar if you distribute the binary. You mustn't use the author's name to promote software based on this software.
If explicitly grants you the right to distribute the source or the binary with or without modification, if and only if those conditions are met.
A company distributing a BSD licensed product that does not include the copy of the BSD license from the product they distributed is in violation of the license.
So when you BSD license your code, you are not allowing people to steal it. You are giving it to anyone to use for any purpose, but they must acknowledge where they got it from. (For as far as their derivative works still meet the Copyright Law definition of derivative work)
the Netbook remix does not in any way include a recompile of everything. It is not a port, it is just a few extra programs.
It consists of:
* 1 full screen application launcher * a program called "maximiser" that makes windows open full screen with no decoration by default. * A theme for gnome-panel * A "go-home" panel applet that brings the launcher to the front * A Window switcher applet that replaces the taskbar, and also provides an equivalent to the title bar of the currently focussed window. * A preference to switch back to a regular gnome desktop.
At the moment, the netbook remix is purely about appearance. It works very well on desktop machines as well (particularly ones with lower resolution screens), and on earlier netbooks like the EEE 701 (with an Intel Celeron, not Atom)
You can install it on any Ubuntu machine simply by installing apt-get ubuntu-netbook-remix.
I am currently running it on my desktop machine at home - an Athlon 64 X2, which is not only not an Atom, not Intel, but is even 64 bit.
When a friend installs an app, it has full access to everything _your friend_ can see in your profile, not the same level of access as an app you install yourself would have.
It doesn't magically grant the app more rights to see stuff than the user installing it already has.
The answers to those questions will say a whole lot about why PHP sucks, but very little about SQL.
in particular:
Why does a stock PHP have 5 different APIs just to issue basic MySQL queries?
Because the PHP developers have re-invented the wheel five times and still haven't figured out it's not supposed to have sharp corners. Nothing to do with SQL. Perl's DBI is a good example of a database abstraction layer done right.
Slashdot Mirror
Both of those instances are not actually the introduction of anything new - they are simply cases of the law being applied as written.
I don't imagine the simpsons porn issue will change - afterall, which politician would want to soften an anti-child porn law?
But the video game issue is being actively challenged, and most of the country wants to change it, and it's just a matter of time until it is changed. The only reason it hasn't already been fixed is because of the bizarre rule that any changes to the classification system have to be agreed to by the Attorneys General of every state - and the S.A. Attorney General (the Michael Atkinson from this story, coincidentally) keeps digging in his heels and coming up with more and more ridiculous reasons why the change would be bad. However, he's unlikely to remain Attorney General after S.A's approaching election, so the problem will go away.
One thing to be careful of when judging the state of things in the other country, is that negative proposals or plans like this always generate headlines. The more important story, where the plan is cancelled, or defeated almost never does.
In this particular case, Atkinson has already ditched this plan, due to the massive public outcry - but you won't see a followup story saying that. So as a result someone that only reads headlines would have a very warped idea of the truth.
How old is the author of this article?
They seem to think that all of these things only finally got workable in the 90s, yet in many of the cases there was a perfectly working substitute in place in the 80s, 70s, or even earlier.
I find it very interesting that pointing out that Australia does not actually have filtered Internet results in the comment getting buried with 'Overrated' mods. How can a comment with no moderation be overrated? Particularly when it is debunking a myth.
Do Slashdot mods these days enjoy the aura of hysterical ignorance that has evolved here over time?
You mean the filter that actually _does not exist_ and will never exist?
My point still stands - it would have been very odd for Mrs Clinton to have labelled Australia as an Internet censoring nation for proposed legislation that has not been put before parliament, and is unlikely to pass if and when it gets there.
BTW, I happen to live in Canberra, so I know damned well that any current Internet filtering in Australia lives only in the minds of Slashdot readers that never read more than a headline.
That's "proposed"
That's not the same as real.
In fact, in this case it's much, much closer to imaginary.
So unless you can point to some actual Internet filtering in Australia, my original point stands.
I watched parts of that speech. Was I the only one yelling at my TV, saying "WHAT ABOUT AUSTRALIA'S CENSORSHIP".
Which censorship would that be?
But of course, despite naming an assortment of "bad" countries (you know. where they nais pas parle englais) that are filtering the internet, she didn't mention our friends in the AU.
It would have been very odd if she had, considering that there's no filtering happening in Australia.
I get those sorts of emails all the time - I'm the lead developer for a couple of our flagship products, and others in the company seem to think that means I'm a walking manual.
So like the GP, emails that wouldn't have existed if the sender had just read the manual (or even the error message in front of them) get left to age a bit before I reply - particularly if they're from a multiple offender
what sorts of sites do you visit that ads are such a problem for you?
. Makes you wonder why people use big sounding phrases they obviously misunderstand...
I'll give you a clue - it's like goldy and bronzy except it's made out of iron.
You're right.
The single vendor lock-in is just killing them. They were doing so well when they allowed others to build Mac clones, they should just go back to doing that. Jobs was obviously an idiot for cancelling the scheme - if he hadn't the company may have been a household name by now, instead on teetering on the brink of disaster.
a "Dedicated Server" in the context of a PC Multiplayer game is a separate server program distributed along side the game, or the ability to run the game itself in a headless server mode - as opposed to hosting the game within a running playing session.
It allows players to set up semi-permanent servers for their friends - or the world - and also prevents the server interfering with the performance of the game, and vice versa.
They are distinct from centralised servers - it's historically rare for a FPS to have a centralised server.
it's highly unlikely they developer was sitting around staring at his navel waiting for the bugs to be re-filed.
He would have been getting on fixing the bugs reported by people that don't waste his time.
why would he think charisma is the same as charm.
I wouldn't have a clue
I think Australians would be perfectly happy that an Australian government research organisation funded by their taxes was also making additional income licensing their technologies to overseas and multi-national companies.
I know I am.
who else misses C, which was both simple and trusted the programmer?
I don't miss it at all - I use it, every single day.
It's not some dead forgotten language, you know. If you want to use it, use it.
However, it's not that it trusts the programmer. It just doesn't care.
you don't truly understand how patents work, do you?
A patent isn't on a general concept, it's on a very specific design.
So yes, others have put batteries in computers, that doesn't change anything. If Google has a patent, it's for the _specific_ way in which they use the battery.
Don't let the existence of overly vague and broad software patents confuse you - real patents are supposed to be very specific.
no, it means that those 23 companies all copied the same original infringing implementation.
There's not a whole lot of new ideas in the web browser market - and when someone has one, everyone else implements it.
It would be very easy for a large number to all be infringing on a patent. (Not that I'm making any particular claim about the validity of this specific patent)
I wasn't aware we were talking about patents
Irony is just like goldy and bronzy, but made from iron for you, isn't it?
You're wrong.
20 milliseconds is 22 feet - that's quite a distance, and yes, it would be difficult to play with someone that far away.
even close source it and sell it, with no modification
That is utterly false.
The BSD license gives you no right to relicense it. It gives you an unrestricted right to distribute it in source or binary forms, but NOT any right to relicense it.
It also gives you utterly no right to claim it as your own work, in fact, it explicitly states that you must leave the copyright notice intact - the copyright notice which will contain the name of the original author.
The terms of the BSD license are:
You must acknowledge the source by retaining the copyright notice (the GPL requires this too) - either by leaving it in the source, if you distribute source, or by putting it in the docco, or similar if you distribute the binary.
You mustn't use the author's name to promote software based on this software.
If explicitly grants you the right to distribute the source or the binary with or without modification, if and only if those conditions are met.
A company distributing a BSD licensed product that does not include the copy of the BSD license from the product they distributed is in violation of the license.
So when you BSD license your code, you are not allowing people to steal it. You are giving it to anyone to use for any purpose, but they must acknowledge where they got it from. (For as far as their derivative works still meet the Copyright Law definition of derivative work)
the Netbook remix does not in any way include a recompile of everything. It is not a port, it is just a few extra programs.
It consists of:
* 1 full screen application launcher
* a program called "maximiser" that makes windows open full screen with no decoration by default.
* A theme for gnome-panel
* A "go-home" panel applet that brings the launcher to the front
* A Window switcher applet that replaces the taskbar, and also provides an equivalent to the title bar of the currently focussed window.
* A preference to switch back to a regular gnome desktop.
At the moment, the netbook remix is purely about appearance. It works very well on desktop machines as well (particularly ones with lower resolution screens), and on earlier netbooks like the EEE 701 (with an Intel Celeron, not Atom)
You can install it on any Ubuntu machine simply by installing apt-get ubuntu-netbook-remix.
I am currently running it on my desktop machine at home - an Athlon 64 X2, which is not only not an Atom, not Intel, but is even 64 bit.
The ACLU's app lies.
When a friend installs an app, it has full access to everything _your friend_ can see in your profile, not the same level of access as an app you install yourself would have.
It doesn't magically grant the app more rights to see stuff than the user installing it already has.
The answers to those questions will say a whole lot about why PHP sucks, but very little about SQL.
in particular:
Why does a stock PHP have 5 different APIs just to issue basic MySQL queries?
Because the PHP developers have re-invented the wheel five times and still haven't figured out it's not supposed to have sharp corners. Nothing to do with SQL. Perl's DBI is a good example of a database abstraction layer done right.
There have been multiple releases of the 64 bit flash plugin.
Yes, it's still "Flash 10 Alpha", but they are in fact updating it and fixing bugs.
Right now the only problem with it is that full-screen video is ridiculously slow. But that's a problem with the 32 bit Linux version too.