"The best thing Microsoft can do is to crack down on all those illegal copies of Office."
Despite what Steve Ballmer bellowed lately there is no "11" on the knob for WGA and OGA. Indeed it is not likely for anyone at Microsoft to even paint an "11" on the WGA/OGA knob. That's because they view copyright infringement as a way to lock out competitors. As Bill Gates said in 1998, about the Chinese being the largest copyright infringers: "As long as they are going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade." http://preview.tinyurl.com/2vmw4d
Nine years later, that statement still holds true. It will always be the reason why Windows will never have true whips-and-chains bondage type copy protection. From Microsoft's point of view, if some people go through the trouble of breaking WGA to install Windows, at least they're not installing Linux. The pain of breaking WGA/OGA will never exceed the (imagined) pain of going to alternatives.
"MacLeod likens this process to stretching a persons skin until it ruptures, exposing the flesh underneath. You take the crust and you stretch it and you pull it and pull it until it breaks, he said."
"Plenty of African nations are up to their necks in valuable things you can dig out of the ground."
And:
"Mineral wealth is nice, but it is hardly a deal maker. "
And:
"True, China is a big growth engine right now"
I'll give you _one_ guess which country is all over Africa making as many deals for mineral wealth as possible.
They may be communists, but the urge to wheel and deal is in the DNA of China. They are willing to deal with anyone. President is a homicidal dictator? They don't care. Where we (the US) won't touch Zimbabwe with a twenty foot pole, China is there making deals with Mugabe.
Talk about an interesting way to sneak information out of a company/country... transcribe it into the DNA of an infectious bacteria or virus, and then infect yourself with it. You walk out the door with a sniffle and 10 million dollars worth in classified secrets."
Vergil I. Ulam did this in Greg Bear's "Blood Music"
I was hoping that Ballmer would follow through with his threat to tighten the screws with WGA! Indeed, if you are pro- Free Software, you should encourage Microsoft's crackdown on piracy.
I'm all for it. I'm for WGA turning an infringer's computer into a smoking heap.
Every person who installs an illegitimate version of Windows is another person that Microsoft can count on to not look at alternatives.
"microsoft, with its billions, is blind in making strategic business decisions, but you, some slashdot postager, is the one who truly understands what is best for microsoft's business. right"
You do realize that Microsoft used to brag about adding a feature because a _single_ customer asked for it, correct?
What, exactly, happened between then and now that made the customer wrong?
THE WRITER of the Apple software Display Eater has admitted that his licence contained a hollow threat when it threatened to destroy the personal file of any one who installed it with a dodgy code number.
On Friday we wrote how Karsten Kusche, who works for another Apple software maker Briksoftware, discovered that Display Eater's licence threatens that if you try to use a pirated serial number with Display Eater, the software will delete your home file.
If you go to the webpage of Reverse Code [http://reversecode.com/], which makes the software, the developer says that the whole purpose of the licence was to create a scare campaign. He though that if people feared sticking in a pirated licence code number he would not have to waste time writing copy protection routines to be broken over and over.
He admitted that the whole idea was a mistake. Some people started buying multiple keys, which he never intended, and when the protection was in place, people who did not even know they had committed piracy or what piracy was were left in the dark.
Legitimate and prospective users started fearing the program, which he never imagined. He said he now has plans to make the software free, and or open source. He has since released a free key which will not eat your Apple.
For regular Windows, yours was screamingly fast as most people had 4MB. The 8MB machine I had back then had a 150MB(or something) IDE drive, 486DX66, ATI Mach32 card, and a 17 inch monitor, for CAD.
It normally ran OS/2 with the patches for Windows 3.1, or PharLap for the CAD software (Personal Designer/GCD).
DesqView/X with Win3.1 was done on a lark, and man, it was hilarious. I guess you really needed 12 MB or 16 for that, which people actually did because it allowed you to blast 3.1 over a network from one machine to another that had X.
How would _you_ mod that as a slashdot moderator? Me: -1 Troll, -1 Flamebait -1 Stupid (if only) -1 overrated (so it can't be taken away in metamoderation).
Giving public accessing to the database is also designed to correct mistakes if an individual discovers that their name, number and picture don't match."
Prisoner: Where am I? Number Two: In The Village. Prisoner: What do you want? Number Two: Information. Prisoner: Which side are you on? Number Two: That would be telling. We want information, information, information... Prisoner: You won't get it. Number Two: By hook or by crook we will. Prisoner: Who are you? Number Two: The new Number Two. Prisoner: Who is Number One? Number Two: You are Number Six. Prisoner: I am not a number. I am a free man. Number Two: Ha, ha, ha, ha.
Forget about just doing the sin/crime. Here's George Carlin's take:
"It was a sin to WANT to feel up Ellen, it was a sin to PLAN to feel up Ellen, it was a sin to take her to the place where you were gonna feel her up, it was a sin to TRY to feel up Ellen, and it was a sin to FEEL her up - there were FIVE SINS in one feel, man." - George Carlin
"The most typical test of hardness is attempting to scratch a material. (To measure a material's hardness on the Mohs scale, essentially a series of scratch tests are performed, and a material's place on the Mohs scale was determined by what it could scratch vs. what would scratch it.)"
In the machining world and other places, where more accuracy is needed, "hardness" is defined as "resistance to penetration" or "resistance to plastic deformation, usually by indentation" (Metals Handbook) as in a diamond or ball bearing is placed upon the material and then a force is applied. The depth into the material or width of the mark is measured and matched to a scale (Rockwell, Brinell, Vickers, Knoop etc).
More than what most people want to know about hardness:
Testing using Vickers, Knoop, Rockwell, and Brinell is much more accurate than the Mohs scale method, but there are file sets you can buy that will measure hardness in the same way as the Mohs scale, for portability reasons.
Sol: No, it's a moissanite. Lincoln: A what? Sol: A moissanite is an artificial diamond, Lincoln. Sol: It's Mickey Mouse.
Spurious.
Not genuine.
And it's worth......fuck-all.
First off, unless GPL 3 gets off the ground that specifically bans the actions that Novell and Microsoft have done, nobody can "ban" Novell from distributing Linux, as they have not violated the GPL as it stands (I think, see below).
Secondly, John Dragoon doesn't get it. He honestly thought that this was a Good Idea and we parted ways agreeing to disagree. He's a PHB sales-type. He's not "one of us."
I have ranted here and vehemently castigated Novell (see sig) for the stupid move, but I'm not sure that they should be "kicked out of linux" yet. They should be given the chance to redeem themselves or at least clear the air on what they really signed. But I have yet to hear anyone from Novell explain exactly what was in that contract. I've waited and waited for a clear explanation, and it has not been forthcoming from what I can see. So all I've had to base my opinion on is a smattering of articles and analysis on Groklaw of generalities taken from press releases. For all I can tell, it's a lot of hot air.
I am more of the opinion that we don't need a "Novell Clause." Instead I think that Linux market forces will relegate Novell's brands of Linux to the dustbin if they don't get their act together and get right with the community.
-- BMO
"I have never come upon a post which makes its point so excellently, and also contains so many F-words." - Bruce Perens
Slashdot Mirror
"Is is just me or have I seem the same tactic used to get people hooked on recreational pharmaceuticals?"
It's not a coincidence that the consumers of such stuff are called "users."
From the freakin' promo site:
"ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS MENTION THE WORD 'OFFICE' AND THE LINK 'WWW.ITSNOTCHEATING.COM.AU' IN YOUR BLOG. WINNER IS JUDGED ON CREATIVITY OF THE STORY."
*head asplodes* Yeah, "astroturf for us, not even for pay, please, and you _might_ get a cheap prize." The whole promo site is mentally insulting.
--
BMO
"The best thing Microsoft can do is to crack down on all those illegal copies of Office."
Despite what Steve Ballmer bellowed lately there is no "11" on the knob for WGA and OGA. Indeed it is not likely for anyone at Microsoft to even paint an "11" on the WGA/OGA knob. That's because they view copyright infringement as a way to lock out competitors. As Bill Gates said in 1998, about the Chinese being the largest copyright infringers: "As long as they are going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade." http://preview.tinyurl.com/2vmw4d
Nine years later, that statement still holds true. It will always be the reason why Windows will never have true whips-and-chains bondage type copy protection. From Microsoft's point of view, if some people go through the trouble of breaking WGA to install Windows, at least they're not installing Linux. The pain of breaking WGA/OGA will never exceed the (imagined) pain of going to alternatives.
--
BMO
"MacLeod likens this process to stretching a persons skin until it ruptures, exposing the flesh underneath. You take the crust and you stretch it and you pull it and pull it until it breaks, he said."
They found the goatse.cx guy.
--
BMO
You said:
"Plenty of African nations are up to their necks in valuable things you can dig out of the ground."
And:
"Mineral wealth is nice, but it is hardly a deal maker. "
And:
"True, China is a big growth engine right now"
I'll give you _one_ guess which country is all over Africa making as many deals for mineral wealth as possible.
They may be communists, but the urge to wheel and deal is in the DNA of China. They are willing to deal with anyone. President is a homicidal dictator? They don't care. Where we (the US) won't touch Zimbabwe with a twenty foot pole, China is there making deals with Mugabe.
--
BMO
"You mean a Biowolf cluster.
Talk about an interesting way to sneak information out of a company/country... transcribe it into the DNA of an infectious bacteria or virus, and then infect yourself with it. You walk out the door with a sniffle and 10 million dollars worth in classified secrets."
Vergil I. Ulam did this in Greg Bear's "Blood Music"
It brought about the end of the world.
Read it. Really good. Trust me.
*bmo goes out to buy sunlamps*
--
BMO
"As a result, the AMD message board on Yahoo! is full of speculation on who has their eyes on the company."
Congrats, you have described _every_ distressed company message board on Y! Finance.
So are we going to see articles on GTW buyout rumors now?
Moderation on story: -1 Stupid.
--
BMO
I was hoping that Ballmer would follow through with his threat to tighten the screws with WGA! Indeed, if you are pro- Free Software, you should encourage Microsoft's crackdown on piracy.
I'm all for it. I'm for WGA turning an infringer's computer into a smoking heap.
Every person who installs an illegitimate version of Windows is another person that Microsoft can count on to not look at alternatives.
--
BMO
"microsoft, with its billions, is blind in making strategic business decisions, but you, some slashdot postager, is the one who truly understands what is best for microsoft's business. right"
You do realize that Microsoft used to brag about adding a feature because a _single_ customer asked for it, correct?
What, exactly, happened between then and now that made the customer wrong?
--
BMO
Then I guess Ballmer sees no profit in people running Windows in Parallels, either.
Isn't one customer's money as good as another? I guess not.
The management of Microsoft is so myopic and short sighted they can be declared legally blind.
--
BMO
'Display Eater' writer admits hollow threat
Code will not eat your Apple
By Nick Farrell: Monday 26 February 2007, 06:43
THE WRITER of the Apple software Display Eater has admitted that his licence contained a hollow threat when it threatened to destroy the personal file of any one who installed it with a dodgy code number.
On Friday we wrote how Karsten Kusche, who works for another Apple software maker Briksoftware, discovered that Display Eater's licence threatens that if you try to use a pirated serial number with Display Eater, the software will delete your home file.
If you go to the webpage of Reverse Code [http://reversecode.com/], which makes the software, the developer says that the whole purpose of the licence was to create a scare campaign. He though that if people feared sticking in a pirated licence code number he would not have to waste time writing copy protection routines to be broken over and over.
He admitted that the whole idea was a mistake. Some people started buying multiple keys, which he never intended, and when the protection was in place, people who did not even know they had committed piracy or what piracy was were left in the dark.
Legitimate and prospective users started fearing the program, which he never imagined. He said he now has plans to make the software free, and or open source. He has since released a free key which will not eat your Apple.
"Again (and again, and again ..) the antitrust case against MS was a civil one. MS hasn't been convicted of anything and isn't a criminal."
s c_sec_15_00000002----000-.html
Riiiiight.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode15/u
Seeya.
--
BMO
For regular Windows, yours was screamingly fast as most people had 4MB. The 8MB machine I had back then had a 150MB(or something) IDE drive, 486DX66, ATI Mach32 card, and a 17 inch monitor, for CAD.
It normally ran OS/2 with the patches for Windows 3.1, or PharLap for the CAD software (Personal Designer/GCD).
DesqView/X with Win3.1 was done on a lark, and man, it was hilarious. I guess you really needed 12 MB or 16 for that, which people actually did because it allowed you to blast 3.1 over a network from one machine to another that had X.
--
BMO
"Abstinence is the only way to save both your soul and your life. "
And has no bearing on whether her _husband_ carries HPV from previous encounters.
DIAF, you nutjob.
--
BMO
Windows 3.1 in a window on top of DesqView/X
In 8MB.
It worked...
--
BMO
Here you go:
http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3620152/iowa
I am seeding. Please make the swarm bigger.
--
BMO
http://www.snowcrest.net/fox/star.html
I remember watching this as a little kid. I was young enough not to know it was bad SF even though it was thought up by Bova and Ellison.
--
BMO
"Seriously speaking, what percentage of parents are terrified of social networking sites these days?"
/ combs.asp
Plenty, if they read newspapers. Here's some trolling by Combs, published in my local paper.
http://www.cagle.com/politicalcartoons/PCcartoons
How would _you_ mod that as a slashdot moderator? Me: -1 Troll, -1 Flamebait -1 Stupid (if only) -1 overrated (so it can't be taken away in metamoderation).
--
BMO
...that the microprocessor encountered the HCF opcode, halted, and promptly caught fire.
--
BMO
Giving public accessing to the database is also designed to correct mistakes if an individual discovers that their name, number and picture don't match."
Prisoner: Where am I?
Number Two: In The Village.
Prisoner: What do you want?
Number Two: Information.
Prisoner: Which side are you on?
Number Two: That would be telling. We want information, information, information...
Prisoner: You won't get it.
Number Two: By hook or by crook we will.
Prisoner: Who are you?
Number Two: The new Number Two.
Prisoner: Who is Number One?
Number Two: You are Number Six.
Prisoner: I am not a number. I am a free man.
Number Two: Ha, ha, ha, ha.
- Intro to "The Prisoner"
--
BMO
Forget about just doing the sin/crime. Here's George Carlin's take:
"It was a sin to WANT to feel up Ellen, it was a sin to PLAN to feel up Ellen, it was a sin to take her to the place where you were gonna feel her up, it was a sin to TRY to feel up Ellen, and it was a sin to FEEL her up - there were FIVE SINS in one feel, man." - George Carlin
--
BMO
For anyone who has problems remembering, print this out, or order the full color poster and put it on your wall:
http://www.angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif
Poster:
http://www.angryflower.com/aposter.html
--
BMO
"My eyeballs feel.... violated."
I say we sue him.
--
BMO
"The most typical test of hardness is attempting to scratch a material. (To measure a material's hardness on the Mohs scale, essentially a series of scratch tests are performed, and a material's place on the Mohs scale was determined by what it could scratch vs. what would scratch it.)"
e ss_ad_.htm
1 9&PMT4NO=17662942
In the machining world and other places, where more accuracy is needed, "hardness" is defined as "resistance to penetration" or "resistance to plastic deformation, usually by indentation" (Metals Handbook) as in a diamond or ball bearing is placed upon the material and then a force is applied. The depth into the material or width of the mark is measured and matched to a scale (Rockwell, Brinell, Vickers, Knoop etc).
More than what most people want to know about hardness:
http://www.calce.umd.edu/general/Facilities/Hardn
Testing using Vickers, Knoop, Rockwell, and Brinell is much more accurate than the Mohs scale method, but there are file sets you can buy that will measure hardness in the same way as the Mohs scale, for portability reasons.
http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMPXNO=17586
--
BMO
Obligatory movie quote:
...fuck-all.
Sol: No, it's a moissanite.
Lincoln: A what?
Sol: A moissanite is an artificial diamond, Lincoln.
Sol: It's Mickey Mouse.
Spurious.
Not genuine.
And it's worth...
from "Snatch"
--
BMO
First off, unless GPL 3 gets off the ground that specifically bans the actions that Novell and Microsoft have done, nobody can "ban" Novell from distributing Linux, as they have not violated the GPL as it stands (I think, see below).
Secondly, John Dragoon doesn't get it. He honestly thought that this was a Good Idea and we parted ways agreeing to disagree. He's a PHB sales-type. He's not "one of us."
I have ranted here and vehemently castigated Novell (see sig) for the stupid move, but I'm not sure that they should be "kicked out of linux" yet. They should be given the chance to redeem themselves or at least clear the air on what they really signed. But I have yet to hear anyone from Novell explain exactly what was in that contract. I've waited and waited for a clear explanation, and it has not been forthcoming from what I can see. So all I've had to base my opinion on is a smattering of articles and analysis on Groklaw of generalities taken from press releases. For all I can tell, it's a lot of hot air.
I am more of the opinion that we don't need a "Novell Clause." Instead I think that Linux market forces will relegate Novell's brands of Linux to the dustbin if they don't get their act together and get right with the community.
--
BMO
"I have never come upon a post which makes its point so excellently, and also contains so many F-words." - Bruce Perens