They can only fuck with the constitution so much until it really does become a piece of shitpaper, and then lots and lots of people get organized and remember all that money they used to send to Uncle Sam and used to buy consumer goods and stuff with? Well, they start to organize all kinds of intersting things with it instead; evertying from large scale protests, political campaigns, and even well-armed militias.
Know what a well-armed militia is? I'll give you a hint. Get an issue rolling that is serious enough to truly get the interest of a LOT of the population, and that LOT of the population is, sooner or later, bound to include industrialists, politicians, businessmen, and even, guess what? People with military command.
So, as soon as you have a really divisive issue (and I'm not talking about abortion, social security, or even drug legalization here), I mean some REALLY divisive issue, you can go ahead and stop thinking of militias in terms of a bunch of old men in Idaho who don't want to pay taxes, and start thinking in terms of cops and soldiers (whole chains of command!) who are prepared to lay it on the line, because they would rather kill or die than to let things continue to get worse.
That, my friend, is how revolutions begin. Can't happen here? I don't know why not, but it seems unlikely. But it happens all the time in other countries, so I don't know why it *couldn't* happen here. Except that life is too goddamed good and comfortable for pretty much everybody (hell, I'm tired of hearing about people who've been unemployed for a couple of years who still eat one or two meals a day and sleep indoors on a bed. How long do you go until you actually start to experience STRIFE, for christsakes?)
" I ripped some Sheryl Crow CDs to 128kbps MP3. When I played them over my speakers (Klipsch 4.1, nowhere near audiophile quality) they sounded flat"
Like listening through silk.
Why? Because you lost a lot of the high frequencies. You know, the ones that people say "don't matter". The ones that get discarded because they are more expensive to store.
That's the domain where a whole lot of subtle aspects of the sound live. The sound of the cymbals as they ride out. The overtones of the strings. The singer's breath. The natural reverbs as well as the effects.
You throw that information away in favor of a lower sampling frequency to save storage space.
And you don't have to have grown up on a Napa vineyard to know what vinegar tastes like.
High frequencies matter, even if you can't hear them.
"My oldest hardware is a mechanical calculator build in 1913"
I forgot to add this to my post, but I've used a slide rule this century. Actually, I've used two different ones. A K&E and a Pickett. Once to demonstrate the properties of logrithms, and once to calculate a pH based on ammonia and nitrite measurements.
There's something about logrithmic calculations like this, that a calculator does not quite communicate in the way a slide rule does.
"I suspect a newer PC would not last a month given the universe of grime it would live in."
You can brick some mini-itx mobos in polyester resin. You could run that on a sealed fanless power supply that could literally live in the pig's trough.
"Jackass, the US loves chaos, thats how it stays in power."
Maybe what they *say* and what they *do* don't add up. I don't think the official policy actually reads like "stir up shit to keep the brothas down."
I realize the reality of the situation sucks, because men are not infallible, and because power corrupts even the strongest wills with the greatest integrity.
"Why has the US been in every war in the 20+ century."
Only slightly involved in some of them. If I were calling the shots, the US would be involved in no wars that did not reach its borders. Yes, that means the hell with Europe, and fuck communism. So I'm not calling the shots, and that's doubtless a good thing.
"Why is it the only nation to use and continue to use nuclear weapons?"
What the hell are you talking about? Hiroshima? Oh well. Depleted uranium? Sucks to be in the path of any bullet. Where did you get the idea that the US is the only country with nukes? Wait, are you talking about tests? Yeah I hate it too, but I don't think I see your point.
I have a spare model M on the shelf. I have a pile of various Microsoft, logitech, keytronics, etc. keyboards, in case anybody wonders if I use the old keyboard out of necessity not choice.
I also have a Royal typewriter from 1945. Say what you will, it's the very best thing for labels, envelopes, forms. Use it at least once a week.
I just retired my Hayes ESP card.
Sometimes I play a synthesizer through a 1965 Fender amp. Say what you will, I cannot hear you over my bad ass amp.
If *only* I could find a standard bell telephone.
My entertainment center sports a fully functional C-64 shrine.
I also have an apple ][e that works perfectly but I can't say I actually use it.
I know of a lawyers office that still uses 286's and some DOS version of WP. I don't disagree with their reasons for not "upgrading" at all.
In the last year I've used a QIC-80 tape drive and an IOmega Zip.
I still get lots of use out of a Toshiba P-75 laptop, albeit running linux in console mode. That thing is a tank, and gets far better battery life than any other laptop I've had my hands on.
I know some commo guys that would blow you away with the old RF stuff they use.
Our phone tech was using the same test set he must have had since the 60's.
I won't trade my Nikon F camera, or my 24mm lens, for anything.
"I thought that the US government was on the side of Israel in the war against Palestine. "
All cynicism aside, the US position is to seek peaceful resolutions, and to minimize the extent of combat operatione when they become necessary.
Guerilla/militant fighting, terrorist actions, and coups d'etat are not condoned, at least not according to official policy.
So the US position is to try to avoid chaos. Suicide bombings are the very essence of chaos, and the truth is, nobody has a clue what to do about them.
Identifying people who might be prone to causing an incident of chaos, might be a good start. Suppressing them makes sense as well, but I think supressing their views by censoring their writings crosses a line that ultimately makes the whole strategy worthless. It makes us no better than the Inquisition prosecuting Galileo for saying the Earth moves. (The church *knew* Galileo's argument was sound, they just didn't appreciate him teaching that the church had erred, he ignored their "suggestions" to cease and desist, and he paid the price.) It makes us no better than Khomeni sentencing Rushdie to death for printing a book.
"Essentially, don't get caught donating money to the group that put up the site."
So what would happen if the EFF supported their cause on 1st Amendment grounds? I looked at the websites, and I disagree with the views expressed -- but I don't see anything to warrant suppression.
If the US Government wants to make it a crime to give money to an individual, they should just say so, without clouding the issue by bringing the red herring of the internet into the picture.
It would make as much sense to post their phone number as their web address. So I suppose it makes me a terrorist, because I think that these people should be accountable for their crimes, but that drawing attention to their websites does not accomplish anything at all. Well, it probably gets them a bit more sympathy and a bit of free advertising. I'd be pretty damned suprised if it hurts their pockets one bit.
Maybe there is evidence that the people responsible for the websites are criminals. If so, then bring them to justice for their crimes using the tried-and-true approach. Whining about their website is just weak, and it reveals a weakness in the leadership of the US.
Well, in a best-case scenario, the propagation rate would grow exponentially. Consider the situation where every downstream node also distributes the item. Even if each node only distributes to one other node, you have quadratic growth.
Of course that's not what actually happens, but when you have your panties in a bunch and you're asking a court for damages, you want aim high when stating your case.
On the other hand, damages should only ever be framed in terms of what did happen, not what could happen.
"You bought the CD, it's yours. You have the right to do anything you want with it, within the bounds of copyright law."
That opinion is SO 20th Century.
Nowadays, the bounds of copyright law reach all the way into the choice of whether, when, how, where, and how often you may listen to it.
And that is why I will not do business with these people, even if that means my music collection is frozen at a previous decade.
Dang, it has been almost a decade since I first ceased buying CD's. I used to buy a LOT of them. Then the EMI group shut down OLGA. I quit then, and when the DMCA turned into reality it was no problem to STAY quit.
I basically missed the whole Napster period, because it took too much effort to do. So I didn't become a P2P fanatic when I stopped buying music.
No, instead, I got back into playing music. I make my own now. Screw the entertainment industry. I have tropical fish where I once had a TV. But that's another story.
It doesn't bother me anymore that the media treat their customers like criminals, and you know why? Because I haven't been their customer for longer than I can remember.
You know, all those problems go away if you refrain from plugging your computer into a network to which "they" have access.
It's still not a very good comparison. I don't interpret the EULA the same way you do, and I think you're being a bit sensationalist about the whole thing.
The bottom line is, Intuit violated a relationship that had been built on trust -- that would *ONLY* have been built on trust. Microsoft may have worse things in store, but they haven't used them yet to do damage to me. And Intuit has.
So, I can still do business with Microsoft (and I'm NO fan of theirs, mind you.) But I cannot touch Intuit. They crossed a line that simply isn't crossed, beyond which is basically a death sentence as far as I'm concerned. I won't buy food from a place that gives me food poisoning, and I won't buy Intuit products for reasons that I hold even more strongly than that.
The food place can apologize if they want to, but the apology from Intuit is inappropriate, and irrelevant.
I'm pretty picky when it comes to who gets to touch my finances and how, and you should be too. Dragging Microsoft into this might be worthy of discussion, but it is completely beside the point.
Windows XP doesn't live in the space of financial applications, and has not asked me to trust my money in its charge, not directly anyway.
Windows XP activation is actually pretty reasonable, to my mind. It's a bit better with MSDN versions. It's annoying, but it does not rise to the level where I consider it to be a crime against my property and interests.
I'll spell that out:
I consider what Intuit did, to be a crime against my property and interests. And to make matters worse for them, they abused a position of trust to the point that I can never trust them again. The standards for trust go way, way up, when you occupy that tiny space between me and my financial assets, get it? I have zero tolerance in this space, and a short fuse for getting angry when that tolerance threshold is crossed.
If Intuit wanted my business, then they needed to stay in compliance with my requirements for a party to take stewardship of my assets. Having failed to do so, and even doing intentional damage borne of willful neglect for my security, interests, protection of my assets and property, I am left with no choice but to cease what had been a long, happy relationship with the company.
I bought and used every version of TurboTax, every version of Quicken, and several versions of Quickbooks. I represent the worst kind of lost opportunity for a business: I was a repeat customer who purchased every release of their product from the very beginning. And they have so egregiously violated my sensibilities (I really do consider it a crime), that I am neither interested in ever doing business with them again, nor am I interested in hearing their limp "apology."
There is absolutely nothing they can do that would get my business back, unless maybe they change their name and catch me off guard somehow.
Windows, on the other hand, for all their garbage, hasn't offended me or damaged me personally. They can count on my renewal of my MSDN subscription, XP activation or no XP activation.
The real problem in the Emperor's Clothes tale is that the kid ALSO embarrassed EVERYBODY in the entire kingdom too. See, it's one thing to embarrass the King, but it's a whole 'nother ball game when you point out the folly of the whole group. Instead of praising the child for releasing them from the lie, I'm sure they lynched him and went right back to pretending to believe every lie the leaders told them.
>Should unlocking the car you paid for be a crime? No.
The flaw in the argument is that it is a false analogy to compare property like a car, to published music.
It's a bit more like, not having the right to break a window to get into a rented car.
The problem really is that we, collectively, do business with people who imply that we own the music we buy, but in reality reserve all rights to control how and when and how often you listen to that music.
We, collectively, should be savvy enough that people who do dishonest business don't get our money. Then these problems would take care of themselves.
"Solution: Sue the government for being STUPID and making pretty much every citizen in the United States a felon"
Every few years we get an opportunity to completely overhaul the whole thing from the top down, and you know what happens? Every time, "we" choose the status quo.
I think for all the ranting and raving on the fringe, the government of the US actually does operate under the informed consent of its constituents. To me, that is a scarier thing to ponder than the "rogue state" theory.
Yep. I've been a hawk for every bit of information I can get my hands on. I don't think a fbconsole on a Radeon 8500 LE should be this weird of an order. (I know, the devteam cannot test every combination of hardware, yadda, yadda).
If I have to buy another video card just to upgrade the linux kernel, I want to know precisely which one will give me satisfactory fbconsoles ahead of time, and I will write it down in the TCO-margin column.
When I get time, I will install the latest 2.6, regress through the various patches for radeon, and see if the problem has magically gone away. I don't know a good way to characterize the effect though. You run fbset to a high resolution, and end up with a console on 1/4 of your screen and various garbage on the rest of the screen, and general instability.
It doesn't seem like very many people are using fbconsoles and it certainly doesn't seem like the people developing the ATI drivers have their hands on very much ATI hardware. I know, volunteer effort, yadda yadda, but is it a mature OS with a huge developer base and widespread adoption? I figure this will probably get fixed before 2.6 comes out, but if it doesn't, Radeon cards shouldn't be on the compatability list for it.
Slashdot Mirror
They can only fuck with the constitution so much until it really does become a piece of shitpaper, and then lots and lots of people get organized and remember all that money they used to send to Uncle Sam and used to buy consumer goods and stuff with? Well, they start to organize all kinds of intersting things with it instead; evertying from large scale protests, political campaigns, and even well-armed militias.
Know what a well-armed militia is? I'll give you a hint. Get an issue rolling that is serious enough to truly get the interest of a LOT of the population, and that LOT of the population is, sooner or later, bound to include industrialists, politicians, businessmen, and even, guess what? People with military command.
So, as soon as you have a really divisive issue (and I'm not talking about abortion, social security, or even drug legalization here), I mean some REALLY divisive issue, you can go ahead and stop thinking of militias in terms of a bunch of old men in Idaho who don't want to pay taxes, and start thinking in terms of cops and soldiers (whole chains of command!) who are prepared to lay it on the line, because they would rather kill or die than to let things continue to get worse.
That, my friend, is how revolutions begin. Can't happen here? I don't know why not, but it seems unlikely. But it happens all the time in other countries, so I don't know why it *couldn't* happen here. Except that life is too goddamed good and comfortable for pretty much everybody (hell, I'm tired of hearing about people who've been unemployed for a couple of years who still eat one or two meals a day and sleep indoors on a bed. How long do you go until you actually start to experience STRIFE, for christsakes?)
" I ripped some Sheryl Crow CDs to 128kbps MP3. When I played them over my speakers (Klipsch 4.1, nowhere near audiophile quality) they sounded flat"
Like listening through silk.
Why? Because you lost a lot of the high frequencies. You know, the ones that people say "don't matter". The ones that get discarded because they are more expensive to store.
That's the domain where a whole lot of subtle aspects of the sound live. The sound of the cymbals as they ride out. The overtones of the strings. The singer's breath. The natural reverbs as well as the effects.
You throw that information away in favor of a lower sampling frequency to save storage space.
And you don't have to have grown up on a Napa vineyard to know what vinegar tastes like.
High frequencies matter, even if you can't hear them.
"My oldest hardware is a mechanical calculator build in 1913"
I forgot to add this to my post, but I've used a slide rule this century. Actually, I've used two different ones. A K&E and a Pickett. Once to demonstrate the properties of logrithms, and once to calculate a pH based on ammonia and nitrite measurements.
There's something about logrithmic calculations like this, that a calculator does not quite communicate in the way a slide rule does.
"I suspect a newer PC would not last a month given the universe of grime it would live in."
You can brick some mini-itx mobos in polyester resin. You could run that on a sealed fanless power supply that could literally live in the pig's trough.
"Jackass, the US loves chaos, thats how it stays in power."
Maybe what they *say* and what they *do* don't add up. I don't think the official policy actually reads like "stir up shit to keep the brothas down."
I realize the reality of the situation sucks, because men are not infallible, and because power corrupts even the strongest wills with the greatest integrity.
"Why has the US been in every war in the 20+ century."
Only slightly involved in some of them. If I were calling the shots, the US would be involved in no wars that did not reach its borders. Yes, that means the hell with Europe, and fuck communism. So I'm not calling the shots, and that's doubtless a good thing.
"Why is it the only nation to use and continue to use nuclear weapons?"
What the hell are you talking about? Hiroshima? Oh well. Depleted uranium? Sucks to be in the path of any bullet. Where did you get the idea that the US is the only country with nukes? Wait, are you talking about tests? Yeah I hate it too, but I don't think I see your point.
I have a spare model M on the shelf. I have a pile of various Microsoft, logitech, keytronics, etc. keyboards, in case anybody wonders if I use the old keyboard out of necessity not choice.
I also have a Royal typewriter from 1945. Say what you will, it's the very best thing for labels, envelopes, forms. Use it at least once a week.
I just retired my Hayes ESP card.
Sometimes I play a synthesizer through a 1965 Fender amp. Say what you will, I cannot hear you over my bad ass amp.
If *only* I could find a standard bell telephone.
My entertainment center sports a fully functional C-64 shrine.
I also have an apple ][e that works perfectly but I can't say I actually use it.
I know of a lawyers office that still uses 286's and some DOS version of WP. I don't disagree with their reasons for not "upgrading" at all.
In the last year I've used a QIC-80 tape drive and an IOmega Zip.
I still get lots of use out of a Toshiba P-75 laptop, albeit running linux in console mode. That thing is a tank, and gets far better battery life than any other laptop I've had my hands on.
I know some commo guys that would blow you away with the old RF stuff they use.
Our phone tech was using the same test set he must have had since the 60's.
I won't trade my Nikon F camera, or my 24mm lens, for anything.
"Do you know what happens when a company starts to harass their own customers?"
When the customers are addicted to the product, it would appear to increase revenue.
"I thought that the US government was on the side of Israel in the war against Palestine. "
All cynicism aside, the US position is to seek peaceful resolutions, and to minimize the extent of combat operatione when they become necessary.
Guerilla/militant fighting, terrorist actions, and coups d'etat are not condoned, at least not according to official policy.
So the US position is to try to avoid chaos. Suicide bombings are the very essence of chaos, and the truth is, nobody has a clue what to do about them.
Identifying people who might be prone to causing an incident of chaos, might be a good start. Suppressing them makes sense as well, but I think supressing their views by censoring their writings crosses a line that ultimately makes the whole strategy worthless. It makes us no better than the Inquisition prosecuting Galileo for saying the Earth moves. (The church *knew* Galileo's argument was sound, they just didn't appreciate him teaching that the church had erred, he ignored their "suggestions" to cease and desist, and he paid the price.) It makes us no better than Khomeni sentencing Rushdie to death for printing a book.
"Essentially, don't get caught donating money to the group that put up the site."
So what would happen if the EFF supported their cause on 1st Amendment grounds? I looked at the websites, and I disagree with the views expressed -- but I don't see anything to warrant suppression.
If the US Government wants to make it a crime to give money to an individual, they should just say so, without clouding the issue by bringing the red herring of the internet into the picture.
It would make as much sense to post their phone number as their web address. So I suppose it makes me a terrorist, because I think that these people should be accountable for their crimes, but that drawing attention to their websites does not accomplish anything at all. Well, it probably gets them a bit more sympathy and a bit of free advertising. I'd be pretty damned suprised if it hurts their pockets one bit.
Maybe there is evidence that the people responsible for the websites are criminals. If so, then bring them to justice for their crimes using the tried-and-true approach. Whining about their website is just weak, and it reveals a weakness in the leadership of the US.
I don't like the sentiment expressed in that website, but, Mr. Bush swore an oath to protect that person's right to speak his mind.
I have always thought that ACPI support alone ought to cover this.
>Smart people from around the world
Not smart enough to find themselves in a position to make strategic IT decisions, apparently.
Well, in a best-case scenario, the propagation rate would grow exponentially. Consider the situation where every downstream node also distributes the item. Even if each node only distributes to one other node, you have quadratic growth.
Of course that's not what actually happens, but when you have your panties in a bunch and you're asking a court for damages, you want aim high when stating your case.
On the other hand, damages should only ever be framed in terms of what did happen, not what could happen.
"You bought the CD, it's yours. You have the right to do anything you want with it, within the bounds of copyright law."
That opinion is SO 20th Century.
Nowadays, the bounds of copyright law reach all the way into the choice of whether, when, how, where, and how often you may listen to it.
And that is why I will not do business with these people, even if that means my music collection is frozen at a previous decade.
Dang, it has been almost a decade since I first ceased buying CD's. I used to buy a LOT of them. Then the EMI group shut down OLGA. I quit then, and when the DMCA turned into reality it was no problem to STAY quit.
I basically missed the whole Napster period, because it took too much effort to do. So I didn't become a P2P fanatic when I stopped buying music.
No, instead, I got back into playing music. I make my own now. Screw the entertainment industry. I have tropical fish where I once had a TV. But that's another story.
It doesn't bother me anymore that the media treat their customers like criminals, and you know why? Because I haven't been their customer for longer than I can remember.
You know, all those problems go away if you refrain from plugging your computer into a network to which "they" have access.
It's still not a very good comparison. I don't interpret the EULA the same way you do, and I think you're being a bit sensationalist about the whole thing.
The bottom line is, Intuit violated a relationship that had been built on trust -- that would *ONLY* have been built on trust. Microsoft may have worse things in store, but they haven't used them yet to do damage to me. And Intuit has.
So, I can still do business with Microsoft (and I'm NO fan of theirs, mind you.) But I cannot touch Intuit. They crossed a line that simply isn't crossed, beyond which is basically a death sentence as far as I'm concerned. I won't buy food from a place that gives me food poisoning, and I won't buy Intuit products for reasons that I hold even more strongly than that.
The food place can apologize if they want to, but the apology from Intuit is inappropriate, and irrelevant.
I'm pretty picky when it comes to who gets to touch my finances and how, and you should be too. Dragging Microsoft into this might be worthy of discussion, but it is completely beside the point.
The apathy vote abstains with full awareness and choice. I prefer to count the abstention vote as "support for the status quo", not "apathy."
Many people are "disinterested" without being "uninterested."
They are equally satisfied with any among the narrow field of candidates, because they all generally represent western capitalist values.
Get a Socialist party that starts looking like it will be a threat to one of the main parties, and watch that voter turnout increase exponentially.
They will move as soon as their "Republican/Democrat" party looks like it's losing power.
Windows XP didn't break my GRUB.
Windows XP doesn't live in the space of financial applications, and has not asked me to trust my money in its charge, not directly anyway.
Windows XP activation is actually pretty reasonable, to my mind. It's a bit better with MSDN versions. It's annoying, but it does not rise to the level where I consider it to be a crime against my property and interests.
I'll spell that out:
I consider what Intuit did, to be a crime against my property and interests. And to make matters worse for them, they abused a position of trust to the point that I can never trust them again. The standards for trust go way, way up, when you occupy that tiny space between me and my financial assets, get it? I have zero tolerance in this space, and a short fuse for getting angry when that tolerance threshold is crossed.
If Intuit wanted my business, then they needed to stay in compliance with my requirements for a party to take stewardship of my assets. Having failed to do so, and even doing intentional damage borne of willful neglect for my security, interests, protection of my assets and property, I am left with no choice but to cease what had been a long, happy relationship with the company.
I bought and used every version of TurboTax, every version of Quicken, and several versions of Quickbooks. I represent the worst kind of lost opportunity for a business: I was a repeat customer who purchased every release of their product from the very beginning. And they have so egregiously violated my sensibilities (I really do consider it a crime), that I am neither interested in ever doing business with them again, nor am I interested in hearing their limp "apology."
There is absolutely nothing they can do that would get my business back, unless maybe they change their name and catch me off guard somehow.
Windows, on the other hand, for all their garbage, hasn't offended me or damaged me personally. They can count on my renewal of my MSDN subscription, XP activation or no XP activation.
Aren't these multi-mode CD's with a DRM-laden WMA track in addition to an audio track?
And isn't the workaround just a way to get to the CDDA, and doesn't it leave the WMA unlistenable?
The real problem in the Emperor's Clothes tale is that the kid ALSO embarrassed EVERYBODY in the entire kingdom too. See, it's one thing to embarrass the King, but it's a whole 'nother ball game when you point out the folly of the whole group. Instead of praising the child for releasing them from the lie, I'm sure they lynched him and went right back to pretending to believe every lie the leaders told them.
>Should unlocking the car you paid for be a crime? No.
The flaw in the argument is that it is a false analogy to compare property like a car, to published music.
It's a bit more like, not having the right to break a window to get into a rented car.
The problem really is that we, collectively, do business with people who imply that we own the music we buy, but in reality reserve all rights to control how and when and how often you listen to that music.
We, collectively, should be savvy enough that people who do dishonest business don't get our money. Then these problems would take care of themselves.
"Solution: Sue the government for being STUPID and making pretty much every citizen in the United States a felon"
Every few years we get an opportunity to completely overhaul the whole thing from the top down, and you know what happens? Every time, "we" choose the status quo.
I think for all the ranting and raving on the fringe, the government of the US actually does operate under the informed consent of its constituents. To me, that is a scarier thing to ponder than the "rogue state" theory.
Europeans express their pity while remaining blind to the same phenomena creeping into their own laws.
>SunnComm
>602-267-7500
That looks like a Phoenix AZ number.
Does that mean their office is here, or does it just mean their lawyer lives in Sun City or something?
"The few users of broadband who actually need to run an Internet visible server"
It might be *relatively* few, but it's not really just a few users. Lots of peoples livelihood rests on the Internet being a bidirectional medium.
Yep. I've been a hawk for every bit of information I can get my hands on. I don't think a fbconsole on a Radeon 8500 LE should be this weird of an order. (I know, the devteam cannot test every combination of hardware, yadda, yadda).
If I have to buy another video card just to upgrade the linux kernel, I want to know precisely which one will give me satisfactory fbconsoles ahead of time, and I will write it down in the TCO-margin column.
When I get time, I will install the latest 2.6, regress through the various patches for radeon, and see if the problem has magically gone away.
I don't know a good way to characterize the effect though. You run fbset to a high resolution, and end up with a console on 1/4 of your screen and various garbage on the rest of the screen, and general instability.
It doesn't seem like very many people are using fbconsoles and it certainly doesn't seem like the people developing the ATI drivers have their hands on very much ATI hardware. I know, volunteer effort, yadda yadda, but is it a mature OS with a huge developer base and widespread adoption? I figure this will probably get fixed before 2.6 comes out, but if it doesn't, Radeon cards shouldn't be on the compatability list for it.