But the parliament IS irrelevant, and they know it. They're not going to get excited because of that.
Re:mnb Re:Perhaps there is a reason...
on
DVHS on a Budget
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· Score: 1
But all this just justifies the original poster's point. The "audio" CDs are different, but their quality is the same: the only difference is an arbitrary one that allows them to be sold at a higher price point. It's just the same principle as putting holes in the plastic case.
I've tried firefox 1.0 under linux, without flash installed, and it seems to be OK: no popups.
But opera 7.54 (again without flash installed) is giving me 100% CPU and is not loading the page.
Looks like the new anti-popup-blocker is going to cause all sorts of strange symptoms.
So you're a lone programmer and you have one good idea. You patent it, and then write a program that uses it. Fine.
But when you try to sell that program, along comes a big business that says "we want to buy your one idea for a small sum of money - oh, and by the way your program contravenes 73 of our patents on trivial obvious programming ideas. So either you take our offer, or else we sue you into oblivion".
Actually, the first draft of the proposed patent lay was found to have been written by the Business Software Alliance (see here
If you look at the BSA web page, you will see that the members of this alliance are primarily US businesses: they list Microsoft, IBM, Intel etc etc as their members.
So in this case the original poster is correct: this law seems to have been "bought" by US businesses.
Just for the benefit of any Americans who might be misled by this: none of the above is true. The English (and Scots and Welsh) will vote for the politician who promises the lowest taxes, just like anyone else.
But what we also like is getting stuff at a reasonably price instead of paying through the nose for it. That's why we tend to support the BBC (cheaper than US-style subscription TV channels, which we also have, despite the fact that there's no adverts) and the health service (no need for all that expensive insurance in case you get cancer and need to stay in hospital for 6 months).
Some websites provide useful information, and others provide advertising and garbage.
If I wanted to find out about (say) Ford cars, I might go to Ford's website. But if I find it full of flash and images instead of text, I will think that it's not likely to contain much genuine information. So then I will turn to Google instead of wasting any more time looking at it.
So they're going to use an RFID tag, the whole point of which is that it can be read at a distance, with no contact. And they're going to enclose it in a RF shield, so that it can only be read close-up, with someone to open the shield. And someone thinks that this is a good idea?
Still, two opportunities for profit: the RFID manufacturers and the RF shielding manufacturers can both get their cut.
If this scheme is anything like the push for ID cards here in the UK, then it is being driven by the RFID manufacturers. Just a number on the passport would be too cheap. The government has got to spend billions of tax dollars on new and untested technology in order to make fat profits for the businesses that are lobbying for this.
I talked to one of the security people about this once. He thought the business with shoes was because someone had been found with a bomb in his shoes once, so shoes are now on the list of "dangerous things". The security guards are all just waiting for the day when a female suicide bomber is found to have explosives concealed in her bra...
He's been searched by security, so he's not carrying a bomb. And there are no age restrictions on flying, as there are with alcohol purchase. How does knowing his mother's favourite choice of names for babies help security any further?
I made a purchase at Frys once, using my credit card, and they asked me for photo ID.
I discovered that the phrase "I'm English: we don't carry photo ID because Britain is a free country" works just fine.
You want to try an Egremont Russet, if you can get them.
But maybe they're not available in the USA (I'm guessing that is where you are), because they don't look like an American's stereotype of an apple: they're not red.
I'm not an American, so I don't know how these things work. So could you explain to me please: if someone asks for your SSN, why can't you just give them a random number you made up?
They're asking you for the number, so that means they don't know it - right? So they've got no way of knowing that you just made up the number.
Alternatively, if they can check that it's not the real number, they must have access to the master SSN database, so there's no point in your trying to keep the number secret.
But if you do want to steal cards, then it will be easy to make a "credit card detector" that sniffs out the RFID chip as people go by, and tells you which pocket their wallet is in.
Then you take the stolen cards and make lots or $25 purchases, without having to forge a signature.
I've read that in the US, you need to show ID in order to get on a train. Here in the UK you certainly don't need to do that.
Anyway, what counts as "one PC only"? What happens if I upgrade the hard disk? And then the motherboard? And then replace the power supply and the case? You see where this is going...
I have a friend who uses hard disks for backup. So he regularly adds or removes hard disks from his machine.
Windows wants to be re-activated every time you do that, and after the first few times you can't do it online: only a phone call will work.
I've tried to persuade him that a pirated copy would be less hassle, but he insists on phoning Microsoft every time. He says that he's bought the damn thing, so he's going to damn well use it.
There's no useful information on the site, but the front page features a press release and several big pictures of a government minister.
There's an election coming up, so it looks to me like another useless publicity stunt. I'm sure the web site will be left to wither once it's been reported in all the newspapers that the government is keeping us safe from "cyber-terrorism".
Slashdot Mirror
It's not socialism that we're trying to aviod in Europe. It's American-style capitalism.
But the parliament IS irrelevant, and they know it. They're not going to get excited because of that.
But all this just justifies the original poster's point. The "audio" CDs are different, but their quality is the same: the only difference is an arbitrary one that allows them to be sold at a higher price point. It's just the same principle as putting holes in the plastic case.
I've tried firefox 1.0 under linux, without flash installed, and it seems to be OK: no popups. But opera 7.54 (again without flash installed) is giving me 100% CPU and is not loading the page. Looks like the new anti-popup-blocker is going to cause all sorts of strange symptoms.
But when you try to sell that program, along comes a big business that says "we want to buy your one idea for a small sum of money - oh, and by the way your program contravenes 73 of our patents on trivial obvious programming ideas. So either you take our offer, or else we sue you into oblivion".
If you look at the BSA web page, you will see that the members of this alliance are primarily US businesses: they list Microsoft, IBM, Intel etc etc as their members.
So in this case the original poster is correct: this law seems to have been "bought" by US businesses.
But what we also like is getting stuff at a reasonably price instead of paying through the nose for it. That's why we tend to support the BBC (cheaper than US-style subscription TV channels, which we also have, despite the fact that there's no adverts) and the health service (no need for all that expensive insurance in case you get cancer and need to stay in hospital for 6 months).
If I wanted to find out about (say) Ford cars, I might go to Ford's website. But if I find it full of flash and images instead of text, I will think that it's not likely to contain much genuine information. So then I will turn to Google instead of wasting any more time looking at it.
Because you haven't realized that every shopkeeper in the country has already ordered the same hardware.
Still, two opportunities for profit: the RFID manufacturers and the RF shielding manufacturers can both get their cut.
If this scheme is anything like the push for ID cards here in the UK, then it is being driven by the RFID manufacturers. Just a number on the passport would be too cheap. The government has got to spend billions of tax dollars on new and untested technology in order to make fat profits for the businesses that are lobbying for this.
If you fry it, then you have an invalid passport. So you're a terrorist. You win a free holiday in Cuba.
I talked to one of the security people about this once. He thought the business with shoes was because someone had been found with a bomb in his shoes once, so shoes are now on the list of "dangerous things". The security guards are all just waiting for the day when a female suicide bomber is found to have explosives concealed in her bra...
How is this different from a law? It's an order made by the government, that everyone is forced to obey. That sounds like a law to me.
He's been searched by security, so he's not carrying a bomb. And there are no age restrictions on flying, as there are with alcohol purchase. How does knowing his mother's favourite choice of names for babies help security any further?
I made a purchase at Frys once, using my credit card, and they asked me for photo ID.
I discovered that the phrase "I'm English: we don't carry photo ID because Britain is a free country" works just fine.
You want to try an Egremont Russet, if you can get them. But maybe they're not available in the USA (I'm guessing that is where you are), because they don't look like an American's stereotype of an apple: they're not red.
They're asking you for the number, so that means they don't know it - right? So they've got no way of knowing that you just made up the number.
Alternatively, if they can check that it's not the real number, they must have access to the master SSN database, so there's no point in your trying to keep the number secret.
Or am I missing something?
Then you take the stolen cards and make lots or $25 purchases, without having to forge a signature.
Who thought this up? The Guild of Thieves?
For the benefit of any other English readers: I wish someone would bring me some crumpet around 4 this afternoon.
I've read that in the US, you need to show ID in order to get on a train. Here in the UK you certainly don't need to do that.
Anyway, what counts as "one PC only"? What happens if I upgrade the hard disk? And then the motherboard? And then replace the power supply and the case? You see where this is going...
Windows wants to be re-activated every time you do that, and after the first few times you can't do it online: only a phone call will work.
I've tried to persuade him that a pirated copy would be less hassle, but he insists on phoning Microsoft every time. He says that he's bought the damn thing, so he's going to damn well use it.
It certainly is necessary. Windows cannot update executable files on the fly; it has to be done at reboot time. Unix doesn't have this restriction.
So the Firefox code will display the same HTML in two different ways on different occasions. How can this be anything other than a bug in Firefox?
There's an election coming up, so it looks to me like another useless publicity stunt. I'm sure the web site will be left to wither once it's been reported in all the newspapers that the government is keeping us safe from "cyber-terrorism".