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User: PinkyDead

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  1. Re:English law is not American Law on English Court Allows Patents For "Complex" Software · · Score: 2, Informative

    A simple trip to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_law, 3rd paragraph) would save you a lot of embarrassment in the future.

    English law is most definitely based on precedent. If fact, the reason that American law has precedent is because it is, in turn, based on English law, as are most of the legal systems of the former commonwealth.

    This law might be ultimately decided in the Lords, but that is only if it is appealed. If it is not appealed at this point in time, it may be used a precedent in another case (at which point an possible appeal might also be made).

  2. Re:4th option on Government Begins Securing Root Zone File · · Score: 1

    Hong Kong Phooey?

  3. Re:Those who do not understand DNS on Government Begins Securing Root Zone File · · Score: 5, Funny

    One key for Google flying oh so high,
    One for Apple for without it fans would moan,
    One for IBM what are based in Armonk, NY,
    One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
    In the Land of Redmond where the Shadows lie.
    One Key to rule them all, One Key to find them,
    One Key to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
    In the Land of Redmond where the Shadows lie.

  4. Re:And we would care about this 'woz' WHY, exactly on Steve Wozniak Predicts Death of the IPod · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Informative...

    How long have I been an atheist and didn't realize all these options were available? No more good clean living for me - I don't know where I got that nonsense from. Hookers and pot from here on in - yeeha!

    I would of course take up genocide, institutionalized rape and mass murder etc. - but unfortunately those damn christians have pretty much cornered the market on that.

  5. xkcd predicts death by IPoD on Steve Wozniak Predicts Death of the IPod · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    http://xkcd.com/190/

    I know, shameless offtopic - but in these uncertain times, who is to say what on and off topic? (Oh right, moderators. I forgot about them.)

  6. C'mon everybody, let's go scorch the sky... on New Contestants On the Turing Test · · Score: 1

    Then we'll see who's the dominant species-type-thing round here.

  7. A player called upsilandre... on Working Calculator Created in LittleBigPlanet · · Score: 1

    ...needs to get out more.

  8. Loving Myth #2 tip... on 10 IT Power-Saving Myths Debunked · · Score: 1

    If you have a shit system that's really slow and badly written display the following:

    "The sub-optimal response you are experiencing will soon be resolved as we are utilising quantum replicators to produce more server hardware for your request. Once complete we will travel back in time and resubmit your request. Thank you for using One-Born-Every-Minute hosting. Have a nice day."

    (Speaking from experience - different text, same message).

  9. In defence of the US on Linux-Based E-Voting In Brazil · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Looking at this here:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Brazil

    About half way down it lists the result of the 2006 election : couple of points on that:
    (1) There are a lot of parties (~30)
    (2) They have low overall control within the parliament (15% max)
    (3) The socialists are on top
    E-voting or no, if the socialists were to rig the election (a) it would be obvious that they did it, (b) they would have to go all out to make any kind of difference, (c) they are unlikely to have the corporate influence necessary to pull it off and (d) there isn't much you get for it.

    In the US, on the other hand, there is effectively two parties each with ca. 50% of the electorate each, so rigging the election is (a) worthwhile and (b) easy to get away with. On top of that the Republicans are very good friends with the people that make the machines, and finally, you get to be 'leader of the free world' and all your buddies get rich.

    Means, motive and opportunity - right there. The interface is the least of their worries.

  10. Why? on Linux-Based E-Voting In Brazil · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't see any of the problems resolved.

    You can still tamper with the system and there is no verifiable audit.

    I don't know that the underlying choice of OS was biggest problem (if I were building it, sure I'd choose Linux) - there are more fundamental process issues that are at fault. Namely, that someone could tamper with the election and no one could (dis)prove it.

  11. Screw Halo 3... on Virtual Fence Could Modernize the Old West · · Score: 4, Funny

    I wanna play World of Warcow.

  12. And what a handsome teen it is... on Linux Turns 17 Today · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...coz, lord knows, it was an ugly baby.

  13. Dead Right on Linux Turns 17 Today · · Score: 1

    ... and while we're at it, where the hell is my flying car, my cure for cancer, my interstellar travel and my time machine.

    Jesus, people! Wake up - no one is working on the currently unachievable technologies they should be!

  14. Re:Conflicted on Norwegian Standards Body Members Resign Over OOXML · · Score: 1

    the correct next step is for the ISO to cop on, and realize that, like other supernational bodies (eg ICANN), it can only be effective (and hence exist) if it is seen as incorruptible and representing the best interest of those involved in an industry and their clients.

    While a new organization will clearly be more effective than the ISO in its current state, it is really should be a last resort option.

    That said, maybe the ISO model just isn't the right one for the software industry.

  15. At last... on Weird Al To Release Songs As He Records Them · · Score: 1

    A valid use for DRM.

  16. I have no interest in visting outer space... on Space Tourist Simonyi Prepares For Second Flight · · Score: 1

    ...it's got far too touristy.

  17. Re:Goto is good on What To Do Right As a New Programmer? · · Score: 1

    Useful, but if he's getting into progamming, he's also going to have to know http://xkcd.com/303/

    Soon he will have the foo of the xkcd master.

  18. Re:ISO? on IBM Threatens To Leave ISO Over OOXML Brouhaha · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Absolutely correct on the industrial stuff like child safety or structural integrity...

    However, ISO has shown its weakness in the software field - and dare I say, also demonstrating their corruptibility.

    I would suggest that this is because of the subjective nature of software and that generally it's a "survival of the fittest" thing resulting in more than one suitable result (of which OOXML is not one - it is the terminally ill offspring of very wealthy parents). Imagine what would happen if I where to say here that "C is better than Java" - I could start a riot.

    Maybe ISO should be removed from this field - but then I'm not sure what would be the alternative. Maybe /. polls?

  19. Mr Postman on Is There a Linux Client Solution for Exchange 2007? · · Score: 1

    I'm sure you come across this already - mainly because if you do a search for Outlook and Thunderbird this is one of the options you get.

    I originally tried and didn't like it because it didn't work all that well with the Exchange (2003) service I was using.

    But then one afternoon on a slow day, I tinkered around with it and came up with a fairly workable solution. I'm not too sure what the scripting language is but there's enough in the standard scripts to get a fair idea how to use it.

    It's all based on the OWA interface, so you just need to tweak it here and there to get it to work. If you can't find anything better, I'm confident you could get this to work.

  20. From what I hear... on Windows 7 Beta Screenshots Leaked · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Look and Feel isn't the problem with Vista.

    A todo list would be a far more valuable leak at this point if MS want to change their fortune.

  21. 10GB of data!! on To Purge Or Not To Purge Your Data · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Maybe it'd be cheaper for the companies to buy the employees an annual subscription to Penthouse.

    Jeez lads, would you lay off the porn?!

  22. Just as I was getting into it! on Microsoft To Announce Jerry Seinfeld Ads Cancelled · · Score: 5, Funny

    Problem was that the sexual tension between those two guys was too intense - it would never have ended well.

  23. Not true on Peru To Be First To Put Windows On OLPC Laptop · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that Microsoft's mechanism is software based.

    Microsoft is not the market leader in the desktop because of that silly little IE bundling nonsense nor are they the leader because the have the best O/S.

    Microsoft is the market leader, because for nearly 20 years every single PC that came out of the factory had a Windows sticker on it (I'll knock Bill Gates for a lot of things - but respect for one of the greatest business strategies since Jesus). Most people do not know the difference between a PC (or a computer full stop for that matter) and Microsoft Windows. In fact, a large proportion think that 'PC' and 'Word' are synonyms.

    Getting Schools to teach children that 'Microsoft = Computer' is the cheapest and most effective marketing tool they have. And once that mindset is in place, Microsoft has a much more powerful mechanism to stop you running non-Microsoft software on your PC.

  24. Re:The Goal? on Peru To Be First To Put Windows On OLPC Laptop · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The goal is to give these kids a chance.

    Who's goal? Because it certainly isn't Microsoft's. They want as much lock-in as they can get and they don't care how they get it. All large corporations want the same thing because they are driven by the demands of their shareholders for profit - and rightly so.

    But the OLPC project wasn't started to enhance the balance sheet of Microsoft - yet it affects its credibility and its effectiveness for Microsoft to use it as a marketing tool and at the same time harms the chances of other projects that will find it harder to garner non-profit support when it is clear that at the point of success some profit-junky will just rush in to exploit it. That is the main reason why open source should be used - because it shares the vision that created the OLPC in the first place.

  25. Re:The Goal? on Peru To Be First To Put Windows On OLPC Laptop · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That is about as close as you could get to a modern equivalent to the justifications for imperialism and colonialism of the 18th and 19th centuries. Unfortunately, it's the same poor suckers that are getting victimised again.