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User: langelgjm

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  1. Re:Normally I think the headlines are inflammatory on US Register of Copyrights Says DMCA Is 'Working Fine' · · Score: 3, Informative

    What's even scarier is that she's been serving in this position since 1994. That's over thirteen years of copyright policy advice to Congress (part of the office's job description) from a person who doesn't own a computer.

  2. Re:Confusion on GPS Transitions to New Control System · · Score: 5, Funny

    Q: What are they going to do with a billion dollar credit at the iTunes store? They song catalog isn't nearly that big!

    A: Ringtones.

  3. Re:Tasers != Non-lethal on University of Florida Student Tasered At Political Rally · · Score: 1

    It's better than shooting them when they refuse to put down the knife.

    Except that this guy didn't have a knife, and was already being held on the ground by several police officers when he was tasered.

  4. Re:How do we know half the accountants quit? on Half of SCO's Accountants Quit · · Score: 2, Funny

    Seriously. Everyone knows there are three types of accountants: ones who can count, and ones who can't.

  5. Re:Not merely a driver issue on Is nVidia Support for Older 3D Games Fading? · · Score: 1

    Part of the solution to this from a legal angle (in the US at least) would be: to mandate registration for all works for which a US copyright is sought; to mandate the deposit of a full, unprotected/unencrypted copy of the software and source, plus additional comments and information

    Lawrence Lessig suggests exactly this in The Future of Ideas. The real irony of the situation is that part of the reasoning behind intellectual property (more so patent than copyright, but the concept still applies) was to prevent knowledge from being locked away and lost to society. If monopoly status were granted, authors and inventors wouldn't take their works with them to the grave. Since we have long since stopped requiring registration and deposit for copyrighted works, we run into these sorts of situations with abandonware. That's knowledge that may very well be lost to society, despite having reaped the benefits of its status as intellectual property.

  6. Re:world of hurt? on Is Apple Doing All It Can to Beat Vista? · · Score: 1

    Yes, vista has a few issues. Note: Few. I've been running it since March, and there's no way XP is going back on my box, at least not exclusively.

    My experience has been totally different. I installed Vista 64 back in June, and had a horrid time. As soon as I heard I'd have to wait until next year for SP1, I gave up. I've been running XP 64 for about two weeks, and I haven't had any issues. And there are actually working drivers for all of my hardware, which wasn't the case in Vista.

  7. Re:The question on eBay Seller Sues Autodesk for $10 Million · · Score: 1

    So which one is applied by the modern court system?

    That, unfortunately, depends on where you live.

  8. Re:The question on eBay Seller Sues Autodesk for $10 Million · · Score: 1

    I don't know about AutoCAD (though I'm sure someone here does), but most expensive industrial/engineering design software comes with a hardware dongle that is required to run it, so it's not really an issue.

  9. Re:New business model on eBay Seller Sues Autodesk for $10 Million · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Interesting how similar this story is to this one, from a while back, about restricting the sale of used CDs. In both cases you have the manufacturer wanting to restrict the first sale doctrine's rights in order to sell more of their product.

    Actually, now that I think about it, I use some high-priced manufacturing software that, IIRC, states much the same thing: you don't own the software (nor the hardware dongle required to run it); it is all property of the manufacturer. There was even a clause in there about selling used software - they stated that you were allowed to do it, but it had to be for a specified amount, and they got a fee out of it. It all sounds fairly bogus to me.

  10. It's been shamed into losing weight. on Kilogram Reference Losing Weight · · Score: 1

    I think if you had a bunch of people staring at you all day long worrying about your weight, you'd try and lose a little too!

  11. Re:Why? Re:Block it on Microsoft Installs New Software Without Permission · · Score: 1

    if they can convince me to update the software on my computer, or (heaven forbid) do it automatically, next thing they'll be brainwashing me and giving me anal probes.

    Wow. That has got to be the most slippery slope I've heard of to date.

  12. Re:Which is "worth more" is irrellevant on Fair Use Worth More Than Copyright To Economy · · Score: 1

    I don't think the point is really to show which one is 'better' or 'worth more'. The point is to provide an argument against those would would support stricter copyright control. They may try to say that if some control makes some money, then more control will make more money. This report attempts to show that there is more at stake.

  13. Re:ok on Fair Use Worth More Than Copyright To Economy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm sure plenty of folks will accept the figures uncritically, but at least in this report there is a detailed outline of the methodology used to produce those figures. They don't appear to be pulled out of thin air.

  14. Re:Why no mention? on BioShock Review · · Score: 4, Interesting

    For those interested in this information, here is a link to the relevant section of the Wikipedia article on Bioshock.

  15. Re:ahem.... are you sure? on Retailer Refuses Hardware Repair Due To Linux · · Score: 1

    Apparently my sarcasm in the OP has been lost on almost everyone.

  16. Re:ahem.... are you sure? on Retailer Refuses Hardware Repair Due To Linux · · Score: 1

    So I can only assume you are being completely serious in ignorance.

    Actually, the whole thing was meant in jest. I'm really surprised it garnered so many replies. I added the bit about being "completely serious" to hint at my sarcasm, but apparently no one picked it up.

  17. Re:ahem.... are you sure? on Retailer Refuses Hardware Repair Due To Linux · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Possible scenario: the sleep function didn't work under Linux, so he just left the lid closed with the laptop running. The excess heat, over the course of many (5) months, weakened the plastic case, causing it to crack. So actually, Linux is to blame.

    I am completely serious. This is totally plausible.

  18. Re:Ringle Haiku! on Music Industry Set To Introduce the "Ringle" · · Score: 1

    But sometimes they don't make any sense.

    I think you're two syllables too long here.

  19. Re:Get a batchellors on What Are the Advantages/Disadvantages of Game Schools? · · Score: 2, Funny

    Get a batchellors. You learn as much in class as you do out of class in the social interactions between your classmates and the dynamics of the university, even if you live off campus.

    You might even learn how to spell "bachelor". Sorry, couldn't resist!

  20. Re:Cool for them... on Google Mulling Video Ads In Search Results · · Score: 5, Funny

    Google recommends AltaVista: Do "I'm feeling lucky" for "search engine".

  21. Re:Search for 'Resume' on Indictment Highlights File-Sharing Risks · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yeah, we used to do this on a college file-sharing network. We'd search for files that were on the root of the drive, like "io.sys", and find all the people who were sharing their entire hard drives. Then we'd root through their documents and find compromising pictures of them and make fun of them in the main chat, usually followed by the advice "STOP SHARING YOUR ENTIRE DRIVE."

    There was also a correspondence between assigned IPs and the different dormitories, which was apparently easy enough to figure out, with the result that the ops often freaked out new users by telling them where they lived.

  22. Re:This not a matter of the church on Will the Pope Declare Google Evil? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Do you honestly believe that the US government would do something constructive with an extra $500 million?

    The US government? No. Our state government? Possibly. At the very least, it would reduce Maryland's budget shortfall by a third.

  23. Re:This not a matter of the church on Will the Pope Declare Google Evil? · · Score: 4, Informative

    As Jesus said, "Render unto Caeser what is Caeser's, and unto God what is God's"

    Um, that's kind of the point. Tax evasion means you are not rendering unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. I'm from Maryland, and it was recently discovered that large corporations have avoided paying around 500 million USD in taxes this year. This isn't just cheating the government - it's cheating society, taking away revenue that could be used to fight the numerous problems we face.

    I somehow doubt though, that the pope's admonitions will have any effect on corporate financial policies.

  24. Re:Don't do it - Server2003 is better than XP on What Vista SP1 Means To You · · Score: 1

    According to Wikipedia, XP x64 "uses the Windows Server 2003 Kernel, currently the most stable Windows platform availiable".

  25. Re:It means "XP" to me on What Vista SP1 Means To You · · Score: 1

    36 months is 3 frigging years !!!

    I think he meant to say 3 to 6 months, but left out the dash. Still, I've already waited about three months (and Vista has been out much longer than that), and the problems remain.