I never said Buran was a good investment, or cost-to-result effective one. However, that just brings us to the original point - capsule-based systems are far more price-efficient than re-usable space vehicles, such as Space Shuttle. As for:
There was no money left to fly the Buran (or much else until the US starting pumping $$$ into it)
...ask yourself (or go look for definite figures) how much $$$ USGOV is pumping into NASA to keep it flying? Those things are hardly profitable, and on top of it NASA has a need to win any pissing match, which leads to it under-bidding every other space-launch provider on commercial projects, even if it means that part of such commercial flights, whixh are supposed to be paid by a customer, is actually subsidied from taxes paid by US Citizens. In effect, your taxes pay for i.e. private telecomm satelites to be put up.
Perhaps, hopefully, maybe NASA's return to single-launch systems will finally offset some of these expenses and, if nothing else, allow them to be poured into some serious R&D?
Back to where they begun?
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NASA's New Shuttle
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· Score: 5, Interesting
I must say, it is interesting to notice that NASA has, in fact, finally opted to return to the old, well-tried capsule approach, as opposed to reusable reentry vehicles such as Shuttle. Especially when one takes into consideration the significant amount of resistance NASA experts have been offering to the idea for years and years, despite the poor cost-to-results ratio of Shuttles and, apparently, high(er) risks involved in Shuttle flights as compared to capsule flights.
Perhaps it is a bit of me that loves rubbing it in to american 'rocket scientists', but it might be interesting to notice that Russians never fully embraced their shuttles (Buran, http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/rsa/buran.html ) despite it posessing payload and operational capacities superior to those of US Shuttle...
OK. This is getting a bit annoying, so I'll raise the question...
Reading comments above, I can't help but notice a significant number of 'paid advert' comments; why is it that, every time someone gives a thorough overview of a device, piece of software or book, the pitchfork-and-torch mob forms to accuse the author of advertising? That kind of reaction most likely actively discourages people from providing good, well-written reviews - and when those are gone, what you're left with is really not worth reading.
As for the item itself, being an IT/Tech Support professional, I must say I do see a lot of usefulness in the device in some specific situations, although it might not have a significant presence in most everyday enviroments. Main issues I see are that hybrid technology is obviously sacrificing performance for sake of flexibility, and things such as reduced WiFi range/signal quality pretty much tend to reduce usefulness to the point of making it not worth using in the eye of average user.
Well, being a bit of a fencer, I have to say this all looks like a duel.
Google advances... Microsoft feints, Google doesn't bother parrying, but counterfeints... I'm just waiting to see which of them gets good grounds for a serious lunge - the whole situation is very shady, to me, especially since MS 'non compete' clause is vague to say the least - MS is active in a large number of hardware- and software- related aspects of computer market. Which would, de facto, mean once MS hires you and you sign a non-compete clause, if contract is terminated you can't go work in any other company you're qualified to work in, unless you're inclined to hold a cathedra on some university?
As for "Washington Law says" "California Law Says", I'm not completely sure of precise mechanics - but isn't a contract governed by the laws of country or state it is signed and notarized in, unless specifically stated otherwise in contract? Which obviously leaves interesting gap-holes begging to be exploited....
Well, everyone has been talking about zip ties this, and velcro straps that, and reusable or not... I long ago figured a far tidier, and aesthetically infinitely more pleasing solution to the Medusa's hair of cables that plagued my workspaces:
Rubber Hoses.
...and that's it. Buy couple of rubber water hoses in colors of your choice, making sure diameters are sufficient for your needs, and slit them open lengthwise. Then simply array the cables within the tubes. if you're overloading your tubes, zip-tie them at intervals to keep them from spilling contents, but usually, rubber should be pretty good at containing cables by itself. Here are another couple of tips:
Shielding: Try to avoid putting power cables and data cables (network and other I/O) in the same hose - even though I/O cables are in theory shielded (you are using FTP/STP for networking, aren't you?), putting them in direct contact proximity of hi(gher) voltage cables might cause problems for your signal quality.
Aesthetics: I packed several of my more visible cable trunks (A/V multimedia, running from my PCs to my home entertainment, and portions of networking layout) in transparent/semi-transparent hose, and mixed in some optical fibers to add a bit of flair - it also makes for awesome 'Don't trip on me' warning if you have cables crossing the doorways etc).
Well, I'd say this, at least for me, raises a positively interesting issue: In the past, SOE, as well as other MMORPG companies, swung or at least tried to swing the bat at people trading in-game services, items or characters for real-life money. (Examples: Lineage 2 was completely rendered useless and unplayable due to massive numbers of item and money farmers, World of Warcraft is facing the same issue in rizing proportions). In past, SOE has likewise threatened, or actively enforced, measures -against- such activities.
Now, suddenly, SOE flips the coin on its other side and not only allows the trading they alleged to be fighting in the past, but actually provides in-game service & interface allowing players to trade so. What happens, then, to all the players SOE banned in the past for buying/selling money, items, characters etc? [rightcheous] Is this another display of the facetous 'It's alright to do it, but only if we're ones doing it' attitude that seems to prevail in the world?[/rightcheous]
Disclaimer: I am a MMORPG player. I strongly believe that trading of in-game 'goods' for real-life money leads only to propagation of 'farming' on the game, which in turn results in reduced/ruined playability for people who play to have fun, instead of earning their bread. Go and try to "Kill 50 Demons" for a quest when a dozen farming characters sit in the area 24/7 farming those same demons because of their above-average loot tables?
(I don't mean any of this to come across as trolling or an attempt at a flamewar...I'm merely stating my observations, which admittedly may be in error.)
No attempts at flaming have been percieved from where I sit, for sure. Truth be told, I was a bit exaggerating and (more than a bit) cynical & sarcastic when I asked you to name some - my point is merely that there is an insane number of apps that -do- glitch in more or less obvious and difficult ways in contact with the oh-so-universal OS as Windows.
Windows actually does a reasonable job for the casual home user, many business tasks, and even a handful of specialized scientific and medical applications. (Please don't ask me to name three.)
Ok... can you name one specialised application not written by MS or their cronies that runs stably and reliably on Windows? Alternatively, name three specialised apps written by MS that do the same thing?
I am well aware of the original intentions and purposes of Windows; but, as I said previously, it is vastly amusing to notice that MS simply turned around and started marketing those same Windows as 'professional' tools and ideal solutions for IT needs of all kinds. Kind of like Segway turning around and trying to sell their thingamajig as ideal highway vehicle.
In general, modern market doesn't cope well with 'general purpose' products. Things are made for home use, enthusiasts, standard office use, heavy duty professional use etc. The very idea that a product designed for one market niche can be (successfully) marketed as ideal for any and every need imaginable is... boggling.
Well, I guess this is in line with Microsoft's approach to and attitude towards the users. For decades now, Windows products, in great majority of their incarnations, are perhaps quite 'dummy user friendly' but certainly not very 'power user friendly' - your average MSWin doesn't give you all that many choices and options - especially compared to AppleOSes, 'Nixes etc. MS wanted an OS that can be deployed out of box by a 12 year old, and that's what we got. What's vastly amusing in the whole idea is that a) MS then tries to market 12-y-o-safe OS as 'Professional' and b) MS doesn't even try to set up tiered configuration sets which would allow the user to either configure their OS on a lvl of 12-y-o by choosing wallpapers, mouse pointers and event sounds, or on a level of a computer-savy professional who, for reasons of his own, might or might not need raw sockets. The whole incident is not completely without resemblance to (fictional) situation where Home Depot takes saws and carpet knives out of their inventory because customers might injure themselves while using those tools.
...are, certainly, a huge plus when seeking employment. However, I have to point out that we're talking about a school. Educational institution. Meaning you -can- set up MS Office classes without having to outfit every single PC in the school with MSOffice. One or two classrooms would suffice.
For everything else, well, from my long-term experiences with OpenOffice, compatibility / file readability issues will possibly appear only with complex documents containing macros etc - for a 'basic user' texts or tables, which is what 99.5% of grade/high school's documents would be, MSOffice's only advantage over Open Office is - amount of money you save if you go for Open Office instead.
This pretty much clears the story... all I could say is, 'BAMBOOZLED!!'
On a completely off-note, I'm growing increasingly curious about a certain thing...
Does RIAA even bother with trying to find 'media pirates' anymore? Or do they just offer ISPs a headhunter commission? Is it a fixed fee, or a percentage of lawsuit fines? I have some 'friends' I could report!
- Rich or at least well off
- non technical
- old enough
- Doesn't work at a computer type company with any major contacts
- Not knowledgable about laws
Umm... that -definitely- doesn't sound like a music pirate profile to me.
Rich? Buy original CDs, or better yet Vynyl.
Non-technical? Not too likely to posess enough 'net-savyness to download loads of mp3s or divxes...
Old? Not enough interest for tons of net-floated MP3s...
Doesn't work at computer type company - how is this relevant?
Not knowledgeable about laws? Rich, but stupid and without good lawyers?
Hmm.
I am not a Comcast customer, but I might have a look at their TOS and EULA, purely out of curiosity... Even though this comment might invoke snickers and snorts (from me, as well as from others), I was under impression that USA Courts took privacy issues quite seriously.
Thus, unless Comcast's EULA/TOS clearly and specifically states that Company doesn't find itself obligated to protect its customer's privacy rights (which could easily bring them to their knees, because it'd open door for a myriad of 'naughty things' such as mail reading, web site visit logging and other privacy-invasive actions), the abovementioned action on Comcast's part, of giving out customer information to another company (Last I checked, RIAA wasn't US Government agency with power to demand such information outside proper court channels) is in blatant and violent offense of privacy laws & rights - which again, doesn't bode too well for them.
Bottom line, unless Comcast simply buys off the plaintiff with an out-of-court settlement, this could be grizzly...
It sounds like a noble and good cause, by all means. It also reminds me of a project/operation/movement I read about quite a while ago...
Book called "Steal this computer Book 2" by Wallace Wang (a very good read, if I may stray slightly offtopic) mentions, in addition to "Human Rights in China" website ( http://www.hrichina.org/ ) existance of 2 mail-newsletters, distributed via e-mails, that focus on issues of Freedoms of Speech and Information in PRC:
http://www.bignews.org/ - seems to be still pretty much alive and well, I'm pleased to say, and
The Tunnel Magazine ( http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/5598/ ) - sadly, this page was "Last updated at 3:10am GMT 15/01/2003." - though it's at least good to see all the archives are still online and available for perusal.
Clearly, these 2 groups have/had the right idea - while a government might, more or less easily and successfully, block access to web sites with information it doesn't wish to be available to its population, same government will have a rather hard time filtering all the e-mail traffic, especially in the modern world of free, anonymous, web-based ISPs...
In a way, this brings back memories of pamphlets and leaflets printed in dark, damp cellars, distributed by students and workers right under the noses of hounds of government, church, party or army...
Re:Two SR-71s on the ground, outside the hangar
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Satellite Easter Eggs
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· Score: 1
Actually, this is not all that rare a shot - on that spot, that is.
USS Intrepid is retired and docked at Hudson, New York, NY, where is serves as "Intrepid Air & Space Museum" ( http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/ ). Aircraft on its deck is -not- SR-71. It is actually A-12 - predcessor of S/R-71 that also served as conceptual test machine. A-12 operations were terminated on 06-01-1968, about the same time that S/R-71 started entering service.
It's also interesting to notice that there's no way that A-12 reached Intrepid's flight deck under its own power - the size, weight and engine strength of that aircraft are far beyond that of any naval aircraft, and in the most unlikely case that Intrepid's arrester cables were strong enough to stop A-12 on touchdown, the airplane's body would be torn apart by the forces required to stop it on such a short runway (before it fell off the end of deck).
At best, it'd put an end to 'open' piracy in USA. And honestly, in-USA piracy problems are nothing compared toproblems originating from Asia and Eastern Europe. And no matter how many US teens Ashcroft arrests, that won't make Chinese, Indian, Hungarian or Russian teens from sharing & downloading movies, music & software.
A) In the past few years, Cable TV, view-on-demand, pay-per-view, TiVo and gang have proliferated. Massively. That means that single-viewing of movies became cheaper. Meaning that people can finally see CatWoman for a dollar before blowing $25 on the DVD. Thus, triage has gotten tougher, and crappy movies can't sell DVDs on title alone, anymore, in quantities they used to.
B) Suing downloaders has nothing to do with lost revenue. Lawsuits are, in the modern world, more frequently made to acquire profits than to compensate for losses. SCO would've NEVER generated income based on its alleged properties on the scale of some of companies whom it is suing. It is far easier, and cheaper in the terms of production expenses, to sue someone than to turn out a new product.
C) Suing downloaders, most likely, doesn't have 'making profit' as a primary goal. Most students and high schoolers can't pay tens of thousands of dollars of damages. No. Goal is Shock and Awe assault on offenders. Smack a hundred of them with lawsuits, and others would back off. At least in theory.
In the end, it all comes down to the fact modern movie costs are overblown. If an actor gets paid several mil. dollars for half a year of half-assed work, and you have several of those actors to pay, then add to that a million other overblown expense issues... Holywood really needs some budget lessons.
Second, if advertised capacity is 5 GB, why will available capacity be less? 'This car? Yes, sir. 220MPH. Of course, available speed will be less.' ???
Third. Reported capacity will vary? Why? I thought we have SI system to establish -precise- measurement units. 'Yes, sir. Tank capacity of 50 galons. A bit less if you tank at Texaco pumps.
So what the bloody heck is the idea with all this 'will be less' 'may vary' etc?
Just about everything is going wireless these days. Yes, I know, radio spectrum is broad. But if you have your basic FM/AM radio, cell phone, wireless phone or three, wireless surround speaker system for your home theater, wireless mouse, wireless keyboard, wireless PC headphones, Wireless LAN... and all of your neighbors have at least some of those as well, who guarantees you that say, using a radio garage door opener won't make your computer locally send your nude pics (taken with wireless PC Cam) to everyone else using WLAN in your neighborhood?
I've been MUSH*ing since 1995 or so,which makes me... well, not all that much of a newbie (though neither am I really a vet, compared to some others I know:). And this is my view of things, directed mostly at MU* community (text-based one). MUSHes are relatively easy to set up these days, and not terribly difficult or expensive to run- text-based games have low server requirements and free off-the-shelf systems such as PennMUSH or TinyMUSH are quite simple to configure even for newbies.
What does that mean? That means there are no real barriers for any n00b wishing to try his hand at MU* administration - if you want it, you can do it. And then, everything comes down to creativity, imagination - and lots of patience. I've seen great MU*s created by a handful of newbies - they were sufficiently down-to-earth to create a small gameworld to start with, paying attention to playability and setting. And then there were others (i.e. me) who decided they want to turn their fave P'n'P RPG into a MUSH (I tried creating Paranoia MUSH, followed by HOL. Disasters both, to boot.) However, as opposed to (semi)professional graphic MMORPG designers who frequently are not too familiar with RP concepts, most of people trying their hands at MUSHes do have at least some amount of tabletop roleplaying experience.
And I've digressed and started losing my thread. Anyway, my ponit (if only I can remember it):
Experience does not a RPer make - although it does improve one. There are people who've been MMORPGing for years, and they're still as clueless as they were in the beginning. And then there are newbies who will give you some truly great RPing experiences. Contrary to the featured article's statement, newbie-created MMORPGs don't necessarily repulse players - to the contrary, they're often refreshingly new and original, and a newbie is far more likely to accept creative input than someone who considers himself a badass old gamer. And then there is the matter of evolution - old and experienced players have, frequently, set-in-stone ideas of how setting and gamesystem should look - they had years of playing to develop their preferences. Newbies, however, are not so adamant. As a consequence of that, newbie-run MMORPG is far more likely to evolve through player input, changing into something closer to players' wishes, even if glitchy, whereas veteran-staffed MMORPG might posess a very detailed setting and glitch-free gaming system - but be a far cry from what players actually want.
-- *MUSH = Multi User Shared Hallucination (more RP-oriented offspring of MUDs)
I sure do hope the audit works out. I sure do hope it proves elections were rigged...
So, there is a period in there. I hope the audit works out. As in, I hope they manage to check the questionable issues and clear them, no matter what the outcome. Why? Because, unless that is done, (those few) people who -do- care and wonder if there was foul play will stay in dark. And as I'm one of them, I prefer not to stay in dark. Then, I sure do hope it proves elections were rigged - but that is a different issue. I hope they were rigged because, otherwise, Bush stays in office. And I just don't like that. My wishing that audit succeeds and that elections were rigged are two separate wishes, with separate reasons.
So... we all do seem to realise that this initiative lacks immediate means to process & analyse large volumes of data involved in this audit. My suggestion is...
Search for Election Voting Fraud @ home !
...following in the footsteps of SETI@Home, this network will enable rapid analysis of voting records through distributed computing. So, who's gonna write the app?:)
Slashdot Mirror
I never said Buran was a good investment, or cost-to-result effective one. However, that just brings us to the original point - capsule-based systems are far more price-efficient than re-usable space vehicles, such as Space Shuttle. As for:
There was no money left to fly the Buran (or much else until the US starting pumping $$$ into it)
...ask yourself (or go look for definite figures) how much $$$ USGOV is pumping into NASA to keep it flying? Those things are hardly profitable, and on top of it NASA has a need to win any pissing match, which leads to it under-bidding every other space-launch provider on commercial projects, even if it means that part of such commercial flights, whixh are supposed to be paid by a customer, is actually subsidied from taxes paid by US Citizens. In effect, your taxes pay for i.e. private telecomm satelites to be put up.
Perhaps, hopefully, maybe NASA's return to single-launch systems will finally offset some of these expenses and, if nothing else, allow them to be poured into some serious R&D?
I must say, it is interesting to notice that NASA has, in fact, finally opted to return to the old, well-tried capsule approach, as opposed to reusable reentry vehicles such as Shuttle. Especially when one takes into consideration the significant amount of resistance NASA experts have been offering to the idea for years and years, despite the poor cost-to-results ratio of Shuttles and, apparently, high(er) risks involved in Shuttle flights as compared to capsule flights.
Perhaps it is a bit of me that loves rubbing it in to american 'rocket scientists', but it might be interesting to notice that Russians never fully embraced their shuttles (Buran, http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/rsa/buran.html ) despite it posessing payload and operational capacities superior to those of US Shuttle...
Marvellously insightful, constructive and generally discussion-encouraging comment, sir. Here. Have a spoon. Eat shit.
OK. This is getting a bit annoying, so I'll raise the question...
Reading comments above, I can't help but notice a significant number of 'paid advert' comments; why is it that, every time someone gives a thorough overview of a device, piece of software or book, the pitchfork-and-torch mob forms to accuse the author of advertising? That kind of reaction most likely actively discourages people from providing good, well-written reviews - and when those are gone, what you're left with is really not worth reading.
As for the item itself, being an IT/Tech Support professional, I must say I do see a lot of usefulness in the device in some specific situations, although it might not have a significant presence in most everyday enviroments. Main issues I see are that hybrid technology is obviously sacrificing performance for sake of flexibility, and things such as reduced WiFi range/signal quality pretty much tend to reduce usefulness to the point of making it not worth using in the eye of average user.
Well, being a bit of a fencer, I have to say this all looks like a duel.
Google advances... Microsoft feints, Google doesn't bother parrying, but counterfeints... I'm just waiting to see which of them gets good grounds for a serious lunge - the whole situation is very shady, to me, especially since MS 'non compete' clause is vague to say the least - MS is active in a large number of hardware- and software- related aspects of computer market. Which would, de facto, mean once MS hires you and you sign a non-compete clause, if contract is terminated you can't go work in any other company you're qualified to work in, unless you're inclined to hold a cathedra on some university?
As for "Washington Law says" "California Law Says", I'm not completely sure of precise mechanics - but isn't a contract governed by the laws of country or state it is signed and notarized in, unless specifically stated otherwise in contract? Which obviously leaves interesting gap-holes begging to be exploited....
Well, everyone has been talking about zip ties this, and velcro straps that, and reusable or not... I long ago figured a far tidier, and aesthetically infinitely more pleasing solution to the Medusa's hair of cables that plagued my workspaces:
Rubber Hoses.
...and that's it. Buy couple of rubber water hoses in colors of your choice, making sure diameters are sufficient for your needs, and slit them open lengthwise. Then simply array the cables within the tubes. if you're overloading your tubes, zip-tie them at intervals to keep them from spilling contents, but usually, rubber should be pretty good at containing cables by itself. Here are another couple of tips:
Shielding: Try to avoid putting power cables and data cables (network and other I/O) in the same hose - even though I/O cables are in theory shielded (you are using FTP/STP for networking, aren't you?), putting them in direct contact proximity of hi(gher) voltage cables might cause problems for your signal quality.
Aesthetics: I packed several of my more visible cable trunks (A/V multimedia, running from my PCs to my home entertainment, and portions of networking layout) in transparent/semi-transparent hose, and mixed in some optical fibers to add a bit of flair - it also makes for awesome 'Don't trip on me' warning if you have cables crossing the doorways etc).
Well, I'd say this, at least for me, raises a positively interesting issue: In the past, SOE, as well as other MMORPG companies, swung or at least tried to swing the bat at people trading in-game services, items or characters for real-life money. (Examples: Lineage 2 was completely rendered useless and unplayable due to massive numbers of item and money farmers, World of Warcraft is facing the same issue in rizing proportions). In past, SOE has likewise threatened, or actively enforced, measures -against- such activities.
Now, suddenly, SOE flips the coin on its other side and not only allows the trading they alleged to be fighting in the past, but actually provides in-game service & interface allowing players to trade so. What happens, then, to all the players SOE banned in the past for buying/selling money, items, characters etc? [rightcheous] Is this another display of the facetous 'It's alright to do it, but only if we're ones doing it' attitude that seems to prevail in the world?[/rightcheous]
Disclaimer: I am a MMORPG player. I strongly believe that trading of in-game 'goods' for real-life money leads only to propagation of 'farming' on the game, which in turn results in reduced/ruined playability for people who play to have fun, instead of earning their bread. Go and try to "Kill 50 Demons" for a quest when a dozen farming characters sit in the area 24/7 farming those same demons because of their above-average loot tables?
(I don't mean any of this to come across as trolling or an attempt at a flamewar...I'm merely stating my observations, which admittedly may be in error.)
No attempts at flaming have been percieved from where I sit, for sure. Truth be told, I was a bit exaggerating and (more than a bit) cynical & sarcastic when I asked you to name some - my point is merely that there is an insane number of apps that -do- glitch in more or less obvious and difficult ways in contact with the oh-so-universal OS as Windows.
Windows actually does a reasonable job for the casual home user, many business tasks, and even a handful of specialized scientific and medical applications. (Please don't ask me to name three.)
Ok... can you name one specialised application not written by MS or their cronies that runs stably and reliably on Windows? Alternatively, name three specialised apps written by MS that do the same thing?
[EG]
I am well aware of the original intentions and purposes of Windows; but, as I said previously, it is vastly amusing to notice that MS simply turned around and started marketing those same Windows as 'professional' tools and ideal solutions for IT needs of all kinds. Kind of like Segway turning around and trying to sell their thingamajig as ideal highway vehicle.
In general, modern market doesn't cope well with 'general purpose' products. Things are made for home use, enthusiasts, standard office use, heavy duty professional use etc. The very idea that a product designed for one market niche can be (successfully) marketed as ideal for any and every need imaginable is... boggling.
Well, I guess this is in line with Microsoft's approach to and attitude towards the users. For decades now, Windows products, in great majority of their incarnations, are perhaps quite 'dummy user friendly' but certainly not very 'power user friendly' - your average MSWin doesn't give you all that many choices and options - especially compared to AppleOSes, 'Nixes etc. MS wanted an OS that can be deployed out of box by a 12 year old, and that's what we got. What's vastly amusing in the whole idea is that a) MS then tries to market 12-y-o-safe OS as 'Professional' and b) MS doesn't even try to set up tiered configuration sets which would allow the user to either configure their OS on a lvl of 12-y-o by choosing wallpapers, mouse pointers and event sounds, or on a level of a computer-savy professional who, for reasons of his own, might or might not need raw sockets. The whole incident is not completely without resemblance to (fictional) situation where Home Depot takes saws and carpet knives out of their inventory because customers might injure themselves while using those tools.
...are, certainly, a huge plus when seeking employment. However, I have to point out that we're talking about a school. Educational institution. Meaning you -can- set up MS Office classes without having to outfit every single PC in the school with MSOffice. One or two classrooms would suffice.
For everything else, well, from my long-term experiences with OpenOffice, compatibility / file readability issues will possibly appear only with complex documents containing macros etc - for a 'basic user' texts or tables, which is what 99.5% of grade/high school's documents would be, MSOffice's only advantage over Open Office is - amount of money you save if you go for Open Office instead.
Wootness!
This pretty much clears the story... all I could say is, 'BAMBOOZLED!!'
On a completely off-note, I'm growing increasingly curious about a certain thing...
Does RIAA even bother with trying to find 'media pirates' anymore? Or do they just offer ISPs a headhunter commission? Is it a fixed fee, or a percentage of lawsuit fines? I have some 'friends' I could report!
- Rich or at least well off
- non technical
- old enough
- Doesn't work at a computer type company with any major contacts
- Not knowledgable about laws
Umm... that -definitely- doesn't sound like a music pirate profile to me.
Rich? Buy original CDs, or better yet Vynyl.
Non-technical? Not too likely to posess enough 'net-savyness to download loads of mp3s or divxes...
Old? Not enough interest for tons of net-floated MP3s...
Doesn't work at computer type company - how is this relevant?
Not knowledgeable about laws? Rich, but stupid and without good lawyers?
LOL.
Hmm. I am not a Comcast customer, but I might have a look at their TOS and EULA, purely out of curiosity... Even though this comment might invoke snickers and snorts (from me, as well as from others), I was under impression that USA Courts took privacy issues quite seriously.
Thus, unless Comcast's EULA/TOS clearly and specifically states that Company doesn't find itself obligated to protect its customer's privacy rights (which could easily bring them to their knees, because it'd open door for a myriad of 'naughty things' such as mail reading, web site visit logging and other privacy-invasive actions), the abovementioned action on Comcast's part, of giving out customer information to another company (Last I checked, RIAA wasn't US Government agency with power to demand such information outside proper court channels) is in blatant and violent offense of privacy laws & rights - which again, doesn't bode too well for them.
Bottom line, unless Comcast simply buys off the plaintiff with an out-of-court settlement, this could be grizzly...
It sounds like a noble and good cause, by all means. It also reminds me of a project/operation/movement I read about quite a while ago...
Book called "Steal this computer Book 2" by Wallace Wang (a very good read, if I may stray slightly offtopic) mentions, in addition to "Human Rights in China" website ( http://www.hrichina.org/ ) existance of 2 mail-newsletters, distributed via e-mails, that focus on issues of Freedoms of Speech and Information in PRC:
http://www.bignews.org/ - seems to be still pretty much alive and well, I'm pleased to say, and
The Tunnel Magazine ( http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/5598/ ) - sadly, this page was "Last updated at 3:10am GMT 15/01/2003." - though it's at least good to see all the archives are still online and available for perusal.
Clearly, these 2 groups have/had the right idea - while a government might, more or less easily and successfully, block access to web sites with information it doesn't wish to be available to its population, same government will have a rather hard time filtering all the e-mail traffic, especially in the modern world of free, anonymous, web-based ISPs...
In a way, this brings back memories of pamphlets and leaflets printed in dark, damp cellars, distributed by students and workers right under the noses of hounds of government, church, party or army...
Actually, this is not all that rare a shot - on that spot, that is. USS Intrepid is retired and docked at Hudson, New York, NY, where is serves as "Intrepid Air & Space Museum" ( http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/ ). Aircraft on its deck is -not- SR-71. It is actually A-12 - predcessor of S/R-71 that also served as conceptual test machine. A-12 operations were terminated on 06-01-1968, about the same time that S/R-71 started entering service. It's also interesting to notice that there's no way that A-12 reached Intrepid's flight deck under its own power - the size, weight and engine strength of that aircraft are far beyond that of any naval aircraft, and in the most unlikely case that Intrepid's arrester cables were strong enough to stop A-12 on touchdown, the airplane's body would be torn apart by the forces required to stop it on such a short runway (before it fell off the end of deck).
At best, it'd put an end to 'open' piracy in USA. And honestly, in-USA piracy problems are nothing compared toproblems originating from Asia and Eastern Europe. And no matter how many US teens Ashcroft arrests, that won't make Chinese, Indian, Hungarian or Russian teens from sharing & downloading movies, music & software.
Several points.
A) In the past few years, Cable TV, view-on-demand, pay-per-view, TiVo and gang have proliferated. Massively. That means that single-viewing of movies became cheaper. Meaning that people can finally see CatWoman for a dollar before blowing $25 on the DVD. Thus, triage has gotten tougher, and crappy movies can't sell DVDs on title alone, anymore, in quantities they used to.
B) Suing downloaders has nothing to do with lost revenue. Lawsuits are, in the modern world, more frequently made to acquire profits than to compensate for losses. SCO would've NEVER generated income based on its alleged properties on the scale of some of companies whom it is suing. It is far easier, and cheaper in the terms of production expenses, to sue someone than to turn out a new product.
C) Suing downloaders, most likely, doesn't have 'making profit' as a primary goal. Most students and high schoolers can't pay tens of thousands of dollars of damages. No. Goal is Shock and Awe assault on offenders. Smack a hundred of them with lawsuits, and others would back off. At least in theory.
In the end, it all comes down to the fact modern movie costs are overblown. If an actor gets paid several mil. dollars for half a year of half-assed work, and you have several of those actors to pay, then add to that a million other overblown expense issues... Holywood really needs some budget lessons.
OK, I just have to, because this annoying habit seems to be a very popular theme with modern hardware marketers. Quote from the article:
1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes. Available capacity will be less. Reported capacity will vary.
First.
1 GB =/= 1,000,000,000 bytes.
1 GB = 1024 MB
1 MB = 1024 KB
1 KB = 1024 bytes
1024*1024*1024 =/= 1,000,000,000
1024*1024*1024 = 1,073,741,824
Second, if advertised capacity is 5 GB, why will available capacity be less? 'This car? Yes, sir. 220MPH. Of course, available speed will be less.' ???
Third. Reported capacity will vary? Why? I thought we have SI system to establish -precise- measurement units. 'Yes, sir. Tank capacity of 50 galons. A bit less if you tank at Texaco pumps.
So what the bloody heck is the idea with all this 'will be less' 'may vary' etc?
You wanna buy a pound of gold? (1 lb = 2 oz) ?
We all hope those days are over.
:)
Or is it 'We all hoped those days are over.' ?
Well... it's an interesting notion. But.
Just about everything is going wireless these days. Yes, I know, radio spectrum is broad. But if you have your basic FM/AM radio, cell phone, wireless phone or three, wireless surround speaker system for your home theater, wireless mouse, wireless keyboard, wireless PC headphones, Wireless LAN... and all of your neighbors have at least some of those as well, who guarantees you that say, using a radio garage door opener won't make your computer locally send your nude pics (taken with wireless PC Cam) to everyone else using WLAN in your neighborhood?
I've been MUSH*ing since 1995 or so,which makes me... well, not all that much of a newbie (though neither am I really a vet, compared to some others I know :). And this is my view of things, directed mostly at MU* community (text-based one). MUSHes are relatively easy to set up these days, and not terribly difficult or expensive to run- text-based games have low server requirements and free off-the-shelf systems such as PennMUSH or TinyMUSH are quite simple to configure even for newbies.
What does that mean? That means there are no real barriers for any n00b wishing to try his hand at MU* administration - if you want it, you can do it. And then, everything comes down to creativity, imagination - and lots of patience. I've seen great MU*s created by a handful of newbies - they were sufficiently down-to-earth to create a small gameworld to start with, paying attention to playability and setting. And then there were others (i.e. me) who decided they want to turn their fave P'n'P RPG into a MUSH (I tried creating Paranoia MUSH, followed by HOL. Disasters both, to boot.) However, as opposed to (semi)professional graphic MMORPG designers who frequently are not too familiar with RP concepts, most of people trying their hands at MUSHes do have at least some amount of tabletop roleplaying experience.
And I've digressed and started losing my thread. Anyway, my ponit (if only I can remember it):
Experience does not a RPer make - although it does improve one. There are people who've been MMORPGing for years, and they're still as clueless as they were in the beginning. And then there are newbies who will give you some truly great RPing experiences. Contrary to the featured article's statement, newbie-created MMORPGs don't necessarily repulse players - to the contrary, they're often refreshingly new and original, and a newbie is far more likely to accept creative input than someone who considers himself a badass old gamer. And then there is the matter of evolution - old and experienced players have, frequently, set-in-stone ideas of how setting and gamesystem should look - they had years of playing to develop their preferences. Newbies, however, are not so adamant. As a consequence of that, newbie-run MMORPG is far more likely to evolve through player input, changing into something closer to players' wishes, even if glitchy, whereas veteran-staffed MMORPG might posess a very detailed setting and glitch-free gaming system - but be a far cry from what players actually want.
--
*MUSH = Multi User Shared Hallucination (more RP-oriented offspring of MUDs)
Please, pay attention to the wording & syntax:
I sure do hope the audit works out. I sure do hope it proves elections were rigged...
So, there is a period in there. I hope the audit works out. As in, I hope they manage to check the questionable issues and clear them, no matter what the outcome. Why? Because, unless that is done, (those few) people who -do- care and wonder if there was foul play will stay in dark. And as I'm one of them, I prefer not to stay in dark.
Then, I sure do hope it proves elections were rigged - but that is a different issue. I hope they were rigged because, otherwise, Bush stays in office. And I just don't like that. My wishing that audit succeeds and that elections were rigged are two separate wishes, with separate reasons.
So... we all do seem to realise that this initiative lacks immediate means to process & analyse large volumes of data involved in this audit. My suggestion is...
:)
Search for Election Voting Fraud @ home !
...following in the footsteps of SETI@Home, this network will enable rapid analysis of voting records through distributed computing. So, who's gonna write the app?