[Sam hangs up the phone]
Max: Another confused census taker?
Sam: Actually, it was the Commissioner with another idiotic and baffling assignment.
Max: Does it involve wanton destruction?
Sam: We can only hope.
What does the first Amendmant have to do with the private sector?
Quite a lot, assuming it's the American private sector. IANAL, but as I understand it a company may be able to fire or seek civil charges against an employee who leaks private info, and things get more complex if things like contracts or nondisclosure agreements are thrown into the mix, but they aren't normally able to ship him off to prison.
So the fact that nobody will get rich off it is a problem to you? I consider that a good point to the model, possibly the best.
I suppose in that case it's a matter of philosophy or politics, neither of which are ever a good idea to debate over the Internet about, so I'll say I disagree with you and leave it at that.
If anyone can do it, then once someone does do it, there won't be much of a market for those other companies.
This is all a good thing, is it not? Otherwise it's like grumbling about your horse-drawn-carriage company going out of business when motorcars take over.
I couldn't program my way out of a lunchbox, but for the sake of illustration let's say I could, and I wrote a supreme ODF-capable app that worked as above. It or something very much like it ends up Open-Source, as even if I get greedy and go the commercial route, anything that useful quickly seems to sprout FOSS clones and alternatives. This would allow the blind community to enjoy free apps to access a free document format, just as the non-blind can do with things like OpenOffice. There's less of a monopoly (always a good thing,) and the success of things like Linux, GIMP, OpenOffice, and all the other FOSS projects that continue to stand the test of time have proven that they are contributing to the world in good ways.
I can't see any drawbacks to this model, but then I don't own any Microsoft stock.
None of the prominent desktop applications that can create and save documents in OpenDocument currently work well with screen readers, magnifiers and other assistive technologies
Is this not the point of having an open format? Anyone anywhere is free to write an app or plugin - heck, build a set-top box even - that can easily handle the needs of the disabled or anyone else to use the format. As with most if not all features of anything open-source, if the need is there the solution is within reach.
If they mean "some UK hackers," they should write "some UK hackers."
I doubt if it had been "UK cabdrivers," "UK insurance adjusters," "UK left-handed people," or "UK women named Susan" referenced it would be immune from such criticism by people who fit the description yet feel differently than portrayed.
I think that the Wiki is really in its infant stage as there's not much on it. A lot of times, don't they take a huge body of documents and then write an ingestor application to seed a serious Wiki?
It officially opens on May 12. They still have a few days to load it up beforehand.
There doesn't seem to be much incentive for the reviewer though I said the same thing about Wikipedia and been proven wrong. In my opinion, patent law is one of the dirtiest of trades and I don't have much desire to become involved in it at all.
That's exactly why many people will want to help out with this. Slashdot alone has enough people disgusted enough with the patent system to clean things up substantially and help fix it. People can always complain about things, but it's when they're willing to do something about it that things get done.
The reception of "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" comes to mind. I liked that movie, but it performed so miserably that Square all but closed its Square Pictures division as a result. It's probably not a risk Blizzard wants to saddle itself with, when they can just throw it to someone who knows the film business yet keep enough creative control where the brand name isn't cheapened by a disaster of U** B*ll proportions.
I could see this being worthwhile for pirates looking for a digital media file to easily transcode into XVid, if ripping from a DVD still takes just *that* much longer...
Odds are it'll be a PSP that uses cartridges and standard flash media instead of proprietary Sony media
Unlikely, at least for retail games, as proprietary media is pretty much the only weapon the handheld market has got against piracy - imagine the furor if handheld gamers had to deal with registration keys and things. I could see MS in particular using an extra flash card for optional downloadable stuff in the vein of XBox Live, but not as a format for games on the shelf.
imagine the PR campaign that Blue Security is going to have to wage to get any credibility back
Considering who Bluesecurity are and what they do, this whole thing has actually seemed to me to serve as pretty good PR for them. It pisses off lots of people, but once the facts were out there pretty much everyone I know got pissed at the spammer, not Bluesecurity. Everyone hates spam, but now they see a spammer taking things to the next level of evil, which really strengthens the image of the "good guys." People who never heard of Bluesecurity before are becomeing ready to do what they can to work against this spammer.
Isn't the fact that you, a non-user, got the email proof enough that nothing was leaked? Unless the spammer "hacked" your address from a list it wasn't on (which would be a neat trick) he or she was just spamming everyone available, hoping to get Bluesecurity's users along with it.
Slashdot Mirror
I'll show up and pwn you with a dual-shock labelled "2."
I thirs the motion. He's the voice of Snake, he's an awesome screenwriter, and more importantly he's a fan of the games.
[Sam hangs up the phone]
Max: Another confused census taker?
Sam: Actually, it was the Commissioner with another idiotic and baffling assignment.
Max: Does it involve wanton destruction?
Sam: We can only hope.
If they come out with that badass blood-covered chainsaw RE controller for the Wii, I am so there.
Happy birthday Rob, benevolent overlord with snazzy first name!
Quite a lot, assuming it's the American private sector. IANAL, but as I understand it a company may be able to fire or seek civil charges against an employee who leaks private info, and things get more complex if things like contracts or nondisclosure agreements are thrown into the mix, but they aren't normally able to ship him off to prison.
in 3.. 2.. 1..
Sadly, shouting "Give flowers to MERMAID!!" at the top of your lungs just doesn't have the same oomph as a modern "BOOM, Headshot!"
I suppose in that case it's a matter of philosophy or politics, neither of which are ever a good idea to debate over the Internet about, so I'll say I disagree with you and leave it at that.
If anyone can do it, then once someone does do it, there won't be much of a market for those other companies.
This is all a good thing, is it not? Otherwise it's like grumbling about your horse-drawn-carriage company going out of business when motorcars take over.
I couldn't program my way out of a lunchbox, but for the sake of illustration let's say I could, and I wrote a supreme ODF-capable app that worked as above. It or something very much like it ends up Open-Source, as even if I get greedy and go the commercial route, anything that useful quickly seems to sprout FOSS clones and alternatives. This would allow the blind community to enjoy free apps to access a free document format, just as the non-blind can do with things like OpenOffice. There's less of a monopoly (always a good thing,) and the success of things like Linux, GIMP, OpenOffice, and all the other FOSS projects that continue to stand the test of time have proven that they are contributing to the world in good ways.
I can't see any drawbacks to this model, but then I don't own any Microsoft stock.
Is this not the point of having an open format? Anyone anywhere is free to write an app or plugin - heck, build a set-top box even - that can easily handle the needs of the disabled or anyone else to use the format. As with most if not all features of anything open-source, if the need is there the solution is within reach.
"I love the dangly remote dongle motion-sensor thing. It's so.. bad."
Interesting to think of whether being allowed to Google Tiannenmen Square would influence them in one direction or the other.
I doubt if it had been "UK cabdrivers," "UK insurance adjusters," "UK left-handed people," or "UK women named Susan" referenced it would be immune from such criticism by people who fit the description yet feel differently than portrayed.
It officially opens on May 12. They still have a few days to load it up beforehand.
There doesn't seem to be much incentive for the reviewer though I said the same thing about Wikipedia and been proven wrong. In my opinion, patent law is one of the dirtiest of trades and I don't have much desire to become involved in it at all.
That's exactly why many people will want to help out with this. Slashdot alone has enough people disgusted enough with the patent system to clean things up substantially and help fix it. People can always complain about things, but it's when they're willing to do something about it that things get done.
Hear, hear!
The reception of "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" comes to mind. I liked that movie, but it performed so miserably that Square all but closed its Square Pictures division as a result. It's probably not a risk Blizzard wants to saddle itself with, when they can just throw it to someone who knows the film business yet keep enough creative control where the brand name isn't cheapened by a disaster of U** B*ll proportions.
Hobbits are, as anyone who was into "Dungeons & Dragons" back when TSR had to quietly rename theirs to "Halflings" remembers.
I could see this being worthwhile for pirates looking for a digital media file to easily transcode into XVid, if ripping from a DVD still takes just *that* much longer...
I disagree. If I had a little less patience, I could have made it in five posts sooner, and not looked like such a loser. :-D
Lots of anime' jokes already, but no Doc Ock references. How disappointing. Support American scifi in-jokes!
Unlikely, at least for retail games, as proprietary media is pretty much the only weapon the handheld market has got against piracy - imagine the furor if handheld gamers had to deal with registration keys and things. I could see MS in particular using an extra flash card for optional downloadable stuff in the vein of XBox Live, but not as a format for games on the shelf.
Considering who Bluesecurity are and what they do, this whole thing has actually seemed to me to serve as pretty good PR for them. It pisses off lots of people, but once the facts were out there pretty much everyone I know got pissed at the spammer, not Bluesecurity. Everyone hates spam, but now they see a spammer taking things to the next level of evil, which really strengthens the image of the "good guys." People who never heard of Bluesecurity before are becomeing ready to do what they can to work against this spammer.
Isn't the fact that you, a non-user, got the email proof enough that nothing was leaked? Unless the spammer "hacked" your address from a list it wasn't on (which would be a neat trick) he or she was just spamming everyone available, hoping to get Bluesecurity's users along with it.
They deserve a break.