I'd give you 3 positive points for a good try and 3 negative points for being unoriginal. Also, -1 for being offtopic, but we're both guilty of that one.
Steganography anyone? I odn't think any government who has reason to believe you to be hiding something would fail to check if it was in plain view or not. Otherwise criminals would all be using those ghost markers kids use:)
That would cost a lot of money. Why not just make some "prior art" instead? That way, anytime Corporation XYZ trys to patent something they'll hit a brick wall.
"Considering that bio-active materials like green tea (yum!) decay and eventually become unusable and must be disposed of properly, doesn't it make more sense to stick with chemicals which, though bad for the environment, do not decay or degrade and can be used in a specific task indefinitely?" I don't think they'll actually be using green tea:) Just any extracts from it that can do the job well (although, I hope they look into whether it'll degrade or not over time).
"In theory if we were to require all U.S. citizens to carry GPS chips in their heads at all time, kidnapping crimes would plummet. On the other hand, you'd have people pointing out that the government could use this to monitor and invade our privacy."
Since I know nothing about geology I can't really argue, but... Just because it is widely believed to be the case does it make it true? Going on that thinking: The world was once flat. The world was the center of the universe. Radio waves couldn't make it over the Atlantic. Breaking the sound barrier was impossible. If nobody questions the findings of others because they think they might be wrong, then we won't figure much out.
"Eight years of good experience, with or without prior education, will mop the floor with theory."
Almost every time! But how do you GET the experience onto your CV if you can't get a job in the first place? Doing work experience can only last so long.
"here on slashdot, ppl tend to think they have #1." Please don't generalise so much.
"couldn't be more wrong. they are about the same. ppl just have different areas that they are smart in." Yes, I agree. I know of a few "white coller workers" who are smart enough to work wherever they choose to. They just enjoy their white coller job so they stay there.
"those people that i know that are successful monetarily (we're talking 100k to 300k) or successful career-wise (they work at ibm, pixar, etc)...they don't have advanced degrees, many don't have ANY degree." That may be true, but the times have changed slightly. Degrees and certifications arn't always nessessary and they certanly won't guarantee you a job, but as a foot in the door they work well. Once you have your foot in the door the rest is up to you, but at least it's a break.
"We don't prosecute the makers of rolling paper just because people roll joints. Plenty of pre-rolled cigarettes are available at low cost." Pre-rolled ciggarettes make me feel sick and the rolling tobacco I buy is a fraction of the cost of even the cheapest pre-rolled ciggarettes that I can buy here. I think your analogy would be more accurate if rolling paper had drug dealers phone numbers printed on them. Just thought I'd point that out.
"Very standard secure database design will always be able to print a receipt. They could mail you a receipt too." This wouldn't make much of a difference if security had been compromised. Say a trojen managed to get slipped in (we're talking hypothetical here) and gave a false voting screen. The voter got their reciept and the idea that the vote they cast was the one registered. They go away happy. Or, lets say a group of people want to disrupt the election. They go and cast their vote and then cry foul that the recipt shows the wrong candidate. Well, an investigation has to take place (especially if a fair few people join in) and this could well disrupt the election in that area.
" yes, even if you invent the same process completely independently."
But you can contest it. Wouldn't it be possible to argue against a patent if it was an obvious solution to a problem? If you are shown to be right then wouldn't it make the patent invalid and allow you (and everyone else) to use it freely?
"No more music distribution offline. You want something, you have to download it or stream it." What about the people with no internet connection? Most of my friends have no internet connection (they're starving students not in halls) but like their music. Is it fair to cut them out of the loop in order for a minority to download music without fear of legal action? Not really. The "war on p2p" could be ended with somthing much simpler:
- People stop buying RIAA and MPAA owned products. No more RIAA or MPAA or at least lower prices that encourage people to buy the real thing.
"There have been many attempts in Western nations to repress individual rights because of the "common interest", and these rightly strike us as barbaric."
Actually, they do. It's just most people don't notice them very much. I'm willing to bet that all Western nations have laws that repress induvidual rights because of the "common interest". Its just that most of the people living in those nations don't know about it and wouldn't do a whole lot about it even if they did.
Wouldn't MS have to allow for the infringing code to be removed from the source before the could get money out of any distributer? It's seems rather unlikely that any kernel developer would allow infringing code to stay in the source if it was pointed out to them (and I mean "this line and this line is infringing on our copyright, rather than "you have our code somewhere in your source...I'm not telling you where" a la SCO)
You've forgotten the electricity bill that'll hit you every month. I shouldn't imagine it'd be that hefty but it's something. Also, what about computer crashes? It's likely to happen now and again, so you lose a few dollers a month rebooting/fixing the machine. It's looking less and less attrative.
Slashdot Mirror
I'd give you 3 positive points for a good try and 3 negative points for being unoriginal.
Also, -1 for being offtopic, but we're both guilty of that one.
Steganography anyone? :)
I odn't think any government who has reason to believe you to be hiding something would fail to check if it was in plain view or not.
Otherwise criminals would all be using those ghost markers kids use
This might not be so. Read: :/
http://www.ffii.org/
Europe may well end up with software patents in the future
Great. Maybe patent law in the US will be forced to change.
That would cost a lot of money.
Why not just make some "prior art" instead? That way, anytime Corporation XYZ trys to patent something they'll hit a brick wall.
"Considering that bio-active materials like green tea (yum!) decay and eventually become unusable and must be disposed of properly, doesn't it make more sense to stick with chemicals which, though bad for the environment, do not decay or degrade and can be used in a specific task indefinitely?" :)
I don't think they'll actually be using green tea
Just any extracts from it that can do the job well (although, I hope they look into whether it'll degrade or not over time).
I always knew green tea was meant for something other than drinking.
It's nasty stuff.
But with some politicians it's hard to know which end is the anus...
"In theory if we were to require all U.S. citizens to carry GPS chips in their heads at all time, kidnapping crimes would plummet. On the other hand, you'd have people pointing out that the government could use this to monitor and invade our privacy."
;)
What if they put on a tinfoil hat?
Try reading the post.
*pats the troll on the head patronisingly*
Since I know nothing about geology I can't really argue, but...
Just because it is widely believed to be the case does it make it true?
Going on that thinking:
The world was once flat.
The world was the center of the universe.
Radio waves couldn't make it over the Atlantic.
Breaking the sound barrier was impossible.
If nobody questions the findings of others because they think they might be wrong, then we won't figure much out.
"Eight years of good experience, with or without prior education, will mop the floor with theory."
Almost every time!
But how do you GET the experience onto your CV if you can't get a job in the first place? Doing work experience can only last so long.
"here on slashdot, ppl tend to think they have #1."
Please don't generalise so much.
"couldn't be more wrong. they are about the same. ppl just have different areas that they are smart in."
Yes, I agree. I know of a few "white coller workers" who are smart enough to work wherever they choose to. They just enjoy their white coller job so they stay there.
"those people that i know that are successful monetarily (we're talking 100k to 300k) or successful career-wise (they work at ibm, pixar, etc)...they don't have advanced degrees, many don't have ANY degree."
That may be true, but the times have changed slightly. Degrees and certifications arn't always nessessary and they certanly won't guarantee you a job, but as a foot in the door they work well. Once you have your foot in the door the rest is up to you, but at least it's a break.
But there was more than one DOS. It wasn't just QDOS.
"We don't prosecute the makers of rolling paper just because people roll joints. Plenty of pre-rolled cigarettes are available at low cost."
Pre-rolled ciggarettes make me feel sick and the rolling tobacco I buy is a fraction of the cost of even the cheapest pre-rolled ciggarettes that I can buy here.
I think your analogy would be more accurate if rolling paper had drug dealers phone numbers printed on them.
Just thought I'd point that out.
"Very standard secure database design will always be able to print a receipt. They could mail you a receipt too."
This wouldn't make much of a difference if security had been compromised. Say a trojen managed to get slipped in (we're talking hypothetical here) and gave a false voting screen. The voter got their reciept and the idea that the vote they cast was the one registered. They go away happy.
Or, lets say a group of people want to disrupt the election. They go and cast their vote and then cry foul that the recipt shows the wrong candidate. Well, an investigation has to take place (especially if a fair few people join in) and this could well disrupt the election in that area.
Personally I'd keep the paper.
" yes, even if you invent the same process completely independently."
But you can contest it. Wouldn't it be possible to argue against a patent if it was an obvious solution to a problem? If you are shown to be right then wouldn't it make the patent invalid and allow you (and everyone else) to use it freely?
"No more music distribution offline. You want something, you have to download it or stream it."
What about the people with no internet connection?
Most of my friends have no internet connection (they're starving students not in halls) but like their music. Is it fair to cut them out of the loop in order for a minority to download music without fear of legal action? Not really.
The "war on p2p" could be ended with somthing much simpler:
- People stop buying RIAA and MPAA owned products. No more RIAA or MPAA or at least lower prices that encourage people to buy the real thing.
"There have been many attempts in Western nations to repress individual rights because of the "common interest", and these rightly strike us as barbaric."
Actually, they do. It's just most people don't notice them very much. I'm willing to bet that all Western nations have laws that repress induvidual rights because of the "common interest". Its just that most of the people living in those nations don't know about it and wouldn't do a whole lot about it even if they did.
Wow, that sounds really out of context now the parent was modded down.
Or the 6/4 project.
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/21/142239 &mode=thread&tid=122&tid=126&tid=172&tid=179&tid=1 85&tid=190
Do your homework
Wouldn't MS have to allow for the infringing code to be removed from the source before the could get money out of any distributer?
It's seems rather unlikely that any kernel developer would allow infringing code to stay in the source if it was pointed out to them (and I mean "this line and this line is infringing on our copyright, rather than "you have our code somewhere in your source...I'm not telling you where" a la SCO)
What are these see-through things in most of the outside walls of my house called?
You've forgotten the electricity bill that'll hit you every month.
I shouldn't imagine it'd be that hefty but it's something.
Also, what about computer crashes? It's likely to happen now and again, so you lose a few dollers a month rebooting/fixing the machine.
It's looking less and less attrative.