Sure it will happen. Otherwise they might not be able to sell their software to i.e. public services in the UK. The UK government requires that all data that is stored by software must be stored in an open format such that even in hundred years when the software does not exist anymore, the datafile can still be read.
First the animals, than the criminals, at the end everybody?
The question is not only does it make sense, but what is the agenda and how does it end. In society errodying more and more strict values, questions about where such action will lead to in the end are fundamentally important
Yes, like the 82-year old guy shouting nonsense when Jack Straw spoke at the labour party conference in the UK. He was afterwoods questions by police under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
When do people start to switch on there brain and start to use common sense again instead of continuously repeating a mantra for political purposes?
Why do you have to warn someone about Gutenberg due to being an English Major?
With this attitude you shouldn't read any old books, in fact I would recommend not to read a lot of today's new papers that are very poorly edited.
The books on Gutenberg are not edited, but preserved as close as possible to their original content. I find it very interesting and educating to read those books despite any mistakes or odd spellings authors and printers may have done. I find often a lot more wisdom in those "badly edited" books than in the very shallow books you find today (btw. often not better edited due to fast turn-arounds).
This is not entirely true. A contract must be a meeting of the minds. If the language does not reflect this meeting of the minds, the whole contract or parts of it might possibly be invalid
This is my opinion based on my legal education and must not be seens as legal advice in any way
I disagree. "America was discovered, this invention/agorithm was created." To discover something implies it was there and you merely found it. Now if you want to claim Algorithms are discoveries because the potential of them exists then by that logic so are books, movies and machines.
Goedelization has proven that every algorithm already exists in form of a number. Therefore one could argue that any Algorithm is in fact discovered by assigning the functionality to that number obtained by goedelization.
If you don't believe it, check under Goedel-numbers in th theory of computing or at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goedel_number.
I'm in Switzerland where we have a similar such TV tax, but the tax is only per household, not per TV. So wouldn't a small business still only pay the same fee as a household with one computer, regardless of how many computers they own?
1) This is true for households in Germany, but businesses pay different fees depending on their size.
2) The question is why small businesses even have to go to the trouble to pay for TV services for having a business related connection for their computer to the internet. The supported TV channels do not offer any enhancement to the business, and it is very unlikely that employees would even be allowed to use the entertainment value provided throught that Internet connection. There is no connection, and more than likely the fees are used for something else anyway. And for small enterprises starting up and trying to pay salaries any unnecessary fee hurts.
>3) Another question can be raised why such public TV and radio organisations are (mis-)using lots of such "tax-enforced" fees for the Internet services that are not part of their public obligation. It is ok for them to offer internet sites that benefit their public purpose. In contrast in the UK there is a big discussion if the BBC violates possible competitors on the internet market with their "tax-financed" Internet news pages, and therefore not only prevent business oportunities, but also offers a way for the government to controll the news information flow in the Internet
I think it is a far more complex issue than it look at first view
There is nothing contradictory in something being both fascist and socialist. The Italian Fascist Party stemmed out from the Socialist party.
This was not only right fot Italy, but also for German's Facist party of that time. The 'Nazis' where called so because the party was the National Socialist Party. Many supporters were blue-collar workers, that were absolutely tuned-in to socialist ideas.
There is also a ver interesting switch going on between extreme-left (communist) parties and neo-facist parties of today (i.,e the leader of one current such party in Germany, the DVU, was formerly a leader of a communist (extreme-socialist) party.
On the other hand one must certainly say that socialism is not used by everybody in a common way. The definition of "true" socialism as well as the degree of the concept of freedom vs. the states preceived obligation to force people to their own good various tremendously. For instance, even a very conservative party in Germany, the CSU contains "socialist" in their name as well as in some degree as a mantra in their policies.
Despite that, I believe in the extremes, ideology is more based on power and totalitarian systems than on the possible positive ideas that a lot of socialists claim socialism has. Therefore IMHO it is very easy to offend people with good intention by labling together with thugs. It is probably better to discuss the issues themselves than to use broad generalizations, even by technical argument they might be true.
Actually a backdoor tax for the government-controlled tv and radio media.
The really problematic part is the totally unrelated taxing of businesses. Up to now, businesses must only pay such a fee if they have TV or radio used on the business premises. (Most bigger companies pay this already because company cars that have a radio installed are included). However, most small companies do not. Since most of them have computers that are connected to the Internet, what really happens is the additional tax of those small businesses, in turn making it even more difficult climate to start and sustain such small businesses that make up a big percentage of employment, and especially new employment.
The German Goverment(s) (since it must be approved by the German states) shows again their insensitivity for overregulation and backdoor taxes, which are a big factor to Germany's bad economic situation and high unemployment. No wonder, more and more highly qualified Germans are leaving their country in order to live and work somewhere else...
Besides, there is another reason why cells are banned on planes; it would crash the network, or at least have your phone banned from it:
On the ground, you phone is in range of three, maybe four stations at a time, because of the curvature of the earth and the landscape. In a plane several thousand feet up, you phone is in range of a much larger number of transmitters. Under the analogue system, that would lead to your phone being banned as they would assume that someone has cloned it. The digital system just gets confused and overloaded as your phone does a cell transfer every 10 seconds. You are travelling at several hundred miles per hour remember.
As we have all know from 9/11 the usage of cell phones in planes neither crashes them, nor does it cause a big problem in the networks.
The only reason why they want to put this to the minicell is that they have the control and therefore they can charge for it. This is pure protectionism and has nothing to do with safety.
It falls in the same line like dvd region codes and the protectionism of national tv channel through artificial geographic boundaries of movie license rights.
Unfortunately the fight for those liberties not a lot of people are paying attention.
The fact that I have no idea what kind of trojan horse of timebomb windows might be. In a world of open network, I have the feeling that it is my ethical obligation to know what my computer is running. And if I am unable to check that out myself, that there are independant experts that can check it out.
I believe it is too easy to trust one corporation. We don't even do that with governments. There are checks and balances, separation of powers etc. Where are the separation of powers and checks and balances concerning Windows ?
I believe in self-determinism. In my own decision when to upgrade my hardware (not because some software has an exploit and it is not fixed anymore, and the new version does not run on it). I believe in self-determination without a nanny that needs to be informed when I change my hardware configuration. I believe it is nobody's business, to put cpu-ids in my text-documents.
I believe in ownership. I believe it is my right to own what I buy. To sell what I own, and to fix it when it is broken, or to go to an independent garage to fix my software instead of the manufacture from where I bought it from
I believe in my right of protection from illegal search and seizure. I do not think anybody needs to know what my hardware is, or what software I have on my machine when I put in a patch.
I believe in the freedom of speech. I do not believe it is anybody's right to forsake my ownership of something that I bought and paid for, because I use it as a tool to opine something that is not liked by somebody else who in return can legally use the EULA to revoke my right of ownership for what I have paid for.
I believe in the right to use my possesion to make a profit in my business endeavors. I do not think that if I buy something, I can not rent it out for money.
This are only 7 of many issues that I have with Windows. I don't care if Windows would be the best product in the world, far ahead of anything else. I would have an issue with what I have to sell of my soul (or rights) to enjoy it. I am very happy, that I have a choice and can choose to use something else that does not deny my inalienable rights that are dear to me
However, like with lots of things, this is my choice, and I would fight for the freedom of others to choose differently while I hope they would stand by me in the same way to fight for my freedom of choice in this issue
That would be great if the vast majority of people would use them. The last time I looked, about 95% of people are using IE. Even if those numbers are off, most people use IE. That means that people have to make sure that their pages work in IE.
THe same statustic says that 50% of the people have Windows XP. I don't believe that number is so accurate either.
1) I believe Konqueror is the best browser currently out there. Some will complain that it is not available for Windows. But then, why should, or since based on Qt, why shouldn't it be possible
2) The most important thing for standards is that not patented technology will be allowed to sneak into the standards.
Slashdot Mirror
Sure it will happen. Otherwise they might not be able to sell their software to i.e. public services in the UK. The UK government requires that all data that is stored by software must be stored in an open format such that even in hundred years when the software does not exist anymore, the datafile can still be read.
First the animals, than the criminals, at the end everybody?
The question is not only does it make sense, but what is the agenda and how does it end. In society errodying more and more strict values, questions about where such action will lead to in the end are fundamentally important
Yes, like the 82-year old guy shouting nonsense when Jack Straw spoke at the labour party conference in the UK. He was afterwoods questions by police under the Anti-Terrorism Act. When do people start to switch on there brain and start to use common sense again instead of continuously repeating a mantra for political purposes?
Why do you have to warn someone about Gutenberg due to being an English Major?
With this attitude you shouldn't read any old books, in fact I would recommend not to read a lot of today's new papers that are very poorly edited.
The books on Gutenberg are not edited, but preserved as close as possible to their original content. I find it very interesting and educating to read those books despite any mistakes or odd spellings authors and printers may have done. I find often a lot more wisdom in those "badly edited" books than in the very shallow books you find today (btw. often not better edited due to fast turn-arounds).
But then ... that are only my 2 cents worth...
Project Gutenberg
Distributed Proofreaders
Distributed Proofreaders Europe
Actually you need a cable like a bungee in order to allow the change distance ;-)
a contract is based on language, not intent.
This is not entirely true. A contract must be a meeting of the minds. If the language does not reflect this meeting of the minds, the whole contract or parts of it might possibly be invalid
This is my opinion based on my legal education and must not be seens as legal advice in any way
I disagree. "America was discovered, this invention/agorithm was created." To discover something implies it was there and you merely found it. Now if you want to claim Algorithms are discoveries because the potential of them exists then by that logic so are books, movies and machines.
Goedelization has proven that every algorithm already exists in form of a number. Therefore one could argue that any Algorithm is in fact discovered by assigning the functionality to that number obtained by goedelization.
If you don't believe it, check under Goedel-numbers in th theory of computing or at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goedel_number.
Anti-liberal, anti-socialist (diametrically opposed to Marxist Communism) Uses violence, propaganda and censorship to supress political opposition.
Libertariens are also anti-liberal, anti-socialist, but diametrically oposed to facism !!!
I'm in Switzerland where we have a similar such TV tax, but the tax is only per household, not per TV. So wouldn't a small business still only pay the same fee as a household with one computer, regardless of how many computers they own?
1) This is true for households in Germany, but businesses pay different fees depending on their size.
2) The question is why small businesses even have to go to the trouble to pay for TV services for having a business related connection for their computer to the internet. The supported TV channels do not offer any enhancement to the business, and it is very unlikely that employees would even be allowed to use the entertainment value provided throught that Internet connection. There is no connection, and more than likely the fees are used for something else anyway. And for small enterprises starting up and trying to pay salaries any unnecessary fee hurts.
>3) Another question can be raised why such public TV and radio organisations are (mis-)using lots of such "tax-enforced" fees for the Internet services that are not part of their public obligation. It is ok for them to offer internet sites that benefit their public purpose. In contrast in the UK there is a big discussion if the BBC violates possible competitors on the internet market with their "tax-financed" Internet news pages, and therefore not only prevent business oportunities, but also offers a way for the government to controll the news information flow in the Internet
I think it is a far more complex issue than it look at first view
There is nothing contradictory in something being both fascist and socialist. The Italian Fascist Party stemmed out from the Socialist party.
This was not only right fot Italy, but also for German's Facist party of that time. The 'Nazis' where called so because the party was the National Socialist Party. Many supporters were blue-collar workers, that were absolutely tuned-in to socialist ideas.
There is also a ver interesting switch going on between extreme-left (communist) parties and neo-facist parties of today (i.,e the leader of one current such party in Germany, the DVU, was formerly a leader of a communist (extreme-socialist) party.
On the other hand one must certainly say that socialism is not used by everybody in a common way. The definition of "true" socialism as well as the degree of the concept of freedom vs. the states preceived obligation to force people to their own good various tremendously. For instance, even a very conservative party in Germany, the CSU contains "socialist" in their name as well as in some degree as a mantra in their policies.
Despite that, I believe in the extremes, ideology is more based on power and totalitarian systems than on the possible positive ideas that a lot of socialists claim socialism has. Therefore IMHO it is very easy to offend people with good intention by labling together with thugs. It is probably better to discuss the issues themselves than to use broad generalizations, even by technical argument they might be true.
Or is it basically a fine for owning a computer?
Actually a backdoor tax for the government-controlled tv and radio media.
The really problematic part is the totally unrelated taxing of businesses. Up to now, businesses must only pay such a fee if they have TV or radio used on the business premises. (Most bigger companies pay this already because company cars that have a radio installed are included). However, most small companies do not. Since most of them have computers that are connected to the Internet, what really happens is the additional tax of those small businesses, in turn making it even more difficult climate to start and sustain such small businesses that make up a big percentage of employment, and especially new employment.
The German Goverment(s) (since it must be approved by the German states) shows again their insensitivity for overregulation and backdoor taxes, which are a big factor to Germany's bad economic situation and high unemployment. No wonder, more and more highly qualified Germans are leaving their country in order to live and work somewhere else...
Besides, there is another reason why cells are banned on planes; it would crash the network, or at least have your phone banned from it: On the ground, you phone is in range of three, maybe four stations at a time, because of the curvature of the earth and the landscape. In a plane several thousand feet up, you phone is in range of a much larger number of transmitters. Under the analogue system, that would lead to your phone being banned as they would assume that someone has cloned it. The digital system just gets confused and overloaded as your phone does a cell transfer every 10 seconds. You are travelling at several hundred miles per hour remember.
As we have all know from 9/11 the usage of cell phones in planes neither crashes them, nor does it cause a big problem in the networks.The only reason why they want to put this to the minicell is that they have the control and therefore they can charge for it. This is pure protectionism and has nothing to do with safety. It falls in the same line like dvd region codes and the protectionism of national tv channel through artificial geographic boundaries of movie license rights. Unfortunately the fight for those liberties not a lot of people are paying attention.
What keeps me off Windows ?
The fact that I have no idea what kind of trojan horse of timebomb windows might be. In a world of open network, I have the feeling that it is my ethical obligation to know what my computer is running. And if I am unable to check that out myself, that there are independant experts that can check it out.
I believe it is too easy to trust one corporation. We don't even do that with governments. There are checks and balances, separation of powers etc. Where are the separation of powers and checks and balances concerning Windows ?
I believe in self-determinism. In my own decision when to upgrade my hardware (not because some software has an exploit and it is not fixed anymore, and the new version does not run on it). I believe in self-determination without a nanny that needs to be informed when I change my hardware configuration. I believe it is nobody's business, to put cpu-ids in my text-documents.
I believe in ownership. I believe it is my right to own what I buy. To sell what I own, and to fix it when it is broken, or to go to an independent garage to fix my software instead of the manufacture from where I bought it from
I believe in my right of protection from illegal search and seizure. I do not think anybody needs to know what my hardware is, or what software I have on my machine when I put in a patch.
I believe in the freedom of speech. I do not believe it is anybody's right to forsake my ownership of something that I bought and paid for, because I use it as a tool to opine something that is not liked by somebody else who in return can legally use the EULA to revoke my right of ownership for what I have paid for.
I believe in the right to use my possesion to make a profit in my business endeavors. I do not think that if I buy something, I can not rent it out for money.
This are only 7 of many issues that I have with Windows. I don't care if Windows would be the best product in the world, far ahead of anything else. I would have an issue with what I have to sell of my soul (or rights) to enjoy it. I am very happy, that I have a choice and can choose to use something else that does not deny my inalienable rights that are dear to me
However, like with lots of things, this is my choice, and I would fight for the freedom of others to choose differently while I hope they would stand by me in the same way to fight for my freedom of choice in this issue
1) And so it should be. I would be rather concerned about the Orwellian trojan horses that would be in such a blackbox
2) Forgers can also easily reverse-engineer the blackbox software, so what's the point.
I believe it is again one of those dumm ideas politicians have that are professional politicians without knowledge of the subject matter.
Is there anywhare a statistic pf granted vs. denied patants by the PTO. Otherwise it seems save to assume the PTO is just rubberstamping ...
Chinese companies are not paying patent fees in the first place.
Which foreign company has gotten a patent from the Chinese patent office ???
Patents are not like copyright automatically valid everywhere. Patents have to be applied for in every jurisdiction separately
That would be great if the vast majority of people would use them. The last time I looked, about 95% of people are using IE. Even if those numbers are off, most people use IE. That means that people have to make sure that their pages work in IE.
THe same statustic says that 50% of the people have Windows XP. I don't believe that number is so accurate either.
1) I believe Konqueror is the best browser currently out there. Some will complain that it is not available for Windows. But then, why should, or since based on Qt, why shouldn't it be possible
2) The most important thing for standards is that not patented technology will be allowed to sneak into the standards.
That depends on the meaning of n ...
(or n-1 for this respect) ...
Just an example of interpretation of civil rights in Europe. Not regarding Germany, but the UK:
R v. Jordan [1967] CRIM LR 483 is a ruling that failed to render the Race Relation Act 1965 invalid on claims that it limits freddom of speech.
The reasoning was that in the UK there is no superior laws recognised protecting freedom of speech.
This stands in strict contrast to the Ammendment I of the US Constitution.
1 invalid patent down .... n invalid patents to go
... Calculating while most awake .....
is certainly better than calculating while fast asleep ....
... but what happens if I move timezones like from the USA to Europe ????
Until some of those cops hacks into someone's wireless hub and produce the evidence themselves
Maybe SCO should patent all Virus and Trojan Horses and than sue everybody whose computer gets infected by them ....