The strawman about sky diving doesn't apply because the risks are obvious and inherent to the act.
If walking into a drugstore can give you cancer, then that's so obviously wrong it should be remedied.
If walking into a drugstore can't give you cancer, then the sign on the door has no business being there. And it's there. The fact that you haven't seen it points out how well those stupid signs have become part of the background noise. Look harder next time and you'll see it. Why? Because they sell spermicide. And spermicides are chemicals known to the state of California to cause "reproductive harm".
So you think it adequate that, if that were the case, that the residents were merely warned?
Your attitude changes with the wind. Consigning the GP to "enjoy his toxic apartment" on the one hand, and applauding the warning labels on the other is hypocricy itself.
Except that damn near everything causes cancer. Therefore everything must have a prop 65 warning. Therefore, prop 65 warnings are made just about as useless as the Microsoft driver signature warning dialogs.
Is it a basic right to be allowed to receive e-mail from whomever I desire, or does Comcast have the right to censor as they wish?
No. "Basic rights" are things like the right to an attorney while being questioned by the police. They're rights that you posess as the side effect of having been born a human being. To paraphrase a rather famous document, you were endowed with them by your creator.
You may or may not have contracted with Comcast for them to deliver, or not deliver, e-mail to you. The rights and duties of both parties would presumably be written out in the contract between the both of you, and that's something you should be able to determine by reading it, not the Bill of Rights.
Re:Great idea
on
30 Days of DRM
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· Score: 4, Informative
In the U.S. the reason there are "music" CD-Rs that cost more than data CD-Rs is because of the American Home Recording Act. This was the grandfather of the DMCA. It requires a levy to be placed on all blank media for standalone digital audio recording devices. It was the AHRA that was used to attempt to bludgeon the Diamond RIO out of existence back in the day (it failed, because the Rio was judged to be a computer peripheral). The AHRA does not apply to computer peripherals, so that's why data CD-Rs are sold that are cheaper, even though you can record Red Book audio track disks with them. The AHRA was what killed the DAT as a consumer audio component back in the day and relegated them to studio audio and computer data applications.
The Apple one came as a software update, so I didn't even have to go find and download it. You run the program, then shut the machine down, then hold the power button for a couple seconds, the machine beeps and then reboots. That's tough to beat.
I recently upgraded my FreeBSD server machine to a Conroe CPU running in an Asus P5B. But I actually had to upgrade the chassis and motherboard before Conroe came out. Because of that, I actually got a P5B that had an older BIOS that wasn't Core 2 ready. So to do the upgrade, I was going to have to to a flash update.
The last time I had to do that, it was to a Dell laptop that dual-booted Windows, and the update only ran under Windows. Before then, it was DOS boot floppies and 'flash.exe'. So I wasn't looking forward to it.
Oh, how things have changed! Asus has a flash update program built into the BIOS and that program supports reading FAT filesystems on thumbdrives!
I hadn't actually used a thumb drive in a few years (since getting an iPod), so I actually had to dig it up from the bottom of a drawer, but it was there (the backup plan was going to be an SD card from the camera and the SD-to-USB adapter), and it worked.
Asus may not be the only ones that support OSless flash updates via USB, but it's the 2nd most convenient BIOS update I've ever had to do (1st place goes to Apple).
If you look at the classical 9 planet list, the first thing that pops into your head is, "one of these things is not like the others."
I applaud the IAU for finally defining the meaning of the word and for not trying to fashion the definition into klein bottle to include Pluto/Charon.
I would have been even more strict than the IAU: I would have required planets to have no more than a maximum orbital eccentricity and no more than a maximal deviation from the orbital plane. But in practical terms I suspect my extra requirements are largely redundant.
Distcc also helps if you have other machines that can run the same compiler on your network.
Well, yeah, but that would make the concept of using 'make buildworld' as a benchmark for your machine rather useless, wouldn't it? Did you miss that part of the conversation?
At the time, you could make a far, far better argument that anti-virus capabilities were far more a "required" system utility than a web browser. Norton and MacAfee would have been nonplussed, but everyone else running Windows at the time would have stood up and cheered. But instead of bundling anti-virus capabilities - something that would have actually added substantial value to the user experience (had they done it right), they added a web browser - an act designed to add substantial value to their monopoly position rather than improve the user experience. Surprise (not).
You didn't read very carefully. I never said it was. I said that back before there were speed limits, the local authorities could decide that if you were driving faster than that you were not driving safely and prudently.
I have a Conroe E6600 running FreeBSD. Those of us who use FreeBSD often use the 'make buildworld' process as a poor-man's benchmark. With -j2, I am now getting 20 minute buildworlds, which is, in my view, remarkable for both the power and monetary budget of the machine.
I remember a while ago (this was when the speed limit was still 55), we had a "Civil Obedience day" where a number of folks all got together as a convoy and drove the speed limit. The resulting traffic jam made the point better than any speech ever given on the subject.
Here's a history lesson: once upon a time, the law was that you had to drive at a safe and prudent speed. That worked until the podunk sheriff who wanted to make a little extra cash decided that safe and prudent on a 4 lane road was 15 mi/h. Speed limits were invented as a curb against overzealous law enforcement. If you were driving under the posted speed limit and there were no extenuating circumstances, you could be presumed to be driving safely. But then those podunk sheriffs realized that they could paint anything they want on the sign. This is how El Camino Real between Santa Clara and South San Francisco - a road whose essential character remains unchanged as a 6 lane thoroughfare for its entire length - can have the speed limit change at least once every 10 miles.
When speed limits are set correctly - at the 85th percentile speed observed in a neutral traffic survey (not uniformed officers holding radar guns, like they do in L.A.), that's one thing. But when the limit on Interstate 280 between San Francisco and Cupertino is 65 mi/h, that's just ignoring reality.
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Not a criminal trial, thus no right to a speedy trial.
The strawman about sky diving doesn't apply because the risks are obvious and inherent to the act.
If walking into a drugstore can give you cancer, then that's so obviously wrong it should be remedied.
If walking into a drugstore can't give you cancer, then the sign on the door has no business being there. And it's there. The fact that you haven't seen it points out how well those stupid signs have become part of the background noise. Look harder next time and you'll see it. Why? Because they sell spermicide. And spermicides are chemicals known to the state of California to cause "reproductive harm".
And hot coffee is hot, too.
Your attitude changes with the wind. Consigning the GP to "enjoy his toxic apartment" on the one hand, and applauding the warning labels on the other is hypocricy itself.
command-tab not good enough for you?
Except that damn near everything causes cancer. Therefore everything must have a prop 65 warning. Therefore, prop 65 warnings are made just about as useless as the Microsoft driver signature warning dialogs.
No. "Basic rights" are things like the right to an attorney while being questioned by the police. They're rights that you posess as the side effect of having been born a human being. To paraphrase a rather famous document, you were endowed with them by your creator.
You may or may not have contracted with Comcast for them to deliver, or not deliver, e-mail to you. The rights and duties of both parties would presumably be written out in the contract between the both of you, and that's something you should be able to determine by reading it, not the Bill of Rights.
CDs predated DAT by many, many years.
In the U.S. the reason there are "music" CD-Rs that cost more than data CD-Rs is because of the American Home Recording Act. This was the grandfather of the DMCA. It requires a levy to be placed on all blank media for standalone digital audio recording devices. It was the AHRA that was used to attempt to bludgeon the Diamond RIO out of existence back in the day (it failed, because the Rio was judged to be a computer peripheral). The AHRA does not apply to computer peripherals, so that's why data CD-Rs are sold that are cheaper, even though you can record Red Book audio track disks with them. The AHRA was what killed the DAT as a consumer audio component back in the day and relegated them to studio audio and computer data applications.
The Apple one came as a software update, so I didn't even have to go find and download it. You run the program, then shut the machine down, then hold the power button for a couple seconds, the machine beeps and then reboots. That's tough to beat.
I recently upgraded my FreeBSD server machine to a Conroe CPU running in an Asus P5B. But I actually had to upgrade the chassis and motherboard before Conroe came out. Because of that, I actually got a P5B that had an older BIOS that wasn't Core 2 ready. So to do the upgrade, I was going to have to to a flash update.
The last time I had to do that, it was to a Dell laptop that dual-booted Windows, and the update only ran under Windows. Before then, it was DOS boot floppies and 'flash.exe'. So I wasn't looking forward to it.
Oh, how things have changed! Asus has a flash update program built into the BIOS and that program supports reading FAT filesystems on thumbdrives!
I hadn't actually used a thumb drive in a few years (since getting an iPod), so I actually had to dig it up from the bottom of a drawer, but it was there (the backup plan was going to be an SD card from the camera and the SD-to-USB adapter), and it worked.
Asus may not be the only ones that support OSless flash updates via USB, but it's the 2nd most convenient BIOS update I've ever had to do (1st place goes to Apple).
Makes sense. If you're running Windows, the likelihood that your bandwidth is being used for updates is certainly higher.
I'd like to see pictures of that. Do they do it doggy style?
Ultra ironic, then, that it was written by a girl.
That which we call a rose, by any other name, would still have thorns.
Wouldn't that more properly be the Moon's Earth Emancipation Day?
If you look at the classical 9 planet list, the first thing that pops into your head is, "one of these things is not like the others."
I applaud the IAU for finally defining the meaning of the word and for not trying to fashion the definition into klein bottle to include Pluto/Charon.
I would have been even more strict than the IAU: I would have required planets to have no more than a maximum orbital eccentricity and no more than a maximal deviation from the orbital plane. But in practical terms I suspect my extra requirements are largely redundant.
I tried with -j4 through -j10 as well and got just about exactly the same answer every time: 20 minutes.
Well, yeah, but that would make the concept of using 'make buildworld' as a benchmark for your machine rather useless, wouldn't it? Did you miss that part of the conversation?
Fair enough. I just tried it and -j3 is about a tie with -j2. Though it was slightly faster, the difference is, IMHO, within the margin for error.
Oh, one other thing. Without -j2, it's about 35 minutes, so it can't all be disk bottleneck (or else tossing in the 2nd core wouldn't do any good).
At the time, you could make a far, far better argument that anti-virus capabilities were far more a "required" system utility than a web browser. Norton and MacAfee would have been nonplussed, but everyone else running Windows at the time would have stood up and cheered. But instead of bundling anti-virus capabilities - something that would have actually added substantial value to the user experience (had they done it right), they added a web browser - an act designed to add substantial value to their monopoly position rather than improve the user experience. Surprise (not).
You didn't read very carefully. I never said it was. I said that back before there were speed limits, the local authorities could decide that if you were driving faster than that you were not driving safely and prudently.
I have a Conroe E6600 running FreeBSD. Those of us who use FreeBSD often use the 'make buildworld' process as a poor-man's benchmark. With -j2, I am now getting 20 minute buildworlds, which is, in my view, remarkable for both the power and monetary budget of the machine.
I remember a while ago (this was when the speed limit was still 55), we had a "Civil Obedience day" where a number of folks all got together as a convoy and drove the speed limit. The resulting traffic jam made the point better than any speech ever given on the subject.
Here's a history lesson: once upon a time, the law was that you had to drive at a safe and prudent speed. That worked until the podunk sheriff who wanted to make a little extra cash decided that safe and prudent on a 4 lane road was 15 mi/h. Speed limits were invented as a curb against overzealous law enforcement. If you were driving under the posted speed limit and there were no extenuating circumstances, you could be presumed to be driving safely. But then those podunk sheriffs realized that they could paint anything they want on the sign. This is how El Camino Real between Santa Clara and South San Francisco - a road whose essential character remains unchanged as a 6 lane thoroughfare for its entire length - can have the speed limit change at least once every 10 miles.
When speed limits are set correctly - at the 85th percentile speed observed in a neutral traffic survey (not uniformed officers holding radar guns, like they do in L.A.), that's one thing. But when the limit on Interstate 280 between San Francisco and Cupertino is 65 mi/h, that's just ignoring reality.
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.
-- Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut