I can't exactly see the Chinese Government taking a shine to this. Independent analysis? Free speech? Free information sharing?
A community where anyone can say anything he choses? This... in a country that has a firewall at the national level to block access to
block non-approved websites, a government that bullied Google into filtering its search results?
BLOGGING in CHINA?!
Was that the sound of hell freezing over...?
I really hope this *does* get off the ground, of course; this would be a wonderful human rights victory for the Chinese people.
I'm just highly skeptical and cynical. While the government can shut down/monitor a few major blogs, can it really hope to monitor
tens, hundreds of thousands, even millions of blogs? Is it willing to take the chance?
It seems there are some current problems with the website, just be forewarned!
Here's my story:
So, my battery for my PB 12" is in the range as testified on Apple's site.
I tried to use the site to have my affected battery registered, but the site kept
returning an error that my serial number wasn't recognized. Huh?
So, I call Apple, and the guy says, "your model number is the Powerbook battery #,
but the battery's serial number is an iBook battery serial number, so the system
is rejecting the battery # as inconsistent with the computer's #." Huh?
So, the guy went off to figure out what to do and put me on hold. For some reason,
the hold music turned off, and this voice comes on every 30 seconds to say, "Please wait. Please wait. Please wait. Please wait."
It is very very very obnoxious.
So, they finally try to set up a manual request over the phone, but I have to give them a credit card number
(They want to put a hold on it, I guess to keep you from getting a free battery), which is SOP but still annoying, because I don't have
a credit card. So I have to call back later with a credit card (grrr) or wait for the website to be fixed (double grrr grrr).
for whatever reason, they *don't* requre the credit card info via the website.
hopefully my experience can be of assistance to one of you out there.
"$313 a computer seems like an awful lot of money for this. I'm not sure what they are trying to accomplish other than wasting taxpayer dollars."
Ok, here are two quotes from the article:
"Last May, when Naperville police demanded the account information of a man who had fondled himself in front of teenagers while viewing pornography in the computer lab at Nichols Library, the library refused to release the information without a subpoena, citing the Illinois Library Records Confidentiality Act."
and:
"During the investigation of the incident, library officials discovered that many patrons logged onto library computers using library cards and passwords of friends or relatives. That realization, coupled with a new library policy that allows parents to install automatic Internet filters on their children's accounts, prompted the search for better computer security, West said."
So, here's a scenario: You loan your library card to your aunt so she can use the internet.
she then loans it to your weird Uncle Bob, who then uses the library's computers to access kiddie porn.
The library investigates, and discovers that the stuff was downloaded when *you* were logged in...
and suspends your account, and sends your info to the cops.
Or what if someone, say, steals your wallet and does does something illegal -- porn is a common example, but I'm sure
many/.'ers can think of many other illegal activities that can be performed with computers -- from your computer
account at the library? Any investigation will lead back to you.
While you will probably be exonerated, you could be stigmatized for quite a while from something like this.
Yeah, I can definitely see a lot of benefit from a biometric system.
You also say:
"So patrons used to scan their library card and they could use the computer? There is no difference now except a database of information tied to a fingerprint that can easily be looked into by employees, LEOs, and possible thieves."
uhhhh... no, from TFA:
"The stored numeric data cannot be used to reconstruct a fingerprint, West said, nor can it be cross-referenced with other fingerprint databases such as those kept by the FBI or the Illinois State Police."
As for personal data, what extra personal data would be stored that's not already stored? the library already has my phone # and home address which they store in a database that can be easily looked into by employees and possible thieves.
LEO can't get access except by court subpoena.
As I understand, console manufacturers lose some cash on console hardware sales, and try to recoup their losses with game sales and licensing.
So wouldn't a free licensing strategy undercut Nintendo's main revenue stream?
If they did this, they'd probably raise the markup on their hardware by a lot to compensate. But console competition is getting ridiculously stiff
-- and having the highest-priced and (what will probably be considered) the lowest-powered console on the market would be a very tricky marketing spot.
Or, perhaps they hope that the open-licensing will generate more Revolution sales (albeit at a loss),
and then that the greater Revolution sales will generate more game-sales revenue. Perhaps, but this is
a serious gamble, IMHO. This would be betting the farm that Nintendo's games are more popular than Indie games --
and if Indie games are generating a substantial number of the console's sales, that's not a very safe bet.
Of course, this analysis could be completely off-base, as I don't know how much money is lost, if any, on console hardware.
I'm hoping Nintendo's number-crunchers show this to be feasible -- but I'm not holding my breath.
"EXPORTING TO CUBA - Except for publications, other informational
materials (such as CDs and works of art), certain donated food, and
certain goods licensed for export or re-export by the U.S. Department of
Commerce (such as medicine and medical supplies, food, and agricultural
commodities), no products, technology, or services may be exported
from the United States to Cuba, either directly or through third
countries, such as Canada or Mexico. This prohibition includes dealing in
or assisting the sale of goods or commodities to or from Cuba, even if
done entirely offshore. Such brokering is considered to be dealing in
property in which Cuba has an interest. Provision of consulting services
is also prohibited. Thus, no U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien,
wherever located, and no foreign subsidiary or branch of a U.S. organization
may export products, technology, or services to Cuba or to any
Cuban national, wherever they may be located, or broker the sale of
goods or commodities to or from Cuba or any Cuban national."
Heh, I missed that "subsidiary" word. Yeah, you're right. Doh.
So, MS itself can't export it's software to Cuba. On the other hand, MS can't prevent some other entirely foreign company from buying its software and reselling it to Cuba. It can't *assist*, or *knowingly* allow a reseller to resell to Cuba... but I wonder just how carefully MS investigates *every* authorized reseller of MS windows.
"Our stock price could decline further because of the activities of short sellers.
Our stock has attracted the interest of short sellers. We believe the activities of short sellers have in the past and could in the future further reduce the price of our stock or inhibit increases in our stock price. "
ha ha ha.
Next on the Nature channel: How the activities of vultures and buzzards inhibit and reduce the activities an otherwise perfectly healthy wildebeest.
Well, Microsoft cannot, from the USA. However, MS could (conceivably) set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in, say, France, and then export as many copies of Windows it pleases to Cuba.
If the dominant visual feature of your house is a giant tower in the shape of your head, I think the lack of a formal dining room would be the *least* of your reselling troubles.
Slashdot Mirror
DOH, because it's APPLE, and Apple is COOL. Sheesh, what's wrong with you people, anyway?
Pffft. x86 box indeed.
I can't exactly see the Chinese Government taking a shine to this. Independent analysis? Free speech? Free information sharing? A community where anyone can say anything he choses? This... in a country that has a firewall at the national level to block access to block non-approved websites, a government that bullied Google into filtering its search results?
BLOGGING in CHINA?!
Was that the sound of hell freezing over...?
I really hope this *does* get off the ground, of course; this would be a wonderful human rights victory for the Chinese people. I'm just highly skeptical and cynical. While the government can shut down/monitor a few major blogs, can it really hope to monitor tens, hundreds of thousands, even millions of blogs? Is it willing to take the chance?
In other words, not a "real" Canadian.
Must... suppress... urge... to... mock... Quebec...
It's those evil Canadians! They're trying to export our top secret TEXTBOOKS and even... *gasp* our LECTURE NOTES! They must be STOPPED at ONCE!
It seems there are some current problems with the website, just be forewarned!
Here's my story:
So, my battery for my PB 12" is in the range as testified on Apple's site. I tried to use the site to have my affected battery registered, but the site kept returning an error that my serial number wasn't recognized. Huh?
So, I call Apple, and the guy says, "your model number is the Powerbook battery #, but the battery's serial number is an iBook battery serial number, so the system is rejecting the battery # as inconsistent with the computer's #." Huh?
So, the guy went off to figure out what to do and put me on hold. For some reason, the hold music turned off, and this voice comes on every 30 seconds to say, "Please wait. Please wait. Please wait. Please wait."
It is very very very obnoxious.
So, they finally try to set up a manual request over the phone, but I have to give them a credit card number (They want to put a hold on it, I guess to keep you from getting a free battery), which is SOP but still annoying, because I don't have a credit card. So I have to call back later with a credit card (grrr) or wait for the website to be fixed (double grrr grrr).
for whatever reason, they *don't* requre the credit card info via the website.
hopefully my experience can be of assistance to one of you out there.
"$313 a computer seems like an awful lot of money for this. I'm not sure what they are trying to accomplish other than wasting taxpayer dollars."
/.'ers can think of many other illegal activities that can be performed with computers -- from your computer
account at the library? Any investigation will lead back to you.
Ok, here are two quotes from the article:
"Last May, when Naperville police demanded the account information of a man who had fondled himself in front of teenagers while viewing pornography in the computer lab at Nichols Library, the library refused to release the information without a subpoena, citing the Illinois Library Records Confidentiality Act."
and:
"During the investigation of the incident, library officials discovered that many patrons logged onto library computers using library cards and passwords of friends or relatives. That realization, coupled with a new library policy that allows parents to install automatic Internet filters on their children's accounts, prompted the search for better computer security, West said."
So, here's a scenario: You loan your library card to your aunt so she can use the internet. she then loans it to your weird Uncle Bob, who then uses the library's computers to access kiddie porn. The library investigates, and discovers that the stuff was downloaded when *you* were logged in... and suspends your account, and sends your info to the cops.
Or what if someone, say, steals your wallet and does does something illegal -- porn is a common example, but I'm sure many
While you will probably be exonerated, you could be stigmatized for quite a while from something like this.
Yeah, I can definitely see a lot of benefit from a biometric system.
You also say:
"So patrons used to scan their library card and they could use the computer? There is no difference now except a database of information tied to a fingerprint that can easily be looked into by employees, LEOs, and possible thieves."
uhhhh... no, from TFA:
"The stored numeric data cannot be used to reconstruct a fingerprint, West said, nor can it be cross-referenced with other fingerprint databases such as those kept by the FBI or the Illinois State Police."
As for personal data, what extra personal data would be stored that's not already stored? the library already has my phone # and home address which they store in a database that can be easily looked into by employees and possible thieves. LEO can't get access except by court subpoena.
just my $0.02 US.
As I understand, console manufacturers lose some cash on console hardware sales, and try to recoup their losses with game sales and licensing. So wouldn't a free licensing strategy undercut Nintendo's main revenue stream?
If they did this, they'd probably raise the markup on their hardware by a lot to compensate. But console competition is getting ridiculously stiff -- and having the highest-priced and (what will probably be considered) the lowest-powered console on the market would be a very tricky marketing spot.
Or, perhaps they hope that the open-licensing will generate more Revolution sales (albeit at a loss), and then that the greater Revolution sales will generate more game-sales revenue. Perhaps, but this is a serious gamble, IMHO. This would be betting the farm that Nintendo's games are more popular than Indie games -- and if Indie games are generating a substantial number of the console's sales, that's not a very safe bet.
Of course, this analysis could be completely off-base, as I don't know how much money is lost, if any, on console hardware. I'm hoping Nintendo's number-crunchers show this to be feasible -- but I'm not holding my breath.
from TFA:
...
"SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp. is working on a new Windows-based operating system designed to help companies make older machines run better."
bwa ha ha ha ha
I'm sorry, I just can't read any further; if I laugh any harder, I may rupture my appendix.
"EXPORTING TO CUBA - Except for publications, other informational materials (such as CDs and works of art), certain donated food, and certain goods licensed for export or re-export by the U.S. Department of Commerce (such as medicine and medical supplies, food, and agricultural commodities), no products, technology, or services may be exported from the United States to Cuba, either directly or through third countries, such as Canada or Mexico. This prohibition includes dealing in or assisting the sale of goods or commodities to or from Cuba, even if done entirely offshore. Such brokering is considered to be dealing in property in which Cuba has an interest. Provision of consulting services is also prohibited. Thus, no U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien, wherever located, and no foreign subsidiary or branch of a U.S. organization may export products, technology, or services to Cuba or to any Cuban national, wherever they may be located, or broker the sale of goods or commodities to or from Cuba or any Cuban national."
Heh, I missed that "subsidiary" word. Yeah, you're right. Doh.
So, MS itself can't export it's software to Cuba. On the other hand, MS can't prevent some other entirely foreign company from buying its software and reselling it to Cuba. It can't *assist*, or *knowingly* allow a reseller to resell to Cuba... but I wonder just how carefully MS investigates *every* authorized reseller of MS windows.
"Our stock price could decline further because of the activities of short sellers. Our stock has attracted the interest of short sellers. We believe the activities of short sellers have in the past and could in the future further reduce the price of our stock or inhibit increases in our stock price. " ha ha ha. Next on the Nature channel: How the activities of vultures and buzzards inhibit and reduce the activities an otherwise perfectly healthy wildebeest.
Well, Microsoft cannot, from the USA. However, MS could (conceivably) set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in, say, France, and then export as many copies of Windows it pleases to Cuba.
If the dominant visual feature of your house is a giant tower in the shape of your head, I think the lack of a formal dining room would be the *least* of your reselling troubles.
Actually, the PP970 is a single-cored POWER4 with AltiVec, and designed to reach higher clocks. Ars Technica has several good references:
A Brief Look at the PowerPC 970
Inside the PowerPC 970
Inside the PowerPC 970, Part II
PeopleSoft really does suck. My university (not to name names) has moved to PeopleSoft, and it has sucked since day one.
It was over 6 weeks before I and other new-hires got paid -- at one point, the boss was going cut us personal checks so we could pay our bills.
I still haven't been paid for all the time I have worked, and direct deposit still doesn't work.
So, yeah. I get paper checks and make backup paper timecards, because otherwise, I'd be screwed.
Oracle can't be worse...
...so I, for one, welcome PeopleSoft's new Oracle Overlords...