Is anybody behind these "free" codecs willing to indemnify the implementers against submarine patents that surface once the codecs gain enough market-share to be worth litigation?
There's no way anyone can know if Ogg, Theora, WebM etc are not infringing (or can be alledged to infringing) somebody's IP until it's tested in court. And even then...
I note that Apple has been to bat for its developers against patent trolls. Anyone else?
purchased in a protected format behind
Apple's music hasn't been protected for years and even when it was Apple provided a method for stripping the protection off.
Perhaps you are thinking of "Plays for Sure" or its incompatible stable-mate Zune.
Or even worse, the "rented" music from subscription services.
Now all of the tax payers get to pay for these iPads, even though many of them won't get used.
The same applies to nuclear weapons etc.
Don't worry. The iPads will eventually be sold. In the mean time the college retains ownership and will probably use them for several years.
In Australia everything is either compulsory or illegal.
Except whining, apparently.
Or are you saying it's compulsory?
As an Australian I get really fed up by people who feel it necessary to parade their angst as my opinion. If you're not happy just leave. There are people queueing up at Christmas Island who'd be glad to take your place.
I doubt the problem is really pranksters.
There has been a campaign for decades to close or at least move Sydney airport. It sits in an inner-city suburb that predates the airport. Every election sees both federal and state governments promising to do something about it.
Spend some time in a suburb like Rockdale and you'll have to get used to large aircraft passing at chimney height all day and most of the night.
At other airports with similar problems aircraft have been found with bullet holes in them. So I think the laser crew are being most restrained.
MS has a very small, nominal, holding in Apple and several other tech companies. They sold the $150Million in non-voting stock as soon as they were allowed (around 2002 IIRC).
The punitive purchase was in settlement of the IP suit Apple had against MS for using Quicktime code in Windows.
Jobs, on his return to Apple, wanted to clear the decks of all the cross-suing between Apple and MS.
Lets not forget that there were many other computer manufactures around at the time producing hardware superior to anything apple was doing and most of them went on to be far far more successful than apple.
Care to name one that's still in business?
Every product they make has a competing products that are superior, cheaper and more popular.
Some sort of facts? Apart from rabid fanboy trolling?
It's all marketing. There were smartphones better than the iphone long before the iphone was released. They're called blackberries. Now, after the fact, there are even more... and again, they are better, cheaper, and more popular.
Which is why RIM have been assiduously copying everything that Apple does. Even a "tablet" now.
Go back to 4chan/g/.
This explains why there is so little astro-turfing over at the piece about the MS phones.
All the MS trolls are in here trashing the Macbook Pro announcement.
I suppose that, with dwindling resources, it becomes a matter of priorities.
So what platform are you on?
Windows? That's not closed much. Just have to ask uncle Bill if you're allowed to put some more RAM in it. Can't use it until he says you can.
But then it is HTC who is in competition with Apple, not Microsoft.
Actually, it's Microsoft and HTC who are jointly in competition with Apple.
Microsoft's relationships with its partners are very complex and, in some cases, very unhappy.
That "investment" of $150Mill worth of non-voting shares was cashed in at a good profit a few years later. Apple had a cash heap of over $15Billion at the time and no debt. The $150Mill was simply a confidence move. If anybody did well out of it it was Microsoft. They got to keep using the Quicktime code they were illegally using in Windows and Apple's promise to keep putting IE for Mac as the preferred browser. In return Microsoft promised to keep pumping out MS Office for the Mac for several more years. That latter agreement has long ago expired but MS Office is going as strong as ever.
If Psystar was a stalking horse then the only reason that makes sense is that someone wants Apple to lock their OS to their hardware.
Apple doesn't seem too concerned by hobbyists building Frankenmacs. Their ever vigilant lawyers haven't been jackbooting down doors and dragging offenders to court.
There have been instances in the past where an OS-maker has turned a blind eye to, if not actually facilitating, its OS being pirated simply to deny a competitor marketshare. Maybe somebody was worried that Apple was moving in this direction.
However, if Apple is provoked into action by a startup selling Frankenmacs might they not decide to implement a TPM system to lock the OS to Macs-only?
No more hobby Frankenmacs and Apple is seen as not only closed software but closed hardware too. The Technorati would be incensed and Apple would wear the black eye forever.
If I was approached I'd keep in mind that this is the same Microsoft who've just laid off 5000 staff to get their balance sheet looking good. Other staff are being attrited by giving them bad reviews.
If this MS Shop idea doesn't pan out, and MS doesn't have a recent history of Good Ideas, we can expect the whole thing to be thrown overboard.
The funny part is the attempt by the very moribund ACS to re-invent itself as a licencing authority.
The certificates they hand out at the moment aren't worth the paper they are written on.
We have fibre within our subdivision. The pricing is not competitive because the ISP has a monopoly on the fibre. The only way to get around them is via wireless. Yes, wireless is competitive.
The plans push you towards the higher speed if you want a bigger cap. Lower speeds (around 1 MBs) have tiny caps. Higher speeds have higher caps with correspondingly higher prices.
So don't count on the private enterprise people to give you a good deal if there's no competition.
Writing as an ex-IBMer I wonder how the take-over will be handled. Two that I remember, SRA and Rolm, had their own employees who were also IBMers. In fact a couple of IBMers I worked with went to Rolm when IBM bought it. Both returned to IBM after Rolm was sold off.
Maybe IBM will run Sun as a division. There are plenty of precedents for having competing products under the IBM banner; CICS and IMS for a start.
In fact, Apple authorised Terra Soft to sell Macs with Yellow Dog Linux installed. Not that YDL was the only Linux for the PPC Mac.
There were a bunch of M68000 Linuxes for the Mac as well and Apple ran a Linux on Mac site for some years.
It wasn't just that they built websites that catered for IE's shortcomings; you can arrive at one of these sites in your standards-compliant browser only to have the site further Microsoft's agenda by telling you that you can't view the site with your "incompatible" browser. You are told that you must use IE. Tough if you're running OSX or Linux.
I don't understand how this works. Doesn't Windows lock its hosts file? In Unix-based systems hosts is owned by root. I would think if malware can alter a locked file there is more to worry about than site redirection.
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Is anybody behind these "free" codecs willing to indemnify the implementers against submarine patents that surface once the codecs gain enough market-share to be worth litigation? There's no way anyone can know if Ogg, Theora, WebM etc are not infringing (or can be alledged to infringing) somebody's IP until it's tested in court. And even then... I note that Apple has been to bat for its developers against patent trolls. Anyone else?
purchased in a protected format behind
Apple's music hasn't been protected for years and even when it was Apple provided a method for stripping the protection off.
Perhaps you are thinking of "Plays for Sure" or its incompatible stable-mate Zune.
Or even worse, the "rented" music from subscription services.
You've only been saying this since MS lost the top slot.
A year or so ago it was all "MS is teh biggerz!!!"
Now it's "Meh?".
Nobody is fooled.
Now all of the tax payers get to pay for these iPads, even though many of them won't get used.
The same applies to nuclear weapons etc. Don't worry. The iPads will eventually be sold. In the mean time the college retains ownership and will probably use them for several years.
Except whining, apparently.
Or are you saying it's compulsory?
As an Australian I get really fed up by people who feel it necessary to parade their angst as my opinion. If you're not happy just leave. There are people queueing up at Christmas Island who'd be glad to take your place.
I doubt the problem is really pranksters.
There has been a campaign for decades to close or at least move Sydney airport. It sits in an inner-city suburb that predates the airport.
Every election sees both federal and state governments promising to do something about it.
Spend some time in a suburb like Rockdale and you'll have to get used to large aircraft passing at chimney height all day and most of the night. At other airports with similar problems aircraft have been found with bullet holes in them. So I think the laser crew are being most restrained.
MS has a very small, nominal, holding in Apple and several other tech companies. They sold the $150Million in non-voting stock as soon as they were allowed (around 2002 IIRC). The punitive purchase was in settlement of the IP suit Apple had against MS for using Quicktime code in Windows. Jobs, on his return to Apple, wanted to clear the decks of all the cross-suing between Apple and MS.
How long have Apple been using .dll files?
I thought they were Windows-only.
Lets not forget that there were many other computer manufactures around at the time producing hardware superior to anything apple was doing and most of them went on to be far far more successful than apple. Care to name one that's still in business? Every product they make has a competing products that are superior, cheaper and more popular. Some sort of facts? Apart from rabid fanboy trolling? It's all marketing. There were smartphones better than the iphone long before the iphone was released. They're called blackberries. Now, after the fact, there are even more... and again, they are better, cheaper, and more popular. Which is why RIM have been assiduously copying everything that Apple does. Even a "tablet" now. Go back to 4chan/g/.
Like the first female President of the United States wouldn't be news? Like the first black President of the United States wasn't news?
This explains why there is so little astro-turfing over at the piece about the MS phones. All the MS trolls are in here trashing the Macbook Pro announcement. I suppose that, with dwindling resources, it becomes a matter of priorities.
Does the name Mark Papermaster mean anything to you? How about P. A. Semi?
So what platform are you on? Windows? That's not closed much. Just have to ask uncle Bill if you're allowed to put some more RAM in it. Can't use it until he says you can.
But then it is HTC who is in competition with Apple, not Microsoft.
Actually, it's Microsoft and HTC who are jointly in competition with Apple. Microsoft's relationships with its partners are very complex and, in some cases, very unhappy.
That "investment" of $150Mill worth of non-voting shares was cashed in at a good profit a few years later.
Apple had a cash heap of over $15Billion at the time and no debt. The $150Mill was simply a confidence move.
If anybody did well out of it it was Microsoft. They got to keep using the Quicktime code they were illegally using in Windows and Apple's promise to keep putting IE for Mac as the preferred browser. In return Microsoft promised to keep pumping out MS Office for the Mac for several more years. That latter agreement has long ago expired but MS Office is going as strong as ever.
If Psystar was a stalking horse then the only reason that makes sense is that someone wants Apple to lock their OS to their hardware. Apple doesn't seem too concerned by hobbyists building Frankenmacs. Their ever vigilant lawyers haven't been jackbooting down doors and dragging offenders to court. There have been instances in the past where an OS-maker has turned a blind eye to, if not actually facilitating, its OS being pirated simply to deny a competitor marketshare. Maybe somebody was worried that Apple was moving in this direction. However, if Apple is provoked into action by a startup selling Frankenmacs might they not decide to implement a TPM system to lock the OS to Macs-only? No more hobby Frankenmacs and Apple is seen as not only closed software but closed hardware too. The Technorati would be incensed and Apple would wear the black eye forever.
If I was approached I'd keep in mind that this is the same Microsoft who've just laid off 5000 staff to get their balance sheet looking good. Other staff are being attrited by giving them bad reviews. If this MS Shop idea doesn't pan out, and MS doesn't have a recent history of Good Ideas, we can expect the whole thing to be thrown overboard.
The funny part is the attempt by the very moribund ACS to re-invent itself as a licencing authority. The certificates they hand out at the moment aren't worth the paper they are written on.
CyberAIDS, Festering Hate are two that come to mind.
We have fibre within our subdivision. The pricing is not competitive because the ISP has a monopoly on the fibre. The only way to get around them is via wireless. Yes, wireless is competitive. The plans push you towards the higher speed if you want a bigger cap. Lower speeds (around 1 MBs) have tiny caps. Higher speeds have higher caps with correspondingly higher prices. So don't count on the private enterprise people to give you a good deal if there's no competition.
Writing as an ex-IBMer I wonder how the take-over will be handled. Two that I remember, SRA and Rolm, had their own employees who were also IBMers. In fact a couple of IBMers I worked with went to Rolm when IBM bought it. Both returned to IBM after Rolm was sold off. Maybe IBM will run Sun as a division. There are plenty of precedents for having competing products under the IBM banner; CICS and IMS for a start.
In fact, Apple authorised Terra Soft to sell Macs with Yellow Dog Linux installed. Not that YDL was the only Linux for the PPC Mac. There were a bunch of M68000 Linuxes for the Mac as well and Apple ran a Linux on Mac site for some years.
It wasn't just that they built websites that catered for IE's shortcomings; you can arrive at one of these sites in your standards-compliant browser only to have the site further Microsoft's agenda by telling you that you can't view the site with your "incompatible" browser. You are told that you must use IE. Tough if you're running OSX or Linux.
Japan, Italy and several other minor powers who threw their lot in with the Axis Powers. Why?
I don't understand how this works. Doesn't Windows lock its hosts file? In Unix-based systems hosts is owned by root. I would think if malware can alter a locked file there is more to worry about than site redirection.