Well, as I see it, this is pretty silly. The problems listed on the info page are server-side issues, easily repaired (in fact already repaird on many servers). To quote a luser on TC, "If TalkCity was the government, they'd ban cars to prevent vehicular accidents." The funny part of this client-side, administrative solution is that they've forgotten the golden rule:
Never trust the client. Never put anything on the client. The client is in the hands of the enemy. Never ever ever forget this.
How long before $hacker figures out $black_magic and adds it to the $irc_client_of_choice (isn't source code nice?)? (BTW, no, it is NOT a simply version request) </MHO> -Mith
Let's extend the metaphor of the i-opener as a similar product to a cell phone. In a retail store, you can buy a Nextel phone for about $50... but there's a catch: to get that price you must sign a contract to use their service for a year. Next time you visit your favorite Nextel retailer, have a look at the Fine Print (tm). They're more than happy to sell you *just* the phone (sans contract); however, they will also add $300 to the cost of the phone. This is likely the agreement NetPliance had HOPED to use. Sadly, they didn't. My advice to them is to fire their legal and marketing depts. and adopt a similar agreement without modifying the hardware. This accomplishes their goals without alienating the technically inclined. Given the terms stated in my local Circuit City, I haven't violated any agreement, nor have I cheated anyone. Terms slapped on a website don't affect those of us who didn't sign any contracts (in fact, since I paid cash, I didn't sign anything) especially not retrospectively.
I for one simply can't bring myself to apologize for not buying the service they OFFER for the hardware I OWN.
Mith --In theory, theory and practice are the same, but in practice they're different.
FWIW, a search for "Cases black ATX" on Google returned 200 matches. amoung them: http://www.baber.com/baber/products/mpemd2.htm Granted, $120 is a bit steep for a case, but it sure looks cool, and it goes to show that They (tm) are starting to listen.
Kishar -- Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
Agreed that taxes exist for legitimate reasons. Consider the following as precedents though: a) Interstate mail-order is not taxed. b) Interstate TV sales are not taxed (a la Infomercials) c) Interstate telephone sales (telemarketing) are not taxed. d) et. al. IMHO, e-commerce is analogous to any of the above, and should be treated accordingly with respect to taxation. What instead appears to be happining is the US Gov't's continuing belief that they control or can legislate the Internet as a whole, and, of course, their desire to get their paws on some of the billions of dollars being transacted. The _only_ way I could see taxation on the Internet being supported by precedent is if one purchases goods or services from a company located within one's own state (e.g. "CA residents add $VALUE sales tax") -Kishar Will they tax my $0.02 as well?
I must say, I'm in Tampa Bay, and while I have occasional DNS / local router trouble, I've never had an interruption in service greater than 24 hours. And on the question of cost, my 2 DHCP IPs run me a grand total of $50/mo (in addition to cable tv service). (I only ever speak with senior techs but) I have had nothing but good service from tech support; one tech even went so far as to send me a link for rrlogin.c ObMS-Hatred: oddly, my Linux box gets triple the bandwidth that my Win98 box gets (2Mbps and 800kbps respectively) -Kishar, cable modem zionist
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Well, as I see it, this is pretty silly. The problems listed on the info page are server-side issues, easily repaired (in fact already repaird on many servers). To quote a luser on TC, "If TalkCity was the government, they'd ban cars to prevent vehicular accidents." The funny part of this client-side, administrative solution is that they've forgotten the golden rule:
Never trust the client.
Never put anything on the client. The client is in the hands of the enemy. Never ever ever forget this.
How long before $hacker figures out $black_magic and adds it to the $irc_client_of_choice (isn't source code nice?)?
(BTW, no, it is NOT a simply version request)
</MHO>
-Mith
Let's extend the metaphor of the i-opener as a similar product to a cell phone. ... but there's a catch: to get that price you must sign a contract to use their service for a year. Next time you visit your favorite Nextel retailer, have a look at the Fine Print (tm). They're more than happy to sell you *just* the phone (sans contract); however, they will also add $300 to the cost of the phone. This is likely the agreement NetPliance had HOPED to use. Sadly, they didn't. My advice to them is to fire their legal and marketing depts. and adopt a similar agreement without modifying the hardware. This accomplishes their goals without alienating the technically inclined. Given the terms stated in my local Circuit City, I haven't violated any agreement, nor have I cheated anyone. Terms slapped on a website don't affect those of us who didn't sign any contracts (in fact, since I paid cash, I didn't sign anything) especially not retrospectively.
In a retail store, you can buy a Nextel phone for about $50
I for one simply can't bring myself to apologize for not buying the service they OFFER for the hardware I OWN.
Mith
--In theory, theory and practice are the same, but in practice they're different.
FWIW, a search for "Cases black ATX" on Google returned 200 matches. amoung them:
http://www.baber.com/baber/products/mpemd2.htm
Granted, $120 is a bit steep for a case, but it sure looks cool, and it goes to show that They (tm) are starting to listen.
Kishar
--
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
Agreed that taxes exist for legitimate reasons.
Consider the following as precedents though:
a) Interstate mail-order is not taxed.
b) Interstate TV sales are not taxed (a la Infomercials)
c) Interstate telephone sales (telemarketing) are not taxed.
d) et. al.
IMHO, e-commerce is analogous to any of the above, and should be treated accordingly with respect to taxation. What instead appears to be happining is the US Gov't's continuing belief that they control or can legislate the Internet as a whole, and, of course, their desire to get their paws on some of the billions of dollars being transacted.
The _only_ way I could see taxation on the Internet being supported by precedent is if one purchases goods or services from a company located within one's own state (e.g. "CA residents add $VALUE sales tax")
-Kishar
Will they tax my $0.02 as well?
I must say, I'm in Tampa Bay, and while I have occasional DNS / local router trouble, I've never had an interruption in service greater than 24 hours. And on the question of cost, my 2 DHCP IPs run me a grand total of $50/mo (in addition to cable tv service). (I only ever speak with senior techs but) I have had nothing but good service from tech support; one tech even went so far as to send me a link for rrlogin.c
ObMS-Hatred:
oddly, my Linux box gets triple the bandwidth that my Win98 box gets (2Mbps and 800kbps respectively)
-Kishar, cable modem zionist
"If UNIX is dead, .sig stolen from ASR
the necromancer who is animating the corpse
is doing a damn fine job"
--