Just as software patents shouldn't apply, so should do damages due to loss of information, because information can be BACKED UP. There's some sort of "magic" that lets you make copies of a specific set of data only for the cost of the material holding such data. Can you do that with physical objects?
Nobody has EVER claimed that Software (in general) is perfect. Because software is much more like a 3D maze than a piece of wood, there can always be a bug hidden somewhere. This is specially true when most software depends on libraries, which themselves depend on OTHER libraries, which depend on the OS API. Take the JPEG overflow bug for example. It's been around for years, but its discovery is very recent.
You can't really demand that a software will be COMPLETELY free of bugs. What you can demand, tho, is that determinate MEASURES are taken to test for the existence of bugs - specially in critical parts of the probram, and that some SPECIFIC safety measures (i.e. security standards, error handling) are part of the software itself.
The problem with Windows is not that it has bugs, but that the team hasn't taken the appropriate measures to isolate / minimize bug effects.
Media Player Classic (open source). Who needs WMP anyway?:) IrfanView (freeware) for image browsing and very basic manipulation, like gamma correction or applying photoshop filters
Really, RIAA, you need to make your statements more aggressive, compelling, and emotional so that the common people will believe you.
Here's an example of what you should say when talking about a file sharer:
"This THIEF... steals money that others have WORKED HARD TO EARN:(, makes the public believe that what he does is right (gasp!), and not only that, he invites others to follow his TWISTED ways! (shock) He turns ordinary people into criminals! Furthermore, he KNOWS what he's doing is WRONG, because he HIDES HIS IDENTITY!:-o We're giving a reward to whomever turns in this CRIMINAL, this, ENEMY OF THE PUBLIC, known as... "
Then, you only need to give him a name, so HIDEOUS and TERRIFYING, that the people and families fear him whenever they hear it. Something... unmentionable, scary... EVIL! Find that name, and you'll have YOUR VICTORY! I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
Really? What has the US done to hinder your online experience as a non-citizen?
More like, what has the US done to PROTECT my online experience as a non-citizen? Why didn't they punish Microsoft when they could? Why do the congress keep making laws that are a pathetic attempt to control everything, everywhere? Decisions taken in the US affect the whole world (as if that wasn't obvious enough).
Fox is the company that won a lawsuit on the grounds that they had the right to tell outright lies in their news broadcasts. I don't think you will be seeing a meaningful or worthwhile response from them.
I know, but in case they commit the sligtest mistake, i'll post it here MWAHAHAHAHAHAH! *evil grin*
if you seem to help people "to convert them" you're only bringing a bad testimony, like Jehova's Witnesses who seem kind in the beginning, but at the first sight of rejection they run away.
Some christian hints:
For people who believe in God / Jesus, and are in doubt (repeat: IN DOUBT), you can tell them that it was God / Jesus who brought you there. God acts thru kind acts of people. But I'd say it's wiser to let them draw their own conclusions.
It wasn't God who brought the destruction to the people - but the ineptitude of people in the government and those who decided to build a city below sea level. Global warning is the result of greedy men (i.e. sinners) polluting the air, so this makes a good defense against the idea that "God destroyed their houses in his wrath etc etc". But then again, I'd recommend you to keep silent about this, unless you want to be seen as another one of the bible thumpers out there.
Tolerance (specially towards those who reject christianity) is the sign of a true christian, because Jesus helped the heathens, and was merciful with all.
St. Francis of Assisi, said: "Preach the Gospel. Use words if necessary". The greatest way to preach the gospel is to do what Jesus would do: Love and help those in need. Remember St. Paul's words: If I have the gift of prophecies, but no love in me, I'm useless.
If possible, don't mention christianity at all. Just mention the name of the community if you're asked. Remember what Jesus said: Do not do good deeds and proclaim them over the skies. Don't let your left hand know what your right hand does.
Er, i mean, the posts saying that the story is dupe... erm, now I wonder if this post should be modded redundant too, since probably there have been thousands of request like this before... ARGH! Can I at least welcome our dupe overlords?:) Er, nevermind, it's been probably posted somewhere else, too... bummer.
Okay, go explain how the Cotton Gin, steam locomotion, automobiles, electricity, the telephone system, the over-the-air broadcasting system you use to watch Wheel of Fortune, etc work.
I learned that while reading "how things work" books. Of course, that was while my friends were playing football, and their sisters were talking about their boyfriends... :( I feel pathetic now.
<SNIP> Americans for Technology Leadership was founded by Jonathan Zuck in 1999 as a "grassroots" organisations for concerned consumers who want less regulation in the technology sector. It also campaigns on general tech issues such as spam.
In August 2001 the Los Angeles Times reported that a ATL was behind a "carefully orchestrated nationwide campaign to create the impression of a surging grass-roots movement" behind Microsoft. "The campaign, orchestrated by a group partly funded by Microsoft, goes to great lengths so that the letters appear to be spontaneous expressions from ordinary citizens. Letters sent in the last month are printed on personalized stationery using different wording, color and typefaces--details that distinguish those efforts from common lobbying tactics that go on in politics every day. Experts said there's little precedent for such an effort supported by a company defending itself against government accusations of illegal behavior."
According to the Times, the campaign was discovered when Utah's Attorney General at the time Mark Shurtleff received letters "purportedly written by at least two dead people... imploring him to go easy on Microsoft Corp. for its conduct as a monopoly."
Eighteen state's attorneys general were joining with the Justice Department in its anti-trust suit against Microsoft. Iowa's Attorney General Tom Miller reported receiving more than 50 letters in support of Microsoft during the summer of 2001. "No two letters are identical, but the giveaway lies in the phrasing," the Times wrote. "Four Iowa letters included this sentence: 'Strong competition and innovation have been the twin hallmarks of the technology industry.' Three others use exactly these words: "If the future is going to be as successful as the recent past, the technology sector must remain free from excess regulation."
Dewey Square Group and DCI Group sibling firm DCI/New Media are credited with assisting Microsoft with its "grass-roots" campaign, according to the Times. </SNIP>
I wrote an e-mail to Foxnews using my gmail account. Besides answering some of Pendergast's claims, I quoted sourcewatch and said a couple of things to them. Let's see how they answer.
Don't forget the poor documentation for the OpenSSL API. Last time I saw (and that was a couple of months ago), some functions were still "to be documented in the future".:-(
<SNIP> I have known about this for some time, but because I didn't want to be guilty of the same hyping that is so often engaged in by some therapeutic cloning proponents, I waited until it was published in a peer reviewed journal. Now it has been and the news is HUGE: Korean scientists have used umbilical cord blood stem cells to restore feeling and mobility to a spinal cord injury patient. I have no link, but I do have the report published in Cytotherapy, (2005) Vol 7. No. 4, 368-373.
The patient is a woman who has been paraplegic from an accident for more than 19 years. (Complete paraplegia of the 10th thoracic vertebra.) She had surgery and also an infusion of umbilical cord blood stem cells. Note the stunning benefits: "The patient could move her hips and feel her hip skin on day 15 after transplantation. On day 25 after transplantation her feet responded to stimulation. On post operative day (POD) 7, motor activity was noticed and improved gradually in her lumbar paravertebral and hip muscles. She could maintain an upright position by herself on POD 13. From POD 15 she began to elevate both lower legs about 1 cm, and hip flexor muscle activity gradually improved until POD 41." It goes on from there in very technical language.
The bottom line is this, from the Abtract: Not only did the patient regain feeling, but "41 days after [stem cell] transplantation" testing "also showed regeneration of the spinal cord at the injured cite" and below it. "Therefore, it is suggested that UCB multipotent stem cell transplantation could be a good treatment method for SPI patients." (My emphasis.)
We have to be cautious. One patient does not a treatment make. Also, the authors note that the lamenectomy the patient received might have offered some benefit. But still, this is a wonderful story that offers tremendous hope for paralyzed patients. Typically, it has been extensively ignored in the American media (although it has gotten some foreign press attention). (Can you imagine the headlines if the cells used had been embryonic?)
One last point. This is a patient with a very old injury--making the results even more dramatic.
Onward! </SNIP>
For those who missed the reference, it's Cytotherapy, (2005) Vol 7. No. 4, 368-373.
Poor people in mexico have to go to the IMSS (a hospital system dedicated exclusively to Social Security). The service is awful, the medicines you have to buy them yourself, and most of the money is leeched for retired workers. There was a case where a woman had to buy the oxygen for her mother because there weren't O2 tanks at the hospital:-/
The management system is so bad that it needs a billionaire rescue before it collapses. And you thought the american social security was hard to maintain. Heh.
Slashdot Mirror
Just as software patents shouldn't apply, so should do damages due to loss of information, because information can be BACKED UP. There's some sort of "magic" that lets you make copies of a specific set of data only for the cost of the material holding such data. Can you do that with physical objects?
Nobody has EVER claimed that Software (in general) is perfect. Because software is much more like a 3D maze than a piece of wood, there can always be a bug hidden somewhere. This is specially true when most software depends on libraries, which themselves depend on OTHER libraries, which depend on the OS API. Take the JPEG overflow bug for example. It's been around for years, but its discovery is very recent.
You can't really demand that a software will be COMPLETELY free of bugs. What you can demand, tho, is that determinate MEASURES are taken to test for the existence of bugs - specially in critical parts of the probram, and that some SPECIFIC safety measures (i.e. security standards, error handling) are part of the software itself.
The problem with Windows is not that it has bugs, but that the team hasn't taken the appropriate measures to isolate / minimize bug effects.
Media Player Classic (open source). Who needs WMP anyway? :)
IrfanView (freeware) for image browsing and very basic manipulation, like gamma correction or applying photoshop filters
They're talking about using the electron's spin instead of its charge. It's the philosopher's stone for computing.
Yeah, I agree, the physorg article is hideous. But if what it says is true, then spintronics research has taken a gigantic step.
Really, RIAA, you need to make your statements more aggressive, compelling, and emotional so that the common people will believe you.
:(, makes the public believe that what he does is right (gasp!), and not only that, he invites others to follow his TWISTED ways! (shock) He turns ordinary people into criminals! Furthermore, he KNOWS what he's doing is WRONG, because he HIDES HIS IDENTITY! :-o
Here's an example of what you should say when talking about a file sharer:
"This THIEF... steals money that others have WORKED HARD TO EARN
We're giving a reward to whomever turns in this CRIMINAL, this, ENEMY OF THE PUBLIC, known as... "
Then, you only need to give him a name, so HIDEOUS and TERRIFYING, that the people and families fear him whenever they hear it. Something... unmentionable, scary... EVIL! Find that name, and you'll have YOUR VICTORY! I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
Got to respond to this one. Use your own logic:
UN want exclusive control?
Maybe you forgot that UN means United Nations, hmmmmmmm? Compare that to "USA". Thank you.
Really? What has the US done to hinder your online experience as a non-citizen?
More like, what has the US done to PROTECT my online experience as a non-citizen? Why didn't they punish Microsoft when they could? Why do the congress keep making laws that are a pathetic attempt to control everything, everywhere? Decisions taken in the US affect the whole world (as if that wasn't obvious enough).
Fox is the company that won a lawsuit on the grounds that they had the right to tell outright lies in their news broadcasts. I don't think you will be seeing a meaningful or worthwhile response from them.
I know, but in case they commit the sligtest mistake, i'll post it here MWAHAHAHAHAHAH! *evil grin*
if you seem to help people "to convert them" you're only bringing a bad testimony, like Jehova's Witnesses who seem kind in the beginning, but at the first sight of rejection they run away.
Some christian hints:
For people who believe in God / Jesus, and are in doubt (repeat: IN DOUBT), you can tell them that it was God / Jesus who brought you there. God acts thru kind acts of people. But I'd say it's wiser to let them draw their own conclusions.
It wasn't God who brought the destruction to the people - but the ineptitude of people in the government and those who decided to build a city below sea level. Global warning is the result of greedy men (i.e. sinners) polluting the air, so this makes a good defense against the idea that "God destroyed their houses in his wrath etc etc".
But then again, I'd recommend you to keep silent about this, unless you want to be seen as another one of the bible thumpers out there.
Tolerance (specially towards those who reject christianity) is the sign of a true christian, because Jesus helped the heathens, and was merciful with all.
St. Francis of Assisi, said: "Preach the Gospel. Use words if necessary". The greatest way to preach the gospel is to do what Jesus would do: Love and help those in need. Remember St. Paul's words: If I have the gift of prophecies, but no love in me, I'm useless.
If possible, don't mention christianity at all. Just mention the name of the community if you're asked. Remember what Jesus said: Do not do good deeds and proclaim them over the skies. Don't let your left hand know what your right hand does.
[ ] "Yeah, but does it run Linux?"; if($summary has 'linux') add "Oh, wait..."
And if you can please add it to the subculture wikipedia item. Thank you :)
Er, i mean, the posts saying that the story is dupe... erm, now I wonder if this post should be modded redundant too, since probably there have been thousands of request like this before... ARGH! Can I at least welcome our dupe overlords? :) Er, nevermind, it's been probably posted somewhere else, too... bummer.
Okay, go explain how the Cotton Gin, steam locomotion, automobiles, electricity, the telephone system, the over-the-air broadcasting system you use to watch Wheel of Fortune, etc work.
:( I feel pathetic now.
I learned that while reading "how things work" books. Of course, that was while my friends were playing football, and their sisters were talking about their boyfriends...
How many people can produce a fire out of just sticks?
Depends... are the sticks USB-enabled?
Gnutella sucks balls. I could never find rare content on Gnutella the way I could with eDonkey/Overnet.
:)
And with eDonkey out of the way, where do you think that content will move, hmmmmmmmmmm?
I'm terrified of the thought that GNUtella might be the next one. Because gnutella absolutely ROCKS.
Finally eDonkey will be freed from leechers and kilometric queues! :D
Or to rephrase: I couldn't ever download anything from eDonkey so, who cares? I'm glad we got rid of such an awful "service".
3... 2...
From http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=America ns_for_Technology_Leadership
r /archives/000421.shtml)s /tanks.html
... imploring him to go easy on Microsoft Corp. for its conduct as a monopoly."
<SNIP>
Americans for Technology Leadership was founded by Jonathan Zuck in 1999 as a "grassroots" organisations for concerned consumers who want less regulation in the technology sector. It also campaigns on general tech issues such as spam.
It has been frequently described as a Microsoft front group. [1] (http://weblog.siliconvalley.com/column/dangillmo
[2] (http://www.aaxnet.com/news/M010823.html)
[3] http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~lambert/blog/computer
In August 2001 the Los Angeles Times reported that a ATL was behind a "carefully orchestrated nationwide campaign to create the impression of a surging grass-roots movement" behind Microsoft. "The campaign, orchestrated by a group partly funded by Microsoft, goes to great lengths so that the letters appear to be spontaneous expressions from ordinary citizens. Letters sent in the last month are printed on personalized stationery using different wording, color and typefaces--details that distinguish those efforts from common lobbying tactics that go on in politics every day. Experts said there's little precedent for such an effort supported by a company defending itself against government accusations of illegal behavior."
According to the Times, the campaign was discovered when Utah's Attorney General at the time Mark Shurtleff received letters "purportedly written by at least two dead people
Eighteen state's attorneys general were joining with the Justice Department in its anti-trust suit against Microsoft. Iowa's Attorney General Tom Miller reported receiving more than 50 letters in support of Microsoft during the summer of 2001. "No two letters are identical, but the giveaway lies in the phrasing," the Times wrote. "Four Iowa letters included this sentence: 'Strong competition and innovation have been the twin hallmarks of the technology industry.' Three others use exactly these words: "If the future is going to be as successful as the recent past, the technology sector must remain free from excess regulation."
Dewey Square Group and DCI Group sibling firm DCI/New Media are credited with assisting Microsoft with its "grass-roots" campaign, according to the Times.
</SNIP>
I wrote an e-mail to Foxnews using my gmail account. Besides answering some of Pendergast's claims, I quoted sourcewatch and said a couple of things to them. Let's see how they answer.
The policy promises to burden taxpayers with new costs and to disrupt how state agencies interact with citizens, businesses and organizations.
I'd ask Pendergast what these "new costs" are, and what he means with "disrupt how state agencies interact".
"Worse, the policy represents an attack on market-based competition, which in turn will hurt innovation. The state has a disaster in the making."
Competition!? I thought government agencies were obligued to inform the citizens, not to force them to buy products!
Don't forget the poor documentation for the OpenSSL API. Last time I saw (and that was a couple of months ago), some functions were still "to be documented in the future". :-(
From a blog i found on google:
<SNIP>
I have known about this for some time, but because I didn't want to be guilty of the same hyping that is so often engaged in by some therapeutic cloning proponents, I waited until it was published in a peer reviewed journal. Now it has been and the news is HUGE: Korean scientists have used umbilical cord blood stem cells to restore feeling and mobility to a spinal cord injury patient. I have no link, but I do have the report published in Cytotherapy, (2005) Vol 7. No. 4, 368-373.
The patient is a woman who has been paraplegic from an accident for more than 19 years. (Complete paraplegia of the 10th thoracic vertebra.) She had surgery and also an infusion of umbilical cord blood stem cells. Note the stunning benefits: "The patient could move her hips and feel her hip skin on day 15 after transplantation. On day 25 after transplantation her feet responded to stimulation. On post operative day (POD) 7, motor activity was noticed and improved gradually in her lumbar paravertebral and hip muscles. She could maintain an upright position by herself on POD 13. From POD 15 she began to elevate both lower legs about 1 cm, and hip flexor muscle activity gradually improved until POD 41." It goes on from there in very technical language.
The bottom line is this, from the Abtract: Not only did the patient regain feeling, but "41 days after [stem cell] transplantation" testing "also showed regeneration of the spinal cord at the injured cite" and below it. "Therefore, it is suggested that UCB multipotent stem cell transplantation could be a good treatment method for SPI patients." (My emphasis.)
We have to be cautious. One patient does not a treatment make. Also, the authors note that the lamenectomy the patient received might have offered some benefit. But still, this is a wonderful story that offers tremendous hope for paralyzed patients. Typically, it has been extensively ignored in the American media (although it has gotten some foreign press attention). (Can you imagine the headlines if the cells used had been embryonic?)
One last point. This is a patient with a very old injury--making the results even more dramatic.
Onward!
</SNIP>
For those who missed the reference, it's
Cytotherapy, (2005) Vol 7. No. 4, 368-373.
I recall this irc conversation where the feds snooped in (or at least it looked very realistic).
Thought you might like reading.
People have more privacy than YOU!
<NELSON>HAH HAH!</NELSON>
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=150
:P
I like the panel that says "part of my soul just died". Maybe this will explain the loss in profits
Poor people in mexico have to go to the IMSS (a hospital system dedicated exclusively to Social Security). The service is awful, the medicines you have to buy them yourself, and most of the money is leeched for retired workers. There was a case where a woman had to buy the oxygen for her mother because there weren't O2 tanks at the hospital :-/
The management system is so bad that it needs a billionaire rescue before it collapses. And you thought the american social security was hard to maintain. Heh.